Staying Connected
September 20, 2020
Last week we had a wonderful start to the school year. The children were fabulous! They were so happy to be at school and we were so happy having them with us once again. On Monday we welcome our kindergarten and preschool students. When we do, we will be complete!
Half Day of School on Wednesday, September 23rd
Half day parent pick up time is 11:45-12:00 pm. Buses dismiss at 12:00 pm.
This week there will be no PM Preschool.
Regular parent drop off time in the morning is 8:45-9:00 am.
Regular parent pick up time in the afternoon is 3:00-3:15 pm.
Arrival and Dismissal Information for Families (This was in the September 13th newsletter)
Please stay in your car unless your child needs help getting out or into their car seat or seat belt. If stepping out of your car, a mask is required. Students need to be wearing a mask to enter the school. We will have some on hand if needed.
We also ask that no car pass another car during arrival and dismissal. Please wait for a signal to pull away from the curb. We do not want to have any vehicles moving as students are walking down the sidewalk.
This year we will be using a dismissal program to help with parent pick up. This is something new and there are likely to be kinks to work out. Expect the first day to be much slower. Please have patience with us as we are try something new. In the end, it should all work really well and no one has to walk so far in the rain and the cold! Bonus!
On the first day of pick up, you will receive a display tag which will be used for future pick ups. These tags will help us in notifying the classroom teacher when you have arrived for your child(ren). For families with multiple children, one tag includes all children in a family. This program has more features we will likely use once we get this part perfected.
Buses are planned to arrive at the end of parent drop off and pick up time. Not knowing how all of this is going to work out, we may have to direct families to wait to pull up so that we can get some buses loaded or unloaded. Hopefully we won't have to.
Preschool Information
Morning preschool dismisses at 11:30. Please pull up to the front of the school and we will bring the children out.
Afternoon preschool dismisses at 2:30. Please pull up to the front of the school and we will bring the children out.
Remember, on Wednesday this week, there is no PM preschool.
Dismissal Identification Cards
Kindergarten families will receive a dismissal card when they come to pick up their child this week.
Dismissal cards for students who typically ride the bus will be sent home so that should there be a need to pick up, families will already have their child's identification card. Copies can be made by families if needed.
We will not use these for preschool at this time, but may consider doing so in the future.
Lunch and Breakfast (This was in the September 13th newsletter, one slight change in bold)
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently extended universal free lunch and breakfast under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) through as late as December 31, 2020! In essence, this means that Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District will be providing free meals to all students for the first several months of the 2020-2021 school year, whether at school or learning remotely, regardless of families’ financial means.
To enable accurate preparation and delivery of meals to classrooms and for curbside pickup, families will need to pre-order meals. Visit the School Nutrition Department’s page on the District website for menus and additional information. https://www.stgrsd.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=914292&pageId=2632424
More information will be sent on Monday.
For remote learning students, families can pick up lunch and next day's breakfast between 11:00-11:30.
My understanding is that an alternate pick up site is being arranged. I believe this location will be the Granville Town Hall. There was the potential that this would start this Monday, but I have not received any information to confirm this.
Drive down to the school, drive along the last row of parking spots and the transportation department fence, proceed to the end and pull up along side the curbing.
When there are holidays, we will double up the day before.
Kindergarten Arrival
Support will also be provided during dismissal time.
The teachers are Mrs. Irwin, Mrs. Giguere, Mrs. Schindel, Mrs. Garvey and Mrs. Scorzafava.
Masks
Following the Woodland and Powder Mill School Health and Safety protocols and in accordance with the STGRSD Face Covering Policy and CDC guidelines, we require all students and staff to wear masks that adequately cover both their nose and mouth.
The types of masks that will be permitted for use include: disposable surgical masks and washable cloth masks (2 layers are most effective).
Masks that will not be permitted include: bandanas and gator style masks.
Southwick Public Library
The Southwick Public Library aims to provide the best possible service to our residents and students during the time of COVID-19. Due to COVID, we need to limit the number of patrons in the building at a given time. We are open our normal hours of Monday & Tuesday 10-8, Wednesday 1-8, Thursday & Friday 10-5 and Saturday 10-1. We offer appointments for browsing and computer use every hour on the hour. To reserve a time, please call ahead at 413-569-1221.
To meet the needs of students, beginning September 15, Monday-Friday from 2pm-5pm our four public use computers will be reserved for students only, regardless of grade. Parents, please be aware we have a limited number of computers in the children's room. If your child needs a computer, they may need to use a machine in the main library. Students are welcome to use the library as needed and after school, although we do ask that you call ahead and make an appointment. Appointments are for 1 hour. If you arrive without an appointment, we may be able to accommodate you if there are open slots, but if there aren't open slots, we are unfortunately not able to let any extra patrons in the building. If we are at capacity of the number of patrons in the building, we cannot offer access to any additional patrons, even to use the restroom.
Children under the age of 10 must be accompanied by an adult. When signing up for a time, please let us know how many people there will be in your party.
Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to Lynn Blair, Director, Southwick Public Library at 413-569-1221 ext. 105 or email lblair@cwmars.org.
Granville Public Library
The Granville Public Library is open for limited browsing on Wednesday 3-8 pm and Saturday 10:00 am-noon. Limited to 3 adult patrons at a time, or one family in the children's room. Masks required.
Library director: Lise LeTellier (413) 357-8531