The Glacier Bear Connection
SHERROD ELEMENTARY NEWSLETTER VOL 21.20
Week of January 5-8, 2021
Glacier Bear Families,
Happy New Year! I trust your winter break was filled with great memories, lots of laughter and a renewed urgency to make the best of every day! I am excited to start this second semester and I look forward to working with you and your child in making this a very memorable, productive school year!
We are making a few changes to make the most of our learning time. Effective today, students who are picked up at the end of the day will be ready for pick ups at 3:40 pm. This simple change will increase our learning time over an hour each week. Every minute counts in getting the most of this academic school year.
If you have any questions, please contact me at 761-4102 or via email Lorri.cook@matsuk12.us.
Thank you for supporting our efforts to make the most of our academic day!
Lorri Cook, Principal
Sherrod Elementary
New Dismissal time: 3:40 pm
We learned a lot from COVID and school life around COVID. We are now at the point where we are ready to make modifications to increase student learning. One of those modifications will be a change in our dismissal time for parent pick-ups.
We have dialed in the success of social distancing and are ready to gain back some of the lost minutes of learning from our early dismissal from semester 1. Effective January 5, we will be dismissing student pick-up at 3:40 pm each day. This will increase our learning by 15 minutes each day/ 1 hour 15 min a week of instruction. We are excited to gain these additional learning minutes....We make EVERY learning minute count!!!!
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we get back to a more traditional dismissal time.
~Mrs. Cook
“The Mat-Su School District is actively recruiting individuals to work as substitutes. If you already volunteer or spend time at a particular school, this is a great way to expand your involvement, and work in a temporary, on-call position that fits your schedule.
You can apply on our website at www.matsuk12.us/jobs or call the Human Resources Department at 907-746-9245. MSBSD is hiring all substitute positions for the 2019-2020 school year, including: Classroom Teachers, Nurses, Custodians, Food Service Workers, Special Education Assistants, and Office Staff.”
WINTER GEAR NEEDED!!!
Please help your child to bring winter outerwear EVERY DAY.
Send your child with appropriate winter gear including a warm coat, snow pants, boots, a hat, and gloves. Per district policy, students will be going outside for recess to 10 below zero.
Hoodies and tennis shoes are not appropriate winter gear, especially when the temps get below freezing.
Appropriate gear will help to ensure your child enjoys his/her time at recess this winter.
Students who have on all 5 items of winter gear can use the sledding hill.
- warm coat
- snow pants
- hat
- gloves
- snow boot
Virtue of the Week
The virtue of the week is COMMITMENT. Each week classes will select a student of the week who has demonstrated the week's virtue. Those students will be part of the morning show on Fridays.
Commitment is caring deeply about something or someone. It is the willingness to give your all to a friendship, task, or something you believe in. It is the ability to make decisions and follow through on them. It is keeping your promises
Student of the Week
3rd Grade:
Jayden Harrison
Dominik Hernandez
Colton Haderlie
Kolby Price
Marissa Paradis
Laniee Kerschion
Chase Davis
Cannon Browning
4th Grade:
Jack Albert
Sosefo Alone
Dalton Cox
Orion Conway-Shearer
Vann McLain
Amirah Clugston
Emilia Stratton
5th Grade:
Dustie Hays
Hayden Merchant
Hunter Browning
Jaron Holman
Visi Totemoff
BLENDED
Ava Garren
Notes from Nurse Dana
Illness:
If your child is experiencing any of the following symptoms, please keep them home
- Cough
- Fever chills
- Runny nose/Congestion
- Sore throat
- Shortness of breath/Difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Nausea/Vomiting/Diarrhea
- Muscle/Joint/Body aches
- New loss of taste or smell
Any of these symptoms listed may be symptoms of COVID-19. Please contact your health care provider and follow their guidance; they may want to test your child for COVID-19. If your child has the above symptoms, they will need to follow one the the 3 options below
- - Follow a 10-day isolation from the onset of symptoms
- - Obtain a negative COVID-19 test and provide the copy to the school nurse
- - Obtain a note from their health care provider stating that the symptoms they have are related to another illness and NOT COVID-19
There are certain criteria that must be met before your child can come back to school after having any of these symptoms. Please contact Nurse Dana at 907-761-4103 or dana.jenski@matsuk12.us to discuss the plan for returning to school. This is a very different year, normally many of these symptoms would not be worrisome. To be able to keep our doors open to in-person learning we must follow our district policies and the Alaska Smart Start 2020 Return To School Options.
Travel (new state guidelines):
- - If you travel out of the state for more than 72 hours your student will need to obtain a COVID test 72 hours prior to your return OR at the airport upon arrival.
- -Once you arrive home you will need to have your student isolate for 5 entire calendar days before sending your child back to school, please send them with a copy of their negative results so we can put them in their health file!
- -If a test is not obtained 72 hours before or at the airport there will be a required 14-day quarantine before returning to school.
- - If your travel is less than 72 hours out of state OR if you are traveling within Alaska there is no action that needs to be taken, please self-monitor for any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 and get tested if symptoms occur.
Please view the MSBSD Student Return form Travel Guidelines
Mark your calendars
JANUARY
- 1/3: Virtue of the Week: COMMITMENT
- 1/5: School Resumes
- 1/10: Virtue of the Week: IDEALISM
- 1/17: Virtue of the Week: RESPECT
- 1/18: No School
- 1/24: Virtue of the Week: KINDNESS
- 1/24: Kindness Challenge Jan 24- Feb 28
FEBRUARY
- 2/1: Virtue of the Week: FRIENDLINESS
- 2/7: Virtue of the Week: CONSIDERATION
- 2/14: Virtue of the Week: COOPERATION
- 2/15 & 2/16: No School Parent Teacher Conferences
- 2/28: Virtue of the Week: ENTHUSIASM
CONTACT US!!
We INSPIRE!
We MOTIVATE!
We CARE!
We TEACH!
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Website: https://www.matsuk12.us/she
Location: 561 North Gulkana Street, Palmer, AK, USA
Phone: (907) 761-4100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherrodschoolak/