Friedell Middle School
November 30 - December 4
The Week Ahead!
Please take time away from school to enjoy the Thanksgiving Break! Stay safe and be well!
Here is the Schedule/Day Calendar for the week after Thanksgiving!
November 30 - B Day 2 (Class periods 4, 5, 6, 7)
December 1 - A Day 1 (Class periods 1, 2, 3, Advisory)
December 2 - A Day 2 (Class periods 4, 5, 6, 7)
December 3 - B Day 1 (Class periods 1, 2, 3, Advisory)
December 4 - B Day 2 (Class periods 4, 5, 6, 7)
Students have access to a form in their grade level Google Classroom that they can update with their schedule for the week. We are including another version of that document here.
Upcoming Dates:
December 2 - Parent Session on Understanding Our Triggers, so We Can Share Calm Instead of Chaos (6:00 p.m.) Click on the image below for a link to the session!
December 8 - Question and Answer Sessions for incoming 5th grade families
Friedell Parent Portal Information
We have developed great resources for parents or those looking to support students at home.
This site is called the Parent Portal! The link to our Parent Portal is found in a few places, and will be with the link in this message, or by clicking the picture above as well.
There really is quite a bit of information in the Portal, including PTSA info, schedule info, how to contact teachers, tech tutorials, and more! We have recently created a short (10 minute) video on some of the features. If you would like to explore starting with the video, the link can be found here.
Student Mental Health Resource
Rochester Public Schools recognizes that we are all experiencing increased stress and worry during this time. In response, RPS is now partnering with community agencies to provide free virtual consultations to help address worries you might have about your child's mental wellness. These sessions will typically be with a community provider, not with an RPS staff member. Visit https://rochestermnschedule.as.me/ to schedule a 45 minute appointment with a trained mental health provider to discuss your concerns. These consultations can help you clarify what help your child might need and think about next steps. The mental health provider you meet with can connect you with resources for help. What is discussed during the consultation is confidential.
Click on the picture above for additional details! We also have an upcoming event for families, more information is in the picture below!
Attendance Reminders
We continue to have a number of students reporting absences to their teachers. Please remember that parents and guardians need to report absences to the office even during Distance Learning (DL). This is for a number of reasons, but mostly for accuracy of reporting, and for tracking of symptoms of illness. When someone states they are leaving because they are not feeling well to a teacher, the office still needs to follow-up with that student and family to track symptoms.
To make absence reporting easier, we have added an additional way to submit that to the office. This can be done online through your Skyward Family Access portal. To help with instructions, we have created a video that takes you through reporting absences in Skyward!
Please report all attendance absences through the office in some way. All absences that you know about in advance (Dentist, Doctor, Ill, Sports, etc.) need to be done through the office. Please realize that the office does need to be alerted if students are leaving a class early as well (an example would be leaving 15 minutes prior to the end of class). The office will notify the teacher of the absence or departure in all of these cases.
We realize that sometimes students are in class and marked absent. This happens for a number of reasons (not responding to questions, internet/technology issues, etc.), and we know that there will be times that we need to change attendance. If a student is in class, and marked absent, please have the student contact the teacher to work through this issue. The office will not be able to change any attendance marked by the teacher without the teacher's consent.
GOOGLE CLASSROOM - Parent Edition
Google Classroom is the main communication tool between your Friedell student and his or her teachers. Directions, classwork, homework, quizzes, links to Google Meets, etc. are all posted to Google Classroom.
Parents can receive Google Classroom Summaries, a daily or weekly email of all of the posts that went out to your child. Parent/Guardian summaries also include a list of missing work, upcoming work, and class activity - assignments, announcements, directions, homework, etc.
If you would like to receive email summaries, parents/guardians need to do 2 things:
Step 1: Fill out this form (https://forms.gle/CsKymZduQyq6Bhh3A) with the email or emails you would like Google Classroom to send summaries to.
Step 2: Accept the email invitation. This invitation can look like 'Spam' or 'Phishing' so please read carefully! The email should arrive within the week in order to accept Google Classroom Summaries. You need to click "Accept" within the invitation email in order to start receiving summaries. After you accept the invitation, you will then have the option to receive daily or weekly email updates.
Reminders:
- Parents do not download the Google Classroom app. All communication will come through emails.
- If you were receiving Google summaries last year and you were a Friedell parent/guardian, there is no need to sign up again for that child. You will need to fill out your info again if you have a new 6th grader, your child is new to Friedell, or if your email has changed.
Our Library is OPEN!!!
Please do not let getting a book be a barrier! We are now making weekly deliveries on Wednesdays. You can check out a book any day, but we will work to deliver books that have not been picked up yet each week on Wednesday!
In addition to checking out books from our library, please remember we have thousands of eBooks available on the student iPads. If you are interested in this option, please follow this link!
Notes from our Health Office
Click the image below to find out more information on a FREE Flu Shot Clinic!
We encourage you to refer to the district’s Coronavirus Information Page at https://www.rochesterschools.org/Fall2020 for up to date information as well as essential resources. If you or your student will be coming on campus for any reason, we are asking everyone to complete an at home screener to keep everyone safe and healthy.
For your reference, here is the at home screener: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GgyPlajlg5LxrkSJSd1clzv40rs1vuLI/view
If you are calling in your child due to illness, we do ask you note any and all symptoms your child is experiencing. This is important information as we continue to work with public health to keep our community safe and healthy.
More than ever before, it is important everyone 6 months of age or older receive an flu vaccination. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a rough flu season could cause serious issues for our community, further reducing school attendance and stretching our health care resources. As a reminder, there will be no flu vaccination clinics for the 2020-21 school year. Please call your provider or public health to discuss. Of note, there are also many pharmacies offering flu vaccinations in the community.
Administration
Principal
507-328-5644
Nichole Bergerson
Assistant Principal
507-328-5629
Student Support Services
School Counselor
507-328-5638
heduellman@rochester.k12.mn.us
Katee Harmon
School Social Worker
507-328-5639
Office Staff
Office Manager
507-328-5650
Rachel Schnell
Receptionist
507-328-5650
Krista Anderson
School Nurse
507-328-5632
kranderson2@rochester.k12.mn.us
Sara Gnagey
Licensed School Nurse
507-328-5632