Northpoint Elementary
September 23, 2020 Newsletter
See translation information below / Consulte la información de traducción a continuación.
Hello Northpoint Families,
I hope you are enjoying this lovely weather! I have a feeling this fall will be beautiful, if the early changing leaves are a hint of what is coming!
As we are in the midst of our second full week of school, we’re working hard to settle into routines that will support student learning and the health and safety of all at Northpoint.
Modified Campus learners are practicing physical distancing and using masks as expected. Teachers at school are engaging students in meaningful work that will set the foundation for learning this year, via face-to-face and online learning.
Our Extended Flexible Learning staff is focused on the same goals and through both live, real-time, “synchronous” and self-guided, “asynchronous” instruction, students in these classes are getting to know their teachers and one another.
I so appreciate everyone’s willingness and ability to adapt to these flexible learning environments! That being said, the school year is still quite young. Each day we’re figuring out the appropriate balance of assignments and how learning at school and at home days will work best. The key to our collective success is to keep communicating – if you have questions or concerns, please be in touch with your student’s teacher(s), Mrs. Lawson our coordinator for student services, or me.
For families in Modified Campus (Hybrid):
Please be sure to read any updates from your children’s teacher(s). The information they share will help you understand your child’s experiences for both at school and at home learning.
Thank you for your attention to notices regarding arrival and dismissal. We are shaving off a little time every day, with the goal making these processes as efficient as possible!
For families in Extended Flexible Learning (Distance Learning), please see Kim Fehringer’s update this week for our Extended Flexible Learning families below.
Thank you for your flexibility, support and patience and for all the ways you are supporting your student’s learning. We appreciate learning from the experiences of our families and need your partnership in order to create the best learning environment possible for each child.
Judi Kahoun
Principal
For Extended Flex Learning Families: Materials pickup, technology and attendance reporting
Greetings Extended Flexible Learning Community,
The warm temperatures may be reminiscent of summer, yet the school year is well under way. Teachers are reporting active learning and engaged students. Students are reporting that they are excited about their teachers and classes. I just heard a video recording of a student who says she “loves, loves, loves school!” This is exactly the response we, staff and families, are looking for and we continue to work hard to make this happen for each student.
Three quick updates for you this week:
- Materials pick up: If you were unable to pick-up your students’ learning resource pack at the District Services Center today (September 23), please contact your child’s teacher. We will be happy to arrange another day/time for you to gather these resources.
- Technology help: Many technology issues have been and are being resolved, however if your family continues to face technology challenges, please reach out to our technology services team, techsupport@district16.org or 763-600-5555. Our tech staff is happy to assist you, and please know they are working as quickly as possible to get to and resolve any issues.
- Reporting when a student will be absent: We ask that you please call your home school attendance line to report a student absence when a student is not able to attend and/or participate in "live" sessions, and/or complete daily work expectations. This includes when a student is ill or will miss instruction for other reasons, including vacations, appointments, etc.
Thank you, families, and have a great week!
Kim Fehringer
Principal on Special Assignment
K-4 Extended Flexible Learning
What to expect if teachers need to be absent
Absences are going to occur as they do in any school year – for all kinds of reasons. Fall allergies, colds and flu are on our doorstep as we also continue to see COVID-19 cases in our communities. We expect teachers will have days when they aren’t at school or are not able to fully engage in learning. We will honor a teacher’s right to privacy, and we want families to know what to expect as teacher absences occur this year.
For Modified Campus (Hybrid) Learners:
- If a teacher needs to be absent and is unable to teach, your student will have another teacher in the classroom. We will communicate a plan with families any time a teacher's absence will exceed a week.
- If a teacher needs to be absent and is still able to teach, they will continue to teach from home using our technology tools with support in the school classroom provided by other staff members who are onsite.
For Extended Flexible Learning (distance learning), if a teacher needs to be absent and is unable to teach, your student will have an adult who checks on the class and establishes the plan for self-guided (asynchronous) learning for the day. If the absence is extended, we will communicate a plan with families.
If you have questions about the approach for supporting the continuation of learning, please contact the school office.
Music: Learning, Health and Safety
We continue to offer meaningful and safe music education opportunities for students in both the Modified Campus Schedule (Hybrid) and Extended Flexible Learning (Distance Learning) learning models. Our music educators and health staff have spent significant time developing opportunities and reviewing health and safety guidelines to support deep learning and protecting health.
If your student participates - or is considering participating - in music opportunities, please take a moment to learn more about how we're approaching the learning and health and safety protocols on the Music: Learning Approach and Health and Safety page.
Car line Arrival/Dismissal Reminders
- For dismissal, please do not line up prior to 3:35 p.m. The car line is reserved for the preschool program dismissal from 3:15 - 3:35 p.m.
- Please have your student's name clearly displayed on your car dash for dismissal.
- When lining up for parent arrival or dismissal, please DO NOT BLOCK any of the entrances to our neighboring businesses.
- Follow the flow of traffic; do not pull in front of other vehicles.
- Drive as far forward as you can in the line before dropping off or picking up your student.
- Ensure your student exits and enters curbside at all times.
- Do not exit the vehicle to help your student in or out; please have student enter and exit the vehicle independently; there will be staff available to help your student if needed.
Printed Newsletter Request
The Northpoint PTO would like to welcome families to the 2020-2021 school year. Our first official PTO meeting of the school year will be Monday, October 5. This meeting is later than normal in order to allow families to get in the groove of the school year. This meeting will be held virtually. More details will be shared on how to join the meeting closer to this date. At this meeting we will be having our board elections. We currently have the following positions open:
- Vice President or Co-Vice Presidents
- Co-Secretary
- Volunteer Coordinator or Co-Volunteer Coordinators
- Social Media or Co-Social Media Coordinators
If you have any interest in these positions or any other questions for the PTO please email nppto.president@gmail.com.
In case you missed important information from last week's newsletter, check out the topics below and click to learn more.
- School meals this fall
- Technology Tools, Resources and Log Ins – find technology support, tutorials and FAQs
- First Days of School Flickr Album
Translate This Newsletter / Traducir Este Boletín
To translate this newsletter information to another language, please click anywhere on the newsletter to open it in a web browser and at the top of the page, select your language from the dropdown menu.
Para traducir este boletín de noticias a otro idioma, por favor presionen en cualquier lugar del boletín para abrir el boletín en un navegador web y en la parte superior de la página seleccione su idioma del menú.