Powell Publisher
July 31, 2020
A Note From Mrs. Mathe
One of the biggest changes that will effect you as a parent this year is that at this time, no visitors will be allowed on campus during the school day. This is to help minimize the risk of spreading COVID on campus. We are working in collaboration with the PTO on brainstorming ways to still have our community involved in our classrooms. Stay tuned for more information!
Thank you all again for your patience as we work through this process! I think I can speak for all of the staff here at Powell when I say that we are all very excited to "see" our students and get started on this amazing school year!
Upcoming Dates
August 7: Teacher assignments emailed to families (emails will be sent at varying times throughout the day, so you may not receive all of your children's emails at one time)
August 10: Meet the Teacher
K-2: 4:00-4:30 pm ; 3-4: 4:30-5:00 pm
This year Meet the Teacher will be a virtual event. You will be provided with more information on how to access this event in an email from your child's teacher on August 7th.
August 11: Pre-ordered school supply pick up 8:30 am- 12:30 pm
August 12: FIRST DAY OF VIRTUAL SCHOOL
August 20: Virtual Open House 5:30 pm
September 8th: In-Person instruction begins
Technology Needs
Please complete the survey below by TONIGHT, Friday, July 31st to indicate if your family is in need of technology for our virtual learning environment. These requests will be processed, then families will be contacted regarding pick up prior to the start of school.
Face Masks
Free and Reduced Meal Application
Please see below for more information below regarding student meals.
Registration
If you have kindergarten age children or a new student who will be attending Powell next year, please register them. Kindergarten is always the most difficult grade for which to predict enrollment, and accurate numbers are helpful in the planning process for the coming school year.
To enter the Kindergarten program in Conroe ISD, a child must be five years old on or before September 1 of the current school year. Below is a list of documents that can be provided to establish identity and age for registration:
- birth certificate,
- passport
- school ID card
- military ID
- hospital birth record
- adoption record
- or other legal document that establishes identity
Should you have any questions please contact our Mrs. Lutes at mlutes@conroeisd.net.
Please also encourage friends and neighbors with kindergarten age children who do not currently have children at Powell to complete the registration process as soon as they are able so their child will be ready to go on the first day of school!
Class Placement
The administrative team at Powell has been hard at work these last 2 weeks figuring out class placement and coming up with a solution that would be the least disruptive to a student and classroom is a child's instructional setting changes. With that being said, we have come up with a plan that will do both of those things! We are actively working on fine tuning a plan to pair up teachers on each team that will share both in person and virtual students. The teachers will explain more about how this works during our meet the teacher event. It is our sincere hope that by doing this we will be able to greatly lessen the number of students that will need to switch teachers in the middle of the school year. As with everything during this pandemic, of course that can't be guaranteed. Flexibility as the year progresses will be necessary from all parties involved. But as I said, it is our goal to put a plan in place that lessens the number of transitions between classes as possible.
With that being said, there will still have to be changes to the current class placements and teacher assignments. I understand that sibling requests are something that is typically honored at Powell, and that tradition is treasured by both teachers and families. We will I continue do our very best to honor those sibling requests, but it may not be possible and ask for your understanding.
Even with this new plan, please know that as the school year progresses, if you decide at the nine week mark to alter your child's learning environment decision, their teacher may still have to change (we will do our very best to not have that happen).
Remote/Online Learning
Every student, regardless of the selection your family made on the survey, will begin the school year with remote/online instruction through Labor Day.
We have received questions from parents regarding what Remote Learning will look like for the first 3 weeks of school. While the specific details are still being ironed out by our teachers and leadership teams here on campus, general information regarding the virtual learning environment can be found on the Conroe ISD Roadmap to Reopening website. https://www.conroeisd.net/roadmap-to-reopening/remote-online-instruction/
During remote/online instruction, students will have opportunities to engage in real-time learning with the teacher via the computer or other electronic devices. There will also be learning activities to complete each day. Lessons will consist of direct instruction as well as a combination of guided practice, independent work, collaborative group work, and formative assessments. Lessons could include video clips with guiding questions, graphic organizers, time to share, checks for understanding, and reflection opportunities. Students are expected to engage daily and participate in class following a daily schedule. The details of this daily schedule will be shared soon. We are anticipating approximately 3 hours of online work for your child (adjustments made for age appropriateness).
Students in grades K-2 will use Seesaw as a learning platform. Canvas will be used in grades 3-4.
Face to Face Instruction
ARRIVAL TO SCHOOL
Upon arrival to school, students will go straight to their classrooms. If a student is purchasing breakfast, they will pick up their meal in the cafeteria and take it to their classroom to eat. Staff will monitor the hallways to discourage students gathering in large groups as they arrive at school. Students exiting the bus will be released in a more structured way to allow for social distancing while exiting the bus and entering the school.
Between 7:30-8:00, the teacher will have an activity for the child to complete on their own in the classroom.
Morning announcements will start for both in person and online learners at 8:00. Please tune in so that you will know the latest updates for our campus. (If you are an online learner, the link will be sent to you.).
COHORTING
Throughout the year you may hear us refer to cohorting. At Powell we are working on a schedule that will include a class cohort for your child's class. This will be the class your child will attend P.E., recess, lunch and any other group activity with. The idea behind cohorting classes is to lessen the number of people your child may come in contact with throughout the day when at all possible.
FINE ARTS AND PE
Students will continue to attend fine arts and P.E. classes daily. A schedule is being created by our amazing specials team to lessen the number of students that gather at one time in P.E. (by using the cohort classes) and creating a schedule for transition so there will be less congestion in the hallways during transitions. Also the daily schedule has been adjusted to allow for cleaning of shared equipment in between classes. On days when students report to the art classroom, they will bring their supply box with them to lessen the opportunities for shared materials. When it is necessary for students to use shared supplies, students will wash their hands before and after use.
HALLWAY TRANSITIONS
The daily schedule has been adjusted to allow for more time inbetween specials classes, which will lessen the number of students in the hallway at one time. Teachers will help ensure spacing is maintained as students travel in the hallways. Our campus Foundations team (the team that works on campus procedures) is meeting this upcoming week to consider other procedures to put in place to encourage social distancing when traveling in the hallways as a class.
SHARING SUPPLIES
To the greatest extent possible, supply sharing will be discouraged. In the classroom, each child will have his/her own supply box for basic school supplies. In the event students must share supplies, game pieces, books, etc., students will be asked to wash their hands prior to sharing and after sharing. Shared supplies will also be cleaned daily at minimum.
MASK REQUIREMENTS
*Students 3rd to 6th grade will be required to wear a mask throughout the school day. If a child forgets their mask at home, they will be provided with a disposable mask to wear for the school day. Students in grades PK - 2 are highly encouraged to wear a mask as well. This will help protect your child and other children around them from potentially being exposed to COVID-19. Please be sure to write your child's name on their mask so it can be returned if lost.
LUNCH
The campus daily schedule has been adjusted to allow for one grade level at a time in the cafeteria for lunch. Students will be spaced 6 feet apart from each other at the lunch tables. This will allow for students to visit with their friends while maintaining a social distance from one another while eating. Students will be assigned a seat that they will remain in for the school year unless the teacher determines that the child needs to move. A seating chart will be made and turned into the clinic for contact tracing purposes.
An example of the seating can be seen below. (Each child will sit on one of the dots.)
Meal Distribution
-Meals will be available on the bus ramp (or designated location) at each school Tuesdays and Thursdays 10 AM-12 PM.
- Multiple meals will be distributed on pick up days. Tuesday: 2 breakfast meals/ 2 lunch meals Thursday: 3 breakfast meals/ 3 lunch meals
- A student meal card located in Parent Access must be presented to scan and identify the student when meals are picked up (can be scanned from your phone).
- No change will be made for cash transactions- any change will be applied to student's meal account. Pre-payments can be made at www.myschoolbucks.com .
- Free and Reduced benefits do not carry over from year to year. Parents can go online to complete a Free and Reduced application for the 20-21 school year. www.myschoolapps.com
MEAL PRICES
Breakfast:
Full price student $1.50
Non-student meal and second meal $2.50
Lunch:
Full price student Lunch $3.00
Non-student meal and second meal $3.75
School Supply Information
If your family ordered the pre-packaged school supplies at the end of the year last year, we will be hosting a "drive through" event on Tuesday, August 11th from 8:30 am- 12:30 pm to pick up your supplies. We have had the question asked if students will need the supplies during the virtual learning experience. The short answer to that is yes. Remote/Online instruction will mirror in person instructions, so students may still be expected to work in journals, write in notebooks, etc.
We ask that families that plan to come to school face to face beginning September 8th leave the contents of your box in tact and only remove the supplies the students are using for remote instruction for the first few weeks. We ask that all other supplies be returned to school on September 8th to be used for the remainder of the school year.
EVENT DETAILS
All traffic will enter the front drive of the school (yellow arrows).
FRONT OF SCHOOL
Station 1: Student Login Information
ALL Students will need to pick up a folder that includes their personalized login information for remote learning.
Station 2: Technology
Students who have previously requested to check-out technology will pick up here.
Follow the blue arrows out of the parking lot to Cochran’s Crossing if you did not pre-purchase school supplies. If you pre-purchased school supplies, follow the green arrows around to the back of the school.
BACK OF SCHOOL
Station 3: Pre-purchased School Supplies
This is ONLY for students who have pre-purchased school supply packs through EPI. There will be no extra packs for sale.
PTO News
Happy Friday Panthers! Your Powell PTO is busy putting on the finishing touches to our 2020-2021 family membership drive and how/when to pick up your yearbook if you were unable to in the spring. Please be sure to join the Powell Elementary PTO Facebook page to stay up to date on everything your PTO has coming up!
Our Mission
Powell Elementary School is committed to creating an environment that promotes academic excellence, and a love for learning. Our goal is to build relationships that empower students, and develop responsible, patriotic citizens, and confident leaders.
Email: emathe@conroeisd.net
Website: powell.conroeisd.net
Location: 7332 Cochrans Crossing Drive, Spring, TX, USA
Phone: 936-709-1700
Twitter: @PowellCISD