wildCAT Communicator
August 10, 2020
"Your wings already exist. All you have to do is fly."
Summer Update #3
It is so hard to believe that it is already August 10th! The summer is flying by, and soon we will be welcoming our students and families to a new school year. As you now, it has been a busy summer for FCPS central office staff and school based administrators. Things are certainly gearing up now that the BOE decided on a virtual opening to the school year at their meeting on July 29th. Central office committees have been hard at work designing guidelines that will best serve our students during distance learning this first semester of school. There is a good foundation in place, and I believe that our staff and our families will appreciate the structure that has been provided.
I share this summer update #3 newsletter to keep you informed as to where we are right now. I will also need you to provide me with some information to best plan for our staff opening day - August 24th (see section below for a link).
I am excited for us to get started! Together we will do great things!
Opening Day Staff Meeting
With that said, for planning purposes, I need to know how you plan to attend our WFES opening staff meeting.
Kindly respond by August 17th using this link: https://forms.gle/tPxGnW2h4Ay33NHP9
Thank you!
Virtual Learning Master Schedule
- Synchronous and asynchronous learning will occur daily for students ("ranges" of recommended minutes for synchronous and asynchronous learning for each content area has been provided for each grade level; this includes science, social studies, and PATHS lessons to support social emotional learning).
- Teachers should begin each day with a synchronous whole class meeting to welcome students, build relationships, and set learning goals for the day.
- Synchronous and asynchronous instructional blocks for specials classes (art, music, PE, media) will be included in student schedules and, at this time, it has been determined that specials will be graded subject areas (with the exception of media).
- Teachers are to include "office hours" each day so that students who need assistance or who have questions regarding their asynchronous assignments can have access to their classroom teacher.
- Wednesdays will be a "flexible" day. The day will begin with a synchronous class meeting, followed by a synchronous PATHS lesson or social studies lesson or science lesson. The remainder of the day for students will include either synchronous or asynchronous music and art classes (Wednesdays is our double specials day this year) and may include scheduled time for synchronous small group instruction or whole group reteaching with the classroom teacher. Teachers are required to provide 45 minutes of synchronous instruction to support ELA and 45 minutes of synchronous instruction to support math for the class every Wednesday. The teacher decides who to invite based on student needs each week and how to group students.
- Special education students and students who require intervention services will be provided synchronous instruction each week (as determined by student IEP and required intervention minutes for specialized programs, such as Structured Literacy).
- ALP sessions will be scheduled each week as they would if we were brick and mortar teaching. They may be virtual or face to face (to be determined by participants).
- The school's virtual master schedule should closely align with what the hybrid schedule would look like, as well as the master schedule for traditional instruction for when students return to brick and mortar classes. This will allow for a smoother transition when students return back to in person instruction. For this reason, our master schedules are created with the specials schedule as the "anchor" for planning all instructional blocks for students. This is especially important for schools who share specials teachers. Here is the link to our Virtual Master Schedule: WFES Virtual Master Schedule 2020-2021 .
All classroom teachers will receive a weekly schedule planning template specific to the master schedule for WFES. My thought here is to provide you with a framework upon which to plan instructional blocks for your class each week ("copy & paste" style). You will receive the specifics regarding required minutes for each content area per day and per week. Sample student schedules will be shared. I will send these documents to individual classroom teachers this week via a personal email.
Teaching Small Groups Face to Face
We are asked to consider the following for our planning:
- You can consider half days or full days of instruction based on individual student needs.
- Remember that you will start small with invites to those students for whom you have clear evidence they meet the established criteria. You may require assessment data at the start of the year, and these students may be added in a second wave of small group invites.
- Transportation will be provided to students who are invited to attend for at least a half day; lunch will also be provided for these students. Students may be scheduled to attend in the morning or afternoon if a half day is scheduled.
- If families provide transportation, some students may be invited for a small group session only and not for an entire half day or full day.
- Families may opt out of an invitation for their child to attend face to face instruction.
- Face to face instruction will not begin until the week of September 14.
- Some students may be invited for the sole purpose of acquiring internet access and need to have support working with Schoology - based on their lack of engagement in the spring with CoL.
More information to come!
Optional Google Meet Sessions With Linda
Wednesday, August 12 - 8:30 - 9:30
Thursday, August 13 - 1:00-2:00
Here is the link to join: meet.google.com/wwo-uymq-ckw
or Dial-in: (US) +1 601-963-1149
PIN: 662 392 207#
Other Things For Us to Think About
- Orientation sessions for families and students (virtual)
- Back to School Nights/Meet the Teacher Sessions (virtual)
- Material distribution to families the week of August 24th
- We will have access to tutoring/ELO salary dollars to support students beyond school day hours, per invitation. Teachers and support staff may apply to serve in this role. Details are not yet available, but start thinking about your interest in earning some extra per diem dollars to support our students starting the week of September 14th. More info to come soon!
Miscellaneous News
- School Supply Lists will be compiled by a central office team to support all students with distance learning; we will not be asking families to purchase specific WFES supply lists per grade level.
- Paul, Miss Diann, and I will be interviewing candidates for our .5 custodial position on Wednesday morning.
- SEIA position interviews are put on hold right now per HR.
- Curricular Manipulatives for Students - We are waiting to hear how we should handle ELA and math manipulatives that students will need during virtual learning. The CII Department will inform principals by the end of this week.
- Schoology video tutorials for families and students will be available for the start of the school year. The following link takes you to the Schoology Parent Guide: https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/201000873-Parent-Guide
- Here is a link to the Schoology Instructor Guide: https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/201002073-Instructor-Guide
Wolfsville Elementary School
Linda Stuart, Principal
Website: https://education.fcps.org/wfes/home
Location: 12520 Wolfsville Road, Myersville, MD 21773, USA
Phone: 240-236-2250
Twitter: @fcps_wfes