Can you believe that it is October? This school year is flying by and before you know it, Thanksgiving will be here. We have installed the signage for our new school wide behavior expectations across the building since our last newsletter. SOAR (Safe, On Task, Always respectful, and Responsible). You will see this more as you walk throughout the school. Please talk with your students about what these four rules mean in every setting related to school.

This month is busier than ever as we will have inductions to the Jr. Beta Club, Camp Leopold field trips for 4th graders, a stage production of Hansel and Gretel, Literacy Night with Jonathon Haupt (Executive Director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center) and our first PTO Family Fun Night in over three years! These are big events, but we have even more things happening at our school. If you have not joined the PTO, please do so now to take advantage of the benefits that they provide members.

We encourage you to talk with your students about our October AVID Strategy of the Month: Learning Logs (KWLA, DLIQ, Stretch Journals. etc). These are strategies that students are using in class to help them learn Math, Reading, Writing, Science, and Social Studies.

Parents of Lex 2.5 that have students riding the bus, must sign up for free after school care. There is a 45 minute to one hour gap from the time that we end instruction at 4:00 pm and when the buses come. The Boys and Girls Club has agreed to provide free childcare during this time. In order for this to happen, parents of Lex 2.5 bus riders must complete the registration. Please check the notices, Dojo messages, flyers and other communications that you have received if you have a Lex 2.5 bus rider. If you have any questions, please contact the school.

Finally, we thank you for choosing Congaree Elementary School as your child’s school. We ask that you contact us if you have any questions or concerns about the school and how we can help you. Let's continue to work together, “Reaching New Heights.”

Christopher Dickey

Principal

-Per DHEC Quarantine and contact tracing for exposure to Covid-19 is presently

suspended unless there is an outbreak. An outbreak is defined as: 20% or more of the

children/students/staff within a group identified as having Covid-19, or absent or sent

home due to Covid-19 within 72 hours of each other.

-Students with Covid-like symptoms: Must meet one of the following criteria to return to

school: exclusion from school for 5 days and then wear a mask for days 6-10 upon return

to school, or a negative Covid test result, or medical note (with or without test result)

saying student is cleared to return. Covid-like symptoms can include fever (oral

temperature defined as 100.4 or higher), Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing,

Loss of taste or smell, New or worsening cough, Chills, Fatigue, Muscle or body aches, New

onset of severe headache, Congestion or runny nose, Nausea/vomiting, or Diarrhea

-When a student test positive for Covid, parents are required to provide proof of the

positive test results. For home tests, parents are to provide Nurse Ginny a screenshot of

the positive Covid test with the student’s name and date. Parents must also complete an

Attestation Form. Please ask Nurse Ginny for an Attestation Form if your child tests

positive for Covid using a home test. Attestation Forms and pictures of positive test

results can be sent via email or class dojo to Nurse Ginny. Students who test positive for

Covid are to be excluded from school for 5 full days since symptoms started or from the

day of testing if student does not have symptoms. Students can return to school on Day 6

and must wear mask days 6-10. In order to return to school students must have an overall

improvement in their symptoms and be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-

reducing medication. To ensure that the correct attendance code is used when your child

is out with Covid, parents must notify Nurse Ginny on Class Dojo, email (gshull@lex2.org),

or calling the health room (803-755-7450).