Deerfield News
January 15, 2021
About Us
david.goetz@avondaleschools.org or
victoria.sheldon@avondaleschools.org
Email: david.goetz@avondaleschools.org
Website: http://www.avondaleschools.org/
Location: 3600 Crooks Road, Rochester Hills, MI, USA
Phone: (248) 537-6700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeerfieldFalcons/
Mr. Goetz's Corner
Thank you to all of our families who participated in the supply pickup day this last Wednesday, as well as the Picture Day. It was fun to see our students who came to get their pictures taken! If you weren't able to pick up your student's supplies on Wednesday, you may come to the main entrance of the school from 8 am - 4 pm anytime next week to pick up the supplies. Also, you have the opportunity to purchase your 2020/2021 yearbook from Lifetouch. Details are listed below.
In the next few weeks, we will be taking the NWEA Reading and Math assessments. We take the test three times a year to help us measure growth and to make instructional shifts to meet student needs. Teachers will be sending out specifics to you regarding testing dates and times. We will complete this assessment online. It is very important that you DO NOT provide any help on the assessments. If we do not receive data on the students true ability, we won't know if they need help and they may miss out on opportunities we can offer. Below are some resources regarding NWEA that you might find helpful.
Winter 2021 NWEA Communication
There is no school on Monday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was a reverend and his mother was a school teacher, before she was married. As a child Dr. King enjoyed singing and music. He was an excellent student and found joy in public speaking. During the 1950’s Dr. King became involved in the civil rights movement, working to establish racial equity. He led many peaceful protests to bring attention to the unfair treatment of African Americans. In 1963, Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington where he described a world where all people were treated equally, no matter the color of their skin. Tragically, Dr. King was assassinated in 1968. Although Dr. King is no longer with us, we hope that we can continue to pass his dream onto our students so that we can live in a world full of peace and compassion towards others.
Finally, I've included information below regarding our 'Return to Learn Plan'. I trust that this helps to answer some of your questions regarding our return to in-seat instruction beginning in mid-February. All of the Avondale Elementary principals have scheduled a virtual 'Information Night' for January 21st at 5:30 pm, to provide additional details about the remote and in-seat choices available. To Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84742194949?pwd=cXhZZmRhaEs4eHczL28wdWUrZm9sZz09
Meeting ID: 847 4219 4949
Passcode: 5vTe12.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mr. Goetz
Return to Learn Plan
Hybrid Learning Plan
A Hybrid Schedule would have students attending school for a half day on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Wednesdays would be a full day of asynchronous learning for all students. (Teachers will maintain office hours, planning time for learning, and collaborative time for professional growth during these days.) On the days when students attend school, one group of students would attend in person in the mornings and have asynchronous learning in the afternoons. The other group would have asynchronous learning in the mornings and attend school in person in the afternoons. The asynchronous time may be spent on completing class assignments (math sheet, writing assignments, etc.) or may have students practicing their skills using online resources like Prodigy, Raz-Kids or Newsela. The students would not eat lunch at school.
Remote Learning Plan
The remote schedule would have students remain at home and follow their online learning schedule. Students will attend remote learning on zoom in order to join their class. There will be asynchronous learning on Wednesdays with no live teaching, but assignments will be given. (Teachers will maintain office hours, planning time for learning, and collaborative time for professional growth during these days.
Important Things to Consider
- Students are not guaranteed to be with their current teacher. Efforts will be made to try and keep students and teachers together, but there will be instances where this will not be possible.
- There is a possibility for an increase number of split grades classes in both remote and in-seat settings
- In-Seat students will be required to wear a face covering during the day. Mask breaks will be allowed.
- In-seat teachers will only have office hours on Wednesdays. They will not be available during the school day as they will be working with students throughout the day.
Jan. 18 - No School - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jan. 25 - Enrollment Commitment Form due @ 8:00 AM
Feb. 3 - Coffee with the Superintendent via Zoom @ 8:30 AM
Feb. 4 - Early Dismissal @ 1:35 PM
Feb. 10 - PTO Meeting @ 7 PM
Feb. 12, 15-16 No School - Mid-Winter Break
Mar. 4-5 - Half Day Dismissal @ 11:45 AM
Mar. 18 - Early Dismissal @ 1:35 PM
Mar. 29-Apr. 2 - Spring Recess
Apr. 14 - Half Day Dismissal @ 11:45 AM
December Fantastic Falcons
Best Effort
Alex Ruiz
Michael Gee
Kenna Vance
Kacper Lis
Mohammed Alaseel
Shane Bradshaw
Isaiah Cheng
Aaila Howard
Ainsley Tischer
Maya Humbad
Layla LeBlanc-Carter
Mythic Henry
Jersey May
Mariana Orta-Mercado
Josiah Burrell
Ellie Linebaugh
Selene Patharapanupath
Good Citizenship
Savannah Rich
Nina Leier
Cody Carnovsky
Ava Drukas
Rosemary Nykanen
Sophie Hoffman
Ezara Patharapanupath
Aleksey Miles
Jacob Cornwell
Sophia Swartz
Dylan Lowe
Jacob Thomas
Leah LeDuc
Mikey Quinn
Emmanuel Adams
Gavin Davis
Sarah Leach
Aaila Howard
Positivity Project Weekly Theme: Prudence
This week's theme is prudence. Someone who is prudent plans for the future and achieves their goals by making careful everyday choices. Prudence is the ability to do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason. It's a future-oriented way of thinking that helps a person set goals, make plans, and have the discipline to accomplish them. It is cognitive – more a strength of the head than of the heart.
““Discipline is what gives you freedom in life.” -JOCKO WILLINK, NAVY SEAL
We need Your Help with our Yearbook!
We need your help! With the school year starting off remotely (and now continuing remotely), we have no fun photos of our students to include in the 2020-2021 yearbook. We still want to have fun memories of this school year that include our amazing students! It would also be a great way to include pictures of your children if you were not able to attend Picture Day or our yet to be scheduled picture retake day.
Please email a copy of the photo to victoria.sheldon@avondaleschools.org with your child's name and grade.
We also want to invite 5th grade students to submit a drawing for the cover of the yearbook. To give all of our 5th graders lots of time to put in their best effort, we are accepting the drawings at our January supply pick up. Parents are always welcome to bring them to the office earlier if you wish. We will announce who has the winning picture on our morning announcements in late January.
Thank you for helping us create memories of this most unexpected school year.
Yearbook Sales have started!
A Message from Ms. Redman (Social Work)
Deer Deerfield Families,
I hope you had a restful break. This is the time that many people make resolutions. I would encourage you to be good to yourself and not expect yourself to make any major changes. Yes, if you feel up to it, set some goals for yourself, but also allow yourself grace and the ability to just “be.” I recently read an article that I thought I would share about making goals and thought this might help.
“Dr. Locke, along with Dr. Gary Latham, came up with five principles of effective goal setting. These principles, which include clarity, challenge, commitment, feedback, and task complexity, are the necessary components when setting, working towards, and achieving a goal.
► Clarity: goals should be clear and well-defined.
► Challenge: goals should be achievable but also challenging to you.
► Commitment: you should fully commit to your goals to achieve them.
► Feedback: you should regularly evaluate and reflect on your goals to stay on track.
► Task complexity: you should give yourself time and space to reach complex goals.
I plan on setting the small goal of continuing to live one day at a time. If you set large goals, I wish you luck and if you decide to not set goals for the new year, know that is absolutely OK!
As always, here is my email elissa.redman@avondaleschools.org.
I wish you a Happy and Healthy new year!
Ms. Redman.
A Message from Mr. Stabnick (P.E.)
A Message from Ms. Johnson (Music)
2021 After School ZOOM KAMP
See below for ZOOM KAMP for Deerfield students. See the attached pdf for the registration form. Payment may be mailed/dropped off in the office, with a completed registration form.
PTO MEETINGS
Meeting Date for 2020-2021 School Year
February 10th, 2021
March 17th, 2021
May 12th, 2021
Also, please consider participating in the following ongoing fundraisers.
AVONDALE DISTRICT NEWS
Coffee With Dr. Schwarz
The Michigan Learning Channel is here!
The Michigan Learning Channel has commissioned new lessons in math, social-emotional learning, and health and fitness - all of which are available at launch. A team of literacy education professionals selected the ELA/ELL content being broadcast at launch and is hard a work on a series of new literacy programs featuring Michigan teachers that will arrive by mid-March.
Sample some upcoming program for Pre-K to 3rd grade at MichiganLearning.org:
- Ages 3-8 (Let’s Learn from WNET)
- Kindergarten Math (from Math Mights)
- First Grade ELA (from Colorado Classroom)
- Second Grade ELL (from Colorado Classroom)
- Third Grade Math (From Math Mights)
Partnerships @ Home - A Learning Series for Parents & Caregivers
Oakland Schools is offering a series of informational seminars for parents dealing with online learning for their students. These 45 minute sessions offer help with specific academic areas for students. We hope you can take advantage of this resource to assist your family.
Free Videos & Lessons for Michigan Families
Free Videos & Lessons for Michigan Families
Thanks to funding from the state of Michigan, we are able to provide Michigan families with FREE access to our Michigan Cares Portal. This online platform houses hundreds of lessons designed to help children in grades K-12 develop the skills required for social, emotional, and mental well-being.
The lessons included in our Michigan Cares Portal cover a variety of topics that help children in grades K-12 learn to:
- Understand and manage their emotions
- Set and achieve positive goals
- Feel and show empathy for others
- Establish and maintain positive relationships
- Make responsible decisions
- Recognize signs of poor mental health in themselves and others
- Develop healthy coping techniques
Topics Covered:
- Mental health
- Stress management
- Time management
- Goal-setting
- Nutrition and wellness
- Anger management
- Bullying/hazing
- Social media use (pressures and responsible use)
- Drugs & Alcohol (vaping)
- Bystander intervention
- Social awareness
- Academic success
- Respect
- Community service
- And hundreds more!
To create an account, click here.
Employment Opportunities in the School District
Chartwells Food Distribution
Free & Reduced Lunch Program - when school resumes in-person instruction
Blessings In A Backpack
Avondale families wishing to enroll their student(s) in our Blessings in a Backpack program, please fill out the form at this link: https://forms.gle/PdsACS8KPo7tWKtf9.
Blessings in a Backpack provides simple meals at NO COST each week during the school year for families who need assistance. While Avondale Schools is conducting remote learning, meals will be disbursed in conjunction with the Chartwells Food Service Breakfast and Lunch distributions. (Watch for details about distribution dates, times, and locations.) Sign up today!