Hearst Family Update
October 12, 2020
Principal's Message
Good evening, Owls. I hope that you've had a restful weekend and are gearing up for the short week ahead. Our focus this week continues to be ensuring students are:
- active members of the learning community
- fully engaged academically: their stamina and capacity for working independently and collaboratively is growing; they’re taking on more complex work, they’re continually being appropriately challenged, both individually and as a class; their successes, big and small, are reinforced
- more self-sufficient: like a true team, the class is trying hard to follow daily routines; the rules continue to serve as the anchor for behavior; students genuinely encourage and support one another
Thank you for your partnership and support and I hope to see you at the Town Hall/PTA meeting on Wednesday,
Jen
About Us
Email: attendance@hearstes.org
Website: www.hearstes.org
Location: 3950 37th Street Northwest, Washington, DC, United States
Phone: (202) 282-0106
Facebook: facebook.com/hearstes
Twitter: @hearstes
News and Announcements from Hearst
Upcoming Key Dates
- Friday, October 9 - Parent Teacher Conference Day (no school for students)
- Monday, October 12 - Indigenous Peoples' Day (no school for all)
- Week of 10/13 - Official start of small group instruction
- Wednesday, October 14 - Family Town Hall/PTA Meeting, 6:00-7:30 (https://virginia.zoom.us/j/92063418661pwd=endDS0ZWeDg4YVZvS3B1cGk0WUxuUT09; Meeting ID: 920 6341 8661 Passcode: 284677)
- Tuesday, November 3 - Election Day (no school for students & teachers)
- Friday, November 6 - Professional Development Day (no school for students)
Quick Updates
- The Hearst playground will be closed from 8:00am-3:15pm Monday through Friday to all students not attending in-person or CARES classrooms in Term 2 in order to ensure cleaning, mask, and physical distancing requirements are met for our students who are learning in the building. Thanks for your understanding!
- Reminder: If your child has items in the school from last year that were left in March, please pick them up by 10/16 or they will be discarded. As a reminder, through Term 1, the school building will be open from 8:30-4:30pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for students and families to pick up learning materials. Please contact Ms. Johnson (kestaganer.johnson@k12.dc.gov) with any questions.
- Reminder: All parents/guardians must complete the Student Technology Responsible Use Agreement School Year 2020-21 found here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=7kagKk6zM0qSt5md8rwKMrokwfOwIAhEmZryty8pQBJUN1NPTDkzNVAzQUo1NVhPNk5NUDQzMkVFNC4u. This new mandate from DCPS and we thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Reminder: ANET Assessment for 3rd-5th grades
This year, students in 3rd and 5th grades will be completing the ANet interim assessments in ELA and Math. The interim assessments provide quick and actionable data to teachers on what students have learned.
Our first round of ANet will be during the week of 10/13 and students will be completing the assessments during independent work time on the dates listed below.
- ANet ELA - Independent work time, Tuesday, 10/13 (10/14 if additional time needed)
- ANet Math - Independent work time, Thursday, 10/15 (10/16 if additional time needed)
Before the Assessment Date
- Review the online platform before your child starts their first ANet assessment. Consider watching this 7 minute video to orient to the tool: bit.ly/Guide2-5
- Ensure your child is able to log in and can view their assigned assessment.
- Students should access the ANet platform via Clever (listed under “Assessment Tools”).
- If your student is unable to log into the site via Clever, please contact their homeroom teacher for login credentials for the ANet website (login.achievementnetwork.org)
More information can also be found in the attached “Family Guide to Taking ANet Assessment at Home.”
Reminder: Aspen Family Portal Access
Parents are DCPS’ number one partner in supporting students’ academic success, and DCPS must provide families with accurate and timely access to information on student academic and social emotional progress. To that end, DCPS will launch the Aspen Parent Portal for Elementary Schools in October.
The purpose of the Parent Portal feature in Aspen is to establish open communication between teachers and families, allowing them to more easily work as a team in supporting each student’s learning. The Parent Portal provides families more information about what occurs in the classroom, helping them become better equipped to support their child’s strengths and areas of growth. In SY2016-17 DCPS launched the Aspen Parent Portal in grades 6-12. This fall, DCPS plans to expand Parent Portal to grades K-5.
The goals of incorporating the parent portal at the elementary level are to:
- Ensure a virtual, and therefore expedited, experience for sharing report card grades at the end of Term 1 and moving forward.
- Share up-to-date attendance data.
Reminders Regarding Student Attendance Requirements
It is critical that students log into Canvas each day - including Wednesdays - as this is their official record of attendance. Students will be expected to log into Canvas each school day at least once between 6 am and 11:59 pm. Attendance will be recorded based on the student activity in Canvas each school day between 6:00 am and 11:59 pm. Any activity within Canvas will automatically transfer to Aspen and translate into attendance for that day. Activity within Canvas includes logging into Canvas, clicking on the link for the day's activities, clicking on a Teams meeting link, opening a course, or working on a assignment in ClassNotebook within Canvas. Please ensure students are not logging into Teams only; this will not register their attendance as present. For more resources, see the DCPS ReOpenStrong Attendance page.
If a student experiences a tech issue and cannot access Canvas that day, please email attendance@hearstes.org to have their attendance recorded for that day. Review the full attendance guidance on the #ReopenStrong website and watch a recap of this week’s Parent University on the topic.
Reminder: Vaccinations Required to Return to Learning in the Building
Help your kids #StayOnTrack and ready for school-entry with on-time vaccinations.
Hearst has a current immunization compliance rate of 80.83% as of 10-11-2020. Remember to send your child's immunization records to manik.hinchey@k12.dc.gov. Make appointments with your health care providers and provide the proper documentation before the start of in-person school (see here for a list of required immunizations). Immunizations must be up to date to take an in-person seat or CARES seats starting in Term 2.
Por favor ayuden a sus hijos a mantenerse vacunados y listos para el regreso a la escuela.
La escuela ha comenzado, recuerde enviar los registros de vacunación de su hijo/a a manik.hinchey@k12.dc.gov. Haga citas con sus proveedores de atención médica y proporcione la documentación adecuada antes del inicio de clases en persona (tentativamente a partir del 6 de noviembre de 2020). Consulte aquí para obtener una lista de las vacunas requeridas. A pesar de que estamos comenzando en forma remota, nos comunicaremos con todos los alumnos a los que les falta el certificado de vacunas.