Olathe families,

We are looking forward to the upcoming fall conferences, held October 12-15. As we will not be hosting conferences in the traditional format, we wanted you to be aware of some of the changes.

Regardless whether students are enrolled in remote or in-person learning, conferences will be held the same way for all students; scheduled via Zoom or phone call. Email conferences are also possible. To help provide information clearly, additional information can be found below by grade level.

Elementary

All elementary families will be contacted by classroom teachers to schedule a conference. Additionally, families might be contacted by specialists and/or teams to schedule a conference. If you are not contacted by a specialist and/or teams but have a concern or wish for an update on your child’s progress, please email the teacher directly.

If you have a student that receives special education services, please reach out to your special services provider directly.

Zoom conference appointments may need to be prioritized for students with academic or emotional needs.

You will notice that effort grades for art, general music and PE are blank and the skills checklist boxes for each of the subjects are marked “N/A.” Due to the late start and hybrid schedule, students have had limited contacts with these teachers and has not allowed adequate time for teachers to gather data to assign grades. We anticipate that typical grading will be back in place for the second quarter and throughout the rest of the year for students learning in-person.

Secondary (middle and high school)

Middle and high school families may be contacted by the academic team or by individual teachers to schedule a conference. If you have a concern or wish for an update on your child’s progress, please do not wait for an email and contact the teacher directly.

Zoom conference appointments may need to be prioritized for students with academic or emotional needs.

Please continue to monitor ParentVUE for your student’s academic progress. As always, any time that you have questions about how your student is doing in class, contact the teacher.

Olathe Public Schools administration

Student Privacy:

Reminder for parents/students in remote learning: As it’s wonderful to highlight your experience with remote learning, to respect and maintain student privacy, please refrain from taking pictures of your screen when other students can be individually identified. We appreciate your help in respecting the preferences of other students.

Parent Education Seminar:

The first topic of the 2020-21 Parent Education Seminar is "How to Address Topics of Race and Culture with Your Child" (English) (Spanish). Presenters are district staff, Erik Erazo, Coordinator of Diversity and Engagement, and Marquis Harris, Facilitator of Diversity and Engagement. The community is invited to this virtual presentation addressing race and culture on October 8, 6-7:30 p.m.

Attendance Corner

Welcome Parents to the 2020-21 School Year. A few suggestions to help us tackle attendance for your student(s) during this hybrid learning experience. Attendance is more crucial during these unprecedented times. We ask that you notify Chisholm Trail Attendance Office, preferably before 8:00am with your students all day absence. You can use any of the following methods of contacting us:

1. Call dedicated Attendance Line (voicemail only) – 913-780-7241

2. Call CST Main Line – 913-780-7240 (voicemail after 4:00pm)

3. Email Connie Bray, Attendance Secretary @ cbraycst@olatheschools.org

*all emails will be responded to with a follow-up email for verification of receiving

Information needed to report absence:

· Student Name

· Student Grade

· Your Relationship to Student

· Reason for absence (i.e. illness description, appointment, etc.)

· Phone number to return call (if needed for further info)

Due to remote learning, if your student checks out for an appointment, we ask for a second notification to Attendance (again via any of the 3 methods listed above) if student returns to learning with a time of return. If you contact your student(s) teacher via email please cc Connie Bray with info as to help us.

Please refer to this request as we proceed to continue to help make this school year as positive as we possibly can. We are always here to assist you in any way we can. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions. Thank you, and together we can do this.

Attendance Secretary,

Connie Bray

Need technical support? Go here for solutions and direction...consider bookmarking this page.

https://www.olatheschools.org/domain/3042

Surface Go Tip

If students are unable to connect to WiFi (example: worked one day but not the other):

o Press and hold the Power button until the screen goes black (ignore the “swipe to shut down PC” option)

o Press Power button again

o Give it a minute to restart – this should “kick out” new updates to Surface Go

Instructional videos for StudentVUE:

StudentVUE video tutorial ENGLISH: https://youtu.be/36ODz_CxG9o

StudentVUE video tutorial SPANISH: https://youtu.be/MZqHT8Kwqwk

Olathe Public Schools parents,

As we approach the first day of school on Tuesday, September 8, we wanted to share some vital information for families to get ready for the school year ahead.

ParentVUE and StudentVUE Training for Parents
With the expanded use of ParentVUE and StudentVUE as the district’s learning management system, helping parents navigate the system is vitally important. The district will be offering parents ParentVUE training to teach families how to log into ParentVUE and StudentVUE, how to access student course and class content and the class website for each teacher.

The parent trainings will take place via Zoom. See attached flier for more information on dates, times and how to sign up. Additionally, if you would like to watch a video to learn how to log in and use ParentVUE and/or StudentVUE prior to the trainings, you can access videos in English and Spanish. Here is a direct link to the ParentVUE video tutorials in English and Spanish: https://bit.ly/2EZDa9K. Here is a direct link to the StudentVUE video tutorials in English and Spanish: https://bit.ly/3bgE4uN.

Technology and Learning Help Desk
Parents and students in need of technology or learning system help can contact the Technology and Learning Help Desk via phone at (913) 780-8058 or via email to helpdesk@olatheschools.org. The Help Desk will be open from 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Mental Health Support for Families
The mental health and social emotional growth of our students is a great focus in the Olathe Public Schools. Attached is a document that outlines various ways our families can seek support. Please reach out to your child’s school if you feel your child needs help and support.

Student Learning Logs
Learning logs have been shared with you and our community as a requirement of KSDE for students when they are learning at home. However, KSDE has recently shared the specific situations that will require learning logs. In Olathe, we will have very few, if any, situations where this will be needed. If students have access to daily live instruction and we take attendance when we see students participating, we should meet the requirements.

District Parent Guide
The Parent Guide to the Olathe Public Schools: This helpful guide will serve as an informational tool for you in addition to resources readily available on our district website www.olatheschools.org. The guide contains information on the Board of Education, a listing of feeder schools, transportation, health services, safe schools, student information, directory information, FERPA and school hours.

Please visit with your building principal, if you have any questions.

Best wishes for an outstanding year!

Olathe Public Schools Administration

Parent_Training_for_Synergy.pdf (8.3 MB)
Mental_Health_brochure_ENGLISH.pdf (179.9 KB)
08102020_English_Parent_Guide_ENGLISH.pdf (741.7 KB)

Lunch and Breakfast Pick-up at CST--the short version...

We will plan on curbside pick-up in front of the school. Food will be hot and bagged ready to hand off. First day instructions...

1. Please have your kids with you the first time you pick up meals
2. You'll receive a red card you can use after that for meal pick up (instead of bringing all kids every day)
3. If you haven't yet registered, you can go to their website and do that---click https://www.olatheschools.org/Page/10605
   
4. Registering for meals each week helps our kitchen staff with meal counts
5. More details in earlier emails (below) and linked
   

Carryout Meal Service

Students who are receiving remote instruction while the District is operating under any of the learning models will have carryout breakfasts and lunches available for pick-up at their home school.

These meals must be pre-ordered via the MyPaymentsPlus.com website or mobile app 1-week in advance of the week the meals are wanted. You may pick up your meals at whichever site is most convenient.

The meals will be boxed/bagged during lunch time from the serving line in the lunch room. You will pick up and pay for the carryout meals inside the front entrance of the school.

Facemasks are required to be worn when picking up meals.

Breakfast and lunch meals are free of charge for all children ages 1-18 years old

To ensure the Federal limit of only serving 1-breakfast and 1-lunch to each child each day is met, the following procedure will be in place for picking up carryout meals:

On the first day you choose to pick up carryout meals, have all children present with you at the school pick-up location. If this isn’t possible, you may arrive the first day and explain your extenuating circumstance.

You will be issued the cards needed and the number of children for whom you’ll be picking up meals will later be verified. You will be issued one carryout meal card for each of the children for whom you’ll be picking up meals. From that point on, you only need to bring the cards for the children for whom you’re picking up meals – the children will no longer need to be present.

Carryout Meal Pick-up Times

Middle School Breakfast and Lunch Pick up time: 11:30am-12:30pm on School Days

High School Breakfast and Lunch Pick up time: 10:30am - 12:00pm on School Days

(Exception: No meal service will be available on September 25th or October 9th)

All this info and more can be found HERE!

Olathe families,

The Food Services division of Olathe Public Schools wanted to share a few updates regarding student meals. Earlier this week, the USDA announced they would be extending flexibilities for the summer food service program to run through December 2020 or until Federal money is no longer available. This means school breakfast and lunch will be served free of charge to all children aged 1-18.

If you have already pre-ordered for a week of meals, we ask that you honor the location you have selected. Moving forward, when you place a meal pre-order, you will be able to choose a location most convenient to you for daily pickup.

To ensure the district and families are following USDA regulations, on the first day you choose to pick up carryout meals, please have all children present at the school pick up location. If having your children with you isn’t possible, you may arrive and explain the circumstance and receive the meal cards. The number of children for whom you’ll be picking up meals will later be verified.

The carryout hours are:

Elementary Carryout Meal Pickup Time

11:00 -12:45

Middle School Carryout Meal Pickup Time

11:30 - 12:30

High School Carryout Meal Pickup Time

10:30 - 12:00

Food Services' website has been updated to make it easier to find the Pre-ordering information along with an instructional video: https://www.olatheschools.org/domain/2915

Due to the limited time we anticipate the free meal funding may be available, it is important that families continue to submit updated free/reduced meal applications if there are any changes in household size or income. Household applications are accepted throughout the school year and, if approved, are effective through the last day of the 2020-2021 school year. In addition, households must still apply for meal benefits to be eligible for building fee and/or bus transportation discounts.

If you have questions, please contact Food Services at catering@olatheschools.org or (913) 780-7005.

Sincerely,

Olathe Public Schools Food Services

You should receive an email and a text alerting you of the updated weekly. If you do not have an email we do not have an accurate address. Please contact Melynda Marquardt to be added or verified.

CST Data Operator: Melynda Marquardt (mrmarquardt@olatheschools.org)

Receptionist: Chrissy Walters

Assistant Principal's Secretary: Angie Peterson

Attendance Secretary: Connie Bray

Bookkeeper/Principal's Secretary: Andrea Wescott

Data Operator: Melynda Marquardt

School Nurse: Jennifer Ross

Please keep info updated (email, phone number, medical, etc.). Contact the office at 913-780-7240 if you are concerned you may be missing communication or need to update your family's information.