Geneva Family Gnome News
May Updates and Resources
A note from the principal...
Hello Geneva Families,
Spring has sprung! Let's be honest though, this is an unusual time with updates from schools, posts of learning ideas for home, shared internet bandwidth with working to support students from morning to night. Being a teacher, parent, and employee is challenging to say the least!
When Dr. Baker sent out messaging about the remainder of the school year, you may have noticed that his language changed from optional learning menus to expected learning menus. We have begun to teach new content rather than reviewing previously taught content based on updated guidance from Governor Inslee and State Superintendent Rykdal. The team at Geneva hope each family is able to provide the necessary support for each child to connect with the learning menus and classroom teacher a minimum of one time a week. You will see that we have begun to include activities to support the learning menu item featured in the daily video. The activity has been a helpful resource for providing a space for students to demonstrate their learning. Check it out and if you have any questions, we would love to hear from you.
If access to a device or internet is preventing your child from engaging it the learning menus, we can help. There is a link below to request these necessary tools.
With this being said, chances are you might not know the pedagogy. Chances are you might not know the curriculum, or the true purposes of the weekly learning menu. And that’s okay.
Chances are your children may be more nervous and anxious about these changing times than they show. Chances are they are more nervous than you because they are too young to have any control over any of the things happening around them. And they, too, will be okay.
Yes, school is important. Yes, schedules are handy. Yes, teachers are amazing and do not receive the credit they deserve for their labor.
Also, this gift of time with your children is important. The way that you handle this time will be etched in your children’s memory and hearts. Take this gift of time to be a parent, and on the days it all feels like too much, take this permission to not be a teacher.
Play a board game or a card game. Chances are there is math in that game.
Lounge on the couch and read books or magazines together. Chances are your child will be reading something in which they are really interested.
Take a walk outside together. Chances are nature is the best science teacher any of us will ever have.
Watch a funny TV show together. Chances are your family will have a more authentic conversation about the characters in the comedy than some scripted test question.
Make something together. Chances are your kitchen is the best makerspace of them all. Follow a recipe, or don’t. Either way you’ll be creating something new together and it will be great, or it won’t. And that is the best kind of learning.
We have been given a gift of time. When we look back decades from now, will our children remember the color coded schedule spreadsheets and fighting as teacher/student? Or will they remember this time as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend special time with a parent?
It is okay to lessen the fighting by lowering the expectations of being a perfect teacher AND a perfect parent during this less than perfect time. Be a parent. Provide reassurance that everything will be okay by providing you - not necessarily trying to recreate a typical school day in this not so typical time. Someday soon, school activities will begin again at school, but -you- you have the opportunity to be the constant comforter and parent to help your children through this unusual time.
As always, please don’t hesitate to connect with me if you have questions or ideas, or if your family has a need that our school district may be able to help with.
Please continue to take good care of yourself and family,
Sharece Steinkamp
Upcoming Events
May 4th- 11-12:30 Meal box distribution
May 4th- 8th- National Teacher Appreciation Week (details below)
May 5th- Coffee and Conversation Zoom gatherings (details below)
May 7th- 12-1 Virtual Conversation with Dr. Baker
May 11th-11-12:30 Meal box distribution
May 18th- 11-12:30 Meal box distribution
May 18th 6:30 PM- PTA Meeting (focus will be on budget for next year)
May 25th - Memorial Day (please note that meal distribution is moved to Tuesday this week)
May 26th-11-12:30 Meal box distribution
Parent Input Forms for 2020-2021 School Year
Why the Weekly Learning Menus, and not zoom?
Since the Governor announced that the closure has been extended through the end of the year, our intention behind the menu has intensified. For the first six weeks of our closure, the State guidance was to review, renew and refresh - basically to prevent learning loss. Now we have been tasked with delivering new content. Each grade level across our system collaborated two weeks ago on identifying up to five essential learning standards for reading/writing and math. I have included these essential standards below. The menus for the remainder of the year will all be in service of teaching those essential standards. I am the first to admit that essential standards documents I have shared with you below aren’t very parent friendly, so I am working with a team to produce a document we can share with families that describes those learning outcomes in a more accessible way. Stay tuned for the new and improved version 2.0.
The weekly learning menus are the format we are relying upon because we need to be able to share them with classroom teachers by Friday of each week so that they have time to plan and prepare to create the videos and activities shared out with students and families each day the following week. In addition, we also need to have them translated into various home languages and have special education teachers able to create necessary modifications for students who receive specially designed instruction through their individual education plan. If teachers were each working independently, this would be impossible.
As you know, our teachers are also working from home with children, spouses and elderly family members. When someone is sick or unable to work for some reason, we can’t hire a substitute. With the common learning menus, colleagues can step in and produce the videos and provide feedback to students on behalf of their colleague. Sadly, we have already needed this contingency plan. I am happy to report everyone at this point is recovered and doing well though.
I have two high school aged children and a third grader at home myself. Parent concerns about children being behind when we restart school next year resonates with me as a mother. What I know as a principal though is that teachers are thinking and planning for how our return to school will be different than any of us have ever experienced. Teachers differentiate and support students every day when school is in session. I keep reassuring myself that teachers will do the work of meeting the needs of their students when school resumes. We are all in this together!
The menus are asynchronous, which means students and families can access them when it works for each individual family. A few families have reached out to ask me why we aren't using Zoom or some other real time synchronous platform. Timing with synchronous platforms can be challenging for families and for teachers. What we are hearing from our students and families in our middle and high school who have occasional synchronous learning through Microsoft Teams is that they are struggling with bandwidth and device coordination if there are other family members working from home who also need streaming services. If families have to choose work over school, it causes problems for everyone. With synchronous learning, if a child can’t attend at a specific time, on a specific day, they have missed the opportunity to engage. Watching the recording is not the same.
Our older students in Bellingham have been using their student device and various software platforms since before the closure thanks to our Technology Levy. Our youngest students however are requiring parents to set up and support all the technology and software connections. For most elementary aged students, independent use is challenging. I continue to hear from parents each week who are overwhelmed by what is needed to support their child and the menu items. Essential workers and single parents especially share with me that distance learning feels untenable. This would be nearly impossible if we moved to a synchronous platform that would inadvertently exclude many of our children.
We hear loud and clear that children miss their friends and teachers, and would love to "see" their classmates. We are working to find innovative solutions to these very real needs. When I send the June Family Gnome News I hope we will have found a creative, equitable and safe way to connect our children using digital tools. If you know of a tool we might not know about, I'd love to hear from you!
What Essential Standards are the Learning Menus Teaching?
Want a little more? Here are couple other resources for supporting learning at home.
How can we help?
If your family is seeking for resources such as:
*Learning Resources
*Technology- device or internet access
*Mental health or wellness resources
*Childcare
*Food access
Follow the link below. We are here to support our families!
Pre-K through 2nd grade family Zoom Link
3rd through 5th Grade Family Zoom Link
A new social emotional learning resource for children and families- Wednesday Wellness!
Brigid Collins Parenting Support Resource - Free
During the COVID-19 crisis, thanks to the support of the scholarship fund and other generous investors, we are able to offer free virtual parent coaching to support our families during a stressful and unpredictable time.
We are beginning the 2nd year of our Parenting Academy and have been able to modify our evidenced based parent coaching and seminars to meet the new demands of virtual communication.
If you have any questions about the Parenting Academy, our programs or seminars please feel free to contact us .
360-922-3600
Thank You
Barbara Lupo
Donor Development Officer
Brigid Collins Family Support Center
Additional YMCA Childcare Sites Opening
Due to the anticipated demand for child care when more parents begin going back to work, the YMCA will be opening additional school-age child care sites for Whatcom County.
Currently the Y has child care for emergency personnel at Parkview (& Cascadia in Ferndale).
The expansion for critical infrastructure employees (outside the emergency personnel) will open at Cordata & Happy Valley once the minimum number of students are registered.
From the YMCA website: Let us support your family for the remainder of the school year. We will have educational learning time to help students stay on track with distance learning requirements provided by school district para-professionals. Breakfast, lunch and healthy snacks will be provided by the school districts.
If you need to call to register, please call 360-255-0585 and leave a voicemail if staff not available. For more help, please contact Victoria, vsteiner@whatcomymca.org. Financial assistance available & DSHS subsidy accepted.
If you have questions about the child care partnerships please contact Jenny Lawrence. She can answer questions about the school district supports at the YMCA sites, The Firs, and KidsWorld, Seedlings, etc. And if you have families who need help connecting with child care options please direct them to Cindy Thompson.
A message from our PTA
Message from our Garden Educator
Dearest Geneva Gnomes,
Even though school is out for the rest of the year, we know that gardens can be a place of sanctuary. If you'd like to volunteer, or even just reserve some time that you and your family can spend time together outdoors in a beautiful place, please sign up for a timeslot (to ensure social distancing) Geneva Garden SignUp Genius
After you sign-up, you’ll receive more information about gardening and safety practices.
The garden has been planted with an assortment of vegetables to support and supplement the food sources for all Geneva families. We encourage you to harvest and eat vegetables from our school garden throughout the summer!
Here at Common Threads we’ve been sifting through the myriad of garden and food education resources and have a couple to recommend:
- Edible Education for the Home Classroom: We love the work done by The Edible Schoolyard and are excited to share their resources for home learning around food.
Follow the link to subscribe to their newsletters to receive new activities and inspiration each week.
I know this is a busy time and you may or may not appreciate yet another email in your inbox. If these are helpful, I recommend signing up for our newsletter (scroll to the bottom of our homepage), following us on Facebook and Instagram, subscribing to our YouTube channel, and encouraging your students’ families to do the same. Please let me know if you would prefer not to receive emails of resources in the future. I hope you are holding up as well as possible, and enjoying this beautiful weather as you’re able!
Wishing you the best,
Julie
Increasing food in multi-meal boxes for students
We are excited to let our community know we will be serving more food in our multi-meal boxes starting Monday, May 4. We are increasing from providing 10 meals (breakfast and lunch for Monday to Friday) to 14 meals to cover the entire week. Students and families can pick up multi-day meal boxes on Mondays between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at all 16 of our school and neighborhood complex sites. Here is a full list of pick up sites. Meal boxes are available for any student; there is no income requirement or verification needed at this time.
Our food services team is continuing to work closely with other groups throughout the county who are making meals and groceries available to families. Anyone with any questions about getting food for your family should please reach out to our food services team via this form (click “school meals”). We are happy to work one-on-one with families to make sure all our kids have what they need to thrive! You can find more information about food and meal support on the Whatcom Unified Command website.