GLA Southwest PARENT WEEKLY
'Virtual Global' Highlights May 13th Edition
Greetings Families!
As always, we hope that this message finds you well and in good spirits!
Despite not being together physically, we are thankful for the ongoing opportunities to stay connected with you. We appreciate and want to recognize everyone who attended our virtual parent meetings this week to learn about our grading policy. All sessions were widely attended and you all asked great questions. With everything that we do, we will continue to prioritize the overall well-being of our scholars, staff and families. We hope you feel supported by the GLASW family during these challenging times and welcome your feedback.
This week, there are two items that require your immediate attention:
1) School District Parent Surveys: Thus far, only 44% of our parents have taken the survey. Our goal is for at least 70% completion. As you know, each year we are required to have our parents complete the School District of Philadelphia Parent Survey. Your completion of the survey impacts GLASW's overall score on the annual ACE report, so we need your help. Please take a few minutes to use the link below and complete the survey for each of your scholars at GLASW ASAP.
2) Feedback on Scholar Personal Items: The Covid-19 pandemic forced us to leave school unexpectedly. As we make preparations to close out the school year, safety is our top priority. With social distancing orders still in effect, we are looking to minimize trips to the school. Parents, if you scholar has personal items that you need to retrieve, please complete the survey here.
As always, we thank you for your unwavering support and look forward to a month of awesome virtual teaching and learning.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Evans, CEO/Principal
Mr. Choice, Assistant Principal
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) is working closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) to provide the necessary information for all free and reduced eligible school-aged children.
*DHS will issue the P-EBT card to the households.
• For families with school-aged children currently directly certified through SNAP or TANF, the P-EBT benefit amount will be loaded on their existing SNAP or TANF EBT card.
• Families directly certified through medical assistance with qualifying income who do not otherwise have an EBT card issued through DHS and families of school-aged children that are eligible for free or reduced-price meals through income or categorical eligibility will receive an EBT card specifically and solely for this purpose.
GLA scholars are eligible and parents should expect to receive your EBT cards in the mail shortly. All cards will be sent to the addresses that we have on file. Please note, DHS will issue the benefits and GLA will not be able to resolve any benefit situations, all information submitted to the state is information received from the families.
For Inquiries Concerning Child Nutrition Programs (CNP):
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Bureau of Budget and Fiscal Management
Division of Food and Nutrition
333 Market Street | Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333
Web: www.education.pa.gov/DFN
8th Grade Families Please look out for an important email next Monday outlining our plan for 8th grade culminating activities!
IF YOUR SCHOLAR LEFT ANYTHING IN THE SCHOOL BUILDING THAT NEEDS TO BE RETRIEVED PLEASE FILL OUT THE ATTACHED FORM SO A TIME AND DATE CAN BE SET UP FOR RETRIEVAL. ALL OTHER ITEMS NOT RETRIEVED WILL BE DISCARDED.
All Parents will need to use your scholar's ID to answer the survey. You all receiveD an email with the ID#. If You Did Not Receive The Email You Can Contact Your Child's Teacher For Your Scholar's ID #.
Issuing over $60,000 in refunds comes as a tremendous burden to the school, as we had already paid for our scholars to travel and cannot recoup those funds. Nevertheless, we felt it important to prioritize returning money to our families. All families can expect to receive refunds via mail by the end of May. This has proven to be a daunting process but we are thankful for your patience and support. At this point, you should have been contacted to confirm your mailing address. If you have questions or concerns regarding your refund, please contact Ms. Fuller at kfuller@ga-schools.org
CALLING ALL FIRST GRADE FAMILIES...
MAY 14, 2020 @6:00PM
Some updates and announcements from the Tech Dept. at GLA:
1) Google Teach From Home - https://teachfromhome.google/intl/en/
Google has set up a Teach From Home hub, with resources, articles, and walkthroughs on how to use Google apps and manage learning at home for Families. Click the link above, and scroll down to find the Families section.
2) At-Home learning Survey - https://forms.gle/tQXvyPnp3utszvCc8
The Tech Dept. at GLA has been working hard to support your scholars' learning at home. However, we know we could do better. Please reply to the survey above (only 6 questions!) to provide some feedback about how we can better support you and your child during this virtual learning experience.
3) ParentTechHelp@Ga-Schools.org
As always, we're here to help. Please reach out to us at any time via the ParentTechHelp@Ga-Schools.org email for any virtual learning help or questions.
Additionally, if you have a GLA iPad and are still missing a necessary app, please send us a note so we can plan a time to be available at a school site to update the iPad.
The 5th grade's "Virtual Spring Fling Social Hour"...
Troy in 3rd grade is working diligently on his science experiment.
4th grade scholars showcase their Science Recycling and Climate Change projects.
The 5th grade's 1st "Parent Night" social hour was a huge success!
We would like to send a huge thank you to the following parents who were in attendance. Cheri Moore, Franchesca Isaac, Batina Hill-Thompson, Charlotte Madu, Jacinda, Ms. Ryan, Ms. Medley, Sarah Carroll, Sheria Tucker, Mr. Rice, and Tiana Whitfield. Your presence was felt. We appreciated your positive vibes, great spirits, participation, and kind words. If anyone was left out I apologize in advance it was not done intentionally.
Ramadan is Here! How to Support Scholars During Ramadan:
Ramadan is the 9th month in the lunar calendar and it is an incredibly holy month for Muslims. Many Muslims, including some of your Muslim students, will be fasting - abstaining from any food or drink (yes, even water) - from dawn to dusk for 30 days to focus on personal growth and reflection.
TIPS:
An easy way to make your Muslim students feel connected is to wish them a “Ramadan Kareem” or “Ramadan Mubarak” which both loosely translates to “Have a Blessed Ramadan.”
Many teachers already have great relationships with the parents/guardians of students - utilize that relationship at this time! Reach out to parents and ask about how you can specifically support their child during the month of Ramadan.
Now that many standardized tests have been canceled, teachers might feel freer to actually carry out a lesson about Ramadan in their distant classrooms. Check out resources at: www.tolerance.org
Prayer is important for Muslims all year round, and praying on time is also incredibly important, especially during Ramadan. Some families might want to pray together during the day because they are at home, even if students are expected by their teachers to be in a virtual class. You can look up the prayer times in your area and allow your students to miss a few minutes of virtual learning during those times if they wish to pray
The days will be LONG. Please keep that in mind! Muslims who are fasting won’t be eating or drinking from around 4 AM until almost 8 PM and even later depending on their geographical location. Ramadan is for an entire month, therefore a student’s energy will fluctuate over the course of that month
Lastly, here’s a website with a list of books about Ramadan that you might wish to use in your classrooms, or read yourselves?
It is very important to remember that just because your student is Muslim, does not mean that they will definitely be fasting. Muslims are excused from fasting when they are traveling, ill, elderly, pregnant, or menstruating. Some Muslims might be struggling with eating disorders and some might just be struggling with the fast for a number of reasons. Please don’t assume that a student is fasting or ask them why they aren’t fasting. Some Muslims also choose to explore other aspects of their spirituality and religiousness during this month which can manifest itself in different ways. For example, Muslim girls might decide to try wearing hijab (Islamic covering, for females) and some Muslim students might choose not to listen to music. Please keep in mind all of these decisions do not dictate a person’s religiosity, and as educators, our job is to create spaces in which our students feel comfortable exploring their identities, however they choose to do so.
Thank you for caring about the well-being of all of your students, and especially the well-being of your Muslim students during this beautiful month of Ramadan!
Below is a list of common questions you should avoid asking a muslim person during this Holy month.
1. Do not ask if the person is hot.
2. Do not ask if the person is hungry.
3. Do not ask if the person is thirsty.
4. Do not wave food, eat, or drink in the person's face intentionally.
5. Do not make jokes about the Holy month.
6. Do not intentionally anger the person.
Scholar Attendance Matters! Attendance will be taken by homeroom teachers during the three days of scheduled Harambee and during any office hour sessions that scholars participate in as a method to document attendance. Please ensure your scholars are in attendance on all scheduled days.
With the city closed to slow the spread of Covid-19, many women, men and children have been forced to stay with an abusive partner. Help centers across the city are OPEN and available to help and can provide free, confidential counseling, shelter and legal support.
· The Philadelphia Domestic Violence Hotline (1-866-723-3014) is still open and available to offer counseling and resources.
· If you are unable to speak on the phone safely, log on to thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 22522.
Websites: https://www.womenagainstabuse.org/
· If you are a parent or scholar at GLA and would like to speak to your social worker for support, please contact them: nshabazz@glacharter.org (west); tharris@ga-schools.org (southwest)
FOLLOW THIS SECTION FOR COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT 'VIRTUAL GLOBAL' AND QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO GLASW NEXT STEPS:
1. How long will school be closed?
The Department of Education in collaboration with the State Health Department & Governor's Office have announced that all PA schools will be closed for the remainder of the school year.
2. Can my child use a cell phone or other home device to do their Remote Learning?
For a successful experience with 'Virtual Global' we are not recommending that a cell phone be your child's only accessible device. The device used needs to have internet access, the ability to compose writing assignments (typing or voice recognition) and the ability to access their Google classrooms.
3. We are confused about the assignment or having technology issues accessing the lessons/assignments - what do we do?
Please email the teacher first and give them time to respond. For tech issues, send email to: ParentTechHelp@ga-schools.org and someone will connect with you as soon as possible.
4. Can I still sign-up for a Chromebook for my scholar?
We have completed our Chromebook distribution to the 450 families that completed the needs based survey. We also contacted all parents on the waiting list for pick up of technology during our third round of distribution. Thank you to all families who participated and received their devices. At this time we will not be taking any more requests for devices.
5. Will our scholars still be traveling on global excursions and if not do we receive a refund?
We have currently cancelled the 8th grade excursion and postponed the 5, 6 and 7th grade excursions due to the social distancing expectations of our country. All 8th grade scholars are being prioritized for refunds and 5, 6, and 7th grade scholars will be contacted on an individual basis to discuss next steps within the next 3-weeks.
6. If my child has completed their packet how do we submit it to the teacher?
We are asking you at this time to store completed packets in a safe area and when we have further information on a safe way to submit the completed assignments we will inform you.
7. Will there be any closing exercise activities for 8th grade scholars?
We are currently discussing what closing exercises will look like for our 8th grade Rites of Passage. We will not have a face to face ceremony this year but we are working to ensure our 8th grade scholars are celebrated for this milestone.
Please be reminded that I am available for each of you during this time of uncertainty. If for whatever reason you need Global in any way, please do not hesitate to reach out. If we cannot help you personally, we will definitely direct you to a resource that can help. So, please feel free to contact me if needed. Also, please reach out to let me know how you and your child/ren are doing during this time of home learning. I can be reached @ 215-681-1504.
With Warm Regards,
Ms. Fuller