Pinto Press
Friday, January 8, 2021
A Message from Your Principal
Hello, Picotte families! I hope you all had exactly the type of winter break you and your family needed. It's 2021! It seems unreal to be typing that, but here we are. We've had a wonderful start to the second semester. It was so good to reconnect with our students, even though it was via TEAMs!
We will be returning to the Family 3-2 model beginning on January 19. If your child was in the All-Remote Instructional model for the first semester and you would like to change to the Family 3-2 model, please call the school. We'd be happy to adjust that for you. If you now prefer your child to be all remote after January 19, we can also make that change for you. Again, please just call the school or email me directly.
When we return to the Family 3-2 model, we will begin live streaming part of our Reading instruction to all students who are at home that day. Students will no longer watch a "Foundational Skills" video. Instead, they will join their teacher for live instruction. The videos have been a great tool, but nothing can replace the amazing teachers we have here at Picotte! The content taught during our Foundational Skills time is absolutely vital for building strong readers. We know it is a slight change and students (whether they are in the all-remote instructional model or are at home during their Family 3-2 days) will be on-line a bit more with teachers. But we are very excited to have our students spend more of their at home days with us! We are still finalizing our process. You'll be getting classroom-specific information, including the time your child must join for Foundational Skills, from your child's teacher.
Kindergarten registration for the 2021-2022 school year is now open! If you have a child who will be starting Kindergarten next fall or know someone who does, please register using the link below. The link is on our website as well. At this time, our regular Kindergarten Round-Up process is currently on hold. We can't wait to meet our "Soon-to-be" Pintos!
4th grade families will soon be making middle school decisions. There is a link below where you can learn about all our middle schools. On January 14, Buffett Magnet Middle School is hosting a Virtual Open House. See the flyer below for additional information and the link.
Enjoy your weekend. Please reach out if you have any questions or if we can help in any way.
With Pinto Pride,
Mrs. Schovanec
Counselor's Corner
As we work through character building we will spend the next couple of weeks on perspective, mistakes and moving forward. Third and Fourth grade will be working on some improvisation techniques to practice building on someone else's perspective. 2nd grade and younger will focus on making mistakes and how will learn and grown from them. We will also spend time on blame and acceptance. It's all about adaptability.
As always, if I am needed, I am a call or an email away.
Mrs. Ferree
iPad Battery Trouble? Check out these tips!
Battery Life of the iPad: A few things that could be draining your iPad battery:
- Tabs open in Safari- To close them, hold X on an open tab and hit "Close other tabs"
- Multiple Apps opened: Double click on the home button, a small version of all open apps will appear. You will need to swipe them off with your finger to close them out.
- Bluetooth is on: Go under settings and turn bluetooth off.
- Background Apps Refresh: In Settings, go to General, select Background Apps Refresh. Turn off apps that students do not use like maps, books, music, etc. This will prevent these apps from running in the background which will drain your battery and use data.
- Reduce Screen Brightness: In Settings, select Display and Brightness. You can lower the brightness of the screen. This is also better for the eyes!
- Cellular Data/Wi-Fi: If you are on a home Wi-Fi, you need to turn off the cellular data. If you are using the cellular data, you will need to turn off the Wi-Fi (under settings).
- Personal Hotspot: Under settings, turn off the personal hotspot.
Remember to charge all night for updates and battery charge!
Always use the charger that came with the iPad. Other chargers may not work.
Important Upcoming Dates
January 11-14:
- ECSE and EC Special Education students return in person
- All other students remain all remote
Wed., Jan. 13: Spirit Day!
Jan. 14:
- Buffett Virtual Open House for 4th grade families 6:00-7:30
Jan. 15: No School for students
Jan. 18: No School
Tues., Jan. 19:
- School resumes with Family 3-2 model
Wed., Jan. 20:
- NO SCHOOL FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD
- L-Z attendance group (K-4 ONLY)
- Spirit Day!
Jan. 25:
- PTA meeting, 7:00
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75075825641?pwd=UzJjc2pJNGJrNGhWOUc0d3lUbjFyQT09
Meeting ID: 750 7582 5641
Passcode: 49KmYy
Wed., Jan. 27:
- A-K attendance group
- Spirit Day!
Face covering information
Here's the scoop on Face Coverings in OPS.
- Multilayer cloth face coverings are required for all staff, students and visitors.
- Families are allowed to provide their own multilayer cloth face coverings. Please note: Gaiters are single layer and can only be used if doubled up and cover both the nose and the mouth.
- Plastic face shields are not a suitable replacement for multilayer cloth face coverings.
- Masks with a valve (as well as mesh masks or masks with openings, holes, visible gaps in the design or material or vents) are NOT sufficient face coverings because they allow exhaled droplets to be released into the air.
When to keep your child home
Below are the updated self-assessment questions for both staff and students:
Please ask these questions each day before sending your child to school
- Have you or anyone in your household tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 14 days?
- Are you awaiting a Covid-19 test result, following symptoms or a direct exposure to someone who tested positive?
- Have you had a fever of 100.4 or greater, a new cough, new onset of shortness of breath, new loss of taste or smell in the last 24 hours?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, your child should not come to school.
Please call the school anytime your child will be absent, even on at-home days. Attendance is taken every day.
Specials for All Remote Students
Daily Health Assessment (Updated 10-19-20)
Every day before they leave home, families must complete a self-health assessment, asking themselves three vital questions:
- Has the student or anyone in the household tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 14 days?
- Is the student awaiting a Covid-19 test result, following symptoms or a direct exposure to someone who tested positive?
- Has the student had a fever of 100.4 or greater, a new cough, new onset of shortness of breath, new loss of taste or smell in the last 24 hours?
If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, you will be expected to stay home.
Dressing for Winter!
We go outside for recess unless the temperature/wind chill is well below freezing. Please remember those coats and gloves!
Meals to Go
Omaha Public Schools is offering Meals2Go at no cost to any child ages 1 - 18 including remote learners.
Meals2Go bags will be distributed on Mondays (Monday and Tuesday) and Wednesdays (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) at all of the schools where meals are currently distributed.
- Elementary: 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
- Middle and High Schools: 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
- Program schools, Early Childhood Locations, TAC programs will not distribute the Meals2Go bags. Families may pick up meals at any of the other sites currently open.
PTA Links
Safety Links
Valerie Schovanec, Principal
Email: valerie.schovanec@ops.org
Website: https://picotte.ops.org/
Location: 14506 Ohio Street, Omaha, NE, USA
Phone: 531-299-1920
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PicottePintosOPS
Twitter: @OPS_PicotteFam