This coming week, teachers will be emphasizing practices for Digital Citizenship. This week and through the year, teachers will provide developmentally appropriate lessons on topics including procedures use of technology at school, skills for informational literacy, practices for internet safety, privacy and security, and online communication. General resources are posted on the District website (scroll down for parent links). Common Sense Media offers parent resources organized for children of various ages.

Students and staff will practice our first earthquake drill on Thursday, October 21. In the case of an earthquake, students and staff duck, cover and hold until the adult determines it is safe to leave the classroom. Using a designated path away from the buildings, students evacuate and assemble on the grassy field. Some teachers remain with students to provide supervision, while others fill duties related to search and rescue, first aid, communication and student release. The equipment and resources contained in our earthquake bin will allow us to keep your student comfortable until you are able to get to school. This is a good time for you to talk to your child about our school plan and your plans at home should an earthquake occur. Please let us know if you or your child have any concerns. Given current conditions, we will keep students in their cohorts for this week's practice.

If we were to have any kind of school emergency, we would attempt communication with families through calls and emails using the Blackboard Connect system. This is the same system I use weekly for notices, sending the Leaf and any phone calls for announcements. If you are not receiving email or phone messages from us, let us know right away, and we will correct your contact information in the system.

One more thing: If we were to have an emergency that forces us to dismiss students mid-day, students can only be released to the grown-ups you listed as emergency contacts. Please take a few minutes to check the contacts you listed when you registered your child. Please provide names of several local adults your child would be comfortable with, and make sure you have a communication plan with those individuals should there be an emergency. Thank you!