The Faculty Family BobChat
May 10, 2020
How Will We Finish the School Year?
I hope you've enjoyed a great Mother's Day weekend. We want to celebrate all the ladies who make a difference in the lives of our children. (Same for our guys, too.) As of today, there are 16 days left to the school year. As we wrap up these next few weeks, I want to provide you some guidance on what will happen during that time. 1. E Learning Assignments should be completed. We want to encourage all of our students to turn in all assignments by May 22. Parents, if there is any extenuating circumstances where your child is having difficulty accomplishing that, please reach out to your child's teacher. For 3rd-5th graders, students will receive grades of Pass or No Pass for the nine weeks based on the work they have completed. All K-2nd students will continue to be graded as we have the rest of the year on essential standards taught this nine weeks. (Not every standard can be assessed virtually.) As we do at the end of every year, teaching and learning will happen through the end of school. Teachers are planning lots of interesting and fun ways to close the year with their students. 2. Returning items to school. We are going to have a drop-off time on June 1 and 2 for all library books, leveled reading books, and books borrowed from teachers to be returned to school. Anything needing to be returned should be put in a plastic or paper bag with your child's name and his/her teachers' names and grade level on the outside. We will send more specific information closer to that time. Please start looking now for items needing to be sent back to us. Note: 3rd through 5th graders will keep their laptops this summer so they can continue learning. 3. Picking up items that need to go home. On the same two days of June 1 and 2, we will have a bag of items sent home for each child. These will be all items from cubbies and lockers and classrooms that belong to your child. We will take all appropriate safety and health precautions as we receive items from you and send items to you. The process will be similar to how we did pick-up and drop-off when we sent out our first set of packets. During the weeks of May 18-29, teachers will have time at CPES to help prepare the bags and do a classroom shutdown. We will not be able to allow parents or students in the building for the rest of the year. For our fifth graders, if safety guidelines allow, we hope to do a recognition ceremony for them in August before they transition to middle school. We will send a "save the date" once we finalize that. We want to do all we can to finish well. Please let us know if you have questions or suggestions as we wrap up. More specific instructions about drop-off and pick-up will be sent to you. Thanks again for all you are doing to support your child and our school. Strength and blessings to you.
Mr. Maness, Principal
P.S. Drop-Off and Pick-Up Times for Monday, June 1--11:00-1:00 and 4:00-6:00
Drop-Off and Pick-Up Times for Tuesday, June 2--7:00-9:00 AM and 11:00-1:00
Family Matters (For Staff Only)
Work Schedule--See below for what day on May 18-27 you are assigned to work. I will send the schedule for May 28 and June 1-2 on Monday. Please complete the survey as soon as you can if you haven't already. Also, please remember that children of staff members will not be allowed to come into the building during any of the days through June 5. We want to keep everyone as safe as possible.
PD Reminders for Certified Staff (Please read below and please complete the survey so we can know how to plan PD for you for next fall.)
K-12 Social Studies Professional Learning (Please Share with Teachers)
May
- Zoom Meetings with all grade level/course social studies teachers to ensure teachers have access to all current resources for the 2020 social studies standards.
Elementary Schedule
Middle and High School Schedule
Teachers can register in KickUp.
June-July
- Graduate Online Course offered through Winthrop for K-12 social studies teachers.
Elementary Flyer
Middle and High School Flyer
Teachers should register using the link on each flyer. - Balance with Blended Learning book online book study.
Worth 20 re-certification points. Teachers can register in KickUp starting next week. Teachers will need to purchase their own book. - SCDE will be releasing Units of Study for the 2020 social studies standards in July. Units will be available on the SCDE website.
Live Virtual Professional Learning (Please Share with Teachers)
Please click this link to access the list of Live Virtual Professional Learning Opportunities for the upcoming week that support remote learning.
Professional Learning Needs Assessment (Please Share with Teachers)
The Professional Learning Needs Assessment has been shared. We will ask you to use the feedback from the needs assessment along with other points of data to identify your Professional Learning focus/goals for the year. Please encourage your staff members to complete it on or before May 11th. (I sent an email to anyone on our staff who had not completed it.)
Dates for Rest of the Year
May 11-20--Instructional Days
May 18-28--Teachers Re-Enter for Classroom Closeouts
May 21-22--Catch Up and Turn In Days for Students
May 25--Memorial Day Holiday
May 29--Bad Weather Makeup Day (No Instruction)
June 1-4--Students Drop Off and Pickup Materials
June 5--Teacher Workday
(Please be mindful to continue teaching and interacting with students up until the end just like you would if we were in school. You can do similar kinds of activities that now are online in nature.)
Remote Working Guideline Reminders (For All District Employees)
The two items below were pulled directly from the guidelines and each employee should ensure that they are following these expectations.
- Our school district’s general operating hours are between 7:30-5:00. Each employee has specified work hours based on their job category. Employees should not be working and/or being compensated by other means, during their normal work hours.
- Employees are expected to be available during their scheduled work hours for phone calls, email and other messages, teleconference meetings and scheduled meetings at the school or central office. Employees are expected to maintain the same response times as if you were at your regular work location.
Green Apple Energy Shutdown Checklist – when you’re through and ready to go, shutting back down again will help us capture as much as 30% of our entire year's savings – and keep our cash in the classroom instead of going to the utility companies. Please take this shutdown seriously and commit to its success. Completing the electronic checklist can also earn you prizes, to be awarded at the start of school next year!
Transfer Dates
The last day for a certified employee to submit a transfer request is May 28th. The last day for a principal to submit a transfer recommendation to personnel is June 19th. As we interview and fill positions, we want to keep this in mind.
Professional Learning Conference for Elementary--Will be Monday, August 10 from 8:00-3:30 at South Pointe High School. Please put this in your calendar and plan to attend.
Presenting at our Fall 2020 Professional Learning Conference--I would encourage all of you to consider presenting at the conference in the fall. So many of you have such good strategies and ideas. Read on. We are asking all school and district level coaches, principals and assistant principals to strongly consider submitting a proposal to present at the 2020 Professional Learning Conference. Please see the information below. This link allows access to a document that outlines focus areas for the conference sessions. Presenters may select presentation topics that address any of the focus areas outlined in the overview. Proposal Submission Form--Click Here.
FY 2020-2021 Teacher Supply Checks – Please share with your teachers by May 15
In compliance with Proviso 1A.9 of the S.C. general appropriations act for fiscal year 2019-2020, districts must notify all individuals entitled to receive teacher supply funds the manner in which these funds will be dispersed in the upcoming school year. Teachers will receive their teacher supply checks on the first day they officially report to duty for the school year 2020-2021. Please share this information with your teachers no later than May 15, 2020.
Group Meetings By Days of the Week
Mondays--9:30 Office Staff; 12:00 Fifth Grade; 2:00 Third Grade
Tuesdays--9:00 Related Arts; 3:00 Faculty Meeting
Wednesdays--8:00 Kindergarten; 1:00 Fourth Grade; 2:00 Second Grade
Thursdays--11:15 First Grade
Fridays--9:00 Resource/Support
Group Meetings By Grade Level
Kindergarten--Wednesdays at 8:00
First Grade--Thursdays at 11:15
Second Grade--Wednesdays at 2:00
Third Grade--Mondays at 2:00
Fourth Grade--Wednesdays at 1:00
Fifth Grade--Mondays at 12:00 (Please note the change!!)
Related Arts--Tuesdays at 9:00
Resource/Support--Friday's at 9:00
Office Staff--Monday's at 9:30
6. Birthdays
May 12--Mandy Riley
June 1--Cara Rezzai
June 3--Chana Sanders
June 15--Jordan Pope
June 27--Melinda Reid
June 28--Jennifer Fant
June 29--Rocio Kiker
(If your birthday is not listed this month, please let Mr. Maness know.)
School News
Plans for the End of the Year--As a district and school, we are working to determine how best to wrap up the end of the year now that we know we will not bring our students back to campus . If you have suggestions, please feel free to email Mr. Maness mailto:pmaness@rhmail.org. Our highest priority is the safety of our students, parents and staff. As always, we want to think through how we can end as well as we can given the circumstances. Let's think about what we can do more than focusing on what we can't do.
E-Learning through the End of the Year--Here is a schedule for e-learning through the end of the year.
May 11-20--Instructional Days
May 21-22--Catch Up and Turn In Days for Students (All assignments should be turned in by May 22.)
May 25--Memorial Day Holiday
May 26-28--Instructional Days and Activities
May 29--Bad Weather Makeup Day (No Instruction)
June 1-2--Students Drop Off and Pickup Materials/Instructional Days and Activities
June 3-4--Instructional Days and Activities
June 5--Teacher Workday
Special Area Activities for May--Click on the button below for suggested activities for PE, Art and Music.
Teacher Appreciation--Thank you so much for all the ways you supported our teachers last week. If you still need to drop off items for Teacher Appreciation, there is a black bin with a yellow top at the door where you can do that.
Spring Pictures Refunds--If you have already paid online with Lifetouch, they will refund your credit or debit card. If you wrote a check, we will give your check back to you.
Need Help? If you need assistance, please contact the district at helpme@rhmail.org or call our dedicated phone support hotline, 803-980-2016 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. on weekdays. You can also access resources on our District webpage: https://www.rock-hill.k12.sc.us/ (Please see below if you need technology assistance.)
Update Your Contact Info
Remote Learning
Staff Email Addresses and Office Hours--Can be found in the links below.
Technology Assistance--For technical issues such as logging into Canvas and Launchpad, connecting to wifi, resetting passwords, device troubleshooting, etc., the Rock Hill Schools Technology Department staff will be on-call from 8:00am - 8:00pm and can be reached via email at helpdesk@rhmail.org or via phone at (803) 985-3531. Technology help tutorials will be published at: https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rock-hill.k12.sc.us%2Felearning&data=02%7C01%7CPMANESS%40rhmail.org%7C10c38360cc8d442c802808d7cdca73c5%7C57b835c11a6c40088e2fb2a16e5f738a%7C0%7C0%7C637204141727260450&sdata=YuZ8uNvg%2BLbNyY%2FZF9ppuTRY2C1dJRTrYoa2JBVDLSw%3D&reserved=0. Click on the Parents & Students button in the left-side menu for access.
Or your child's teacher can submit a tech request as they normally would. Each school tech is still monitoring tech requests as usual.
French and Spanish Resources--Click on the button below for some helpful resources to support your child in continuing to learn a second language.
Need Wifi Access? See below flyer from Comporium about how to access free Wifi for 60 days.
PTO and SIC Information
Parent Teacher Organization and School Improvement Council Update
The PTO serves to raise funds, coordinate volunteers and encourage teachers through appreciation activities. Click on the PTO Newsletter button below if you wish to receive the PTO Newsletter: PTO and SIC are tentatively planning to meet on the second Monday of each month next year. School Improvement Council meets at 5:30 (in the Fish Bowl) and our Parent Teacher Organization meets at 6:30 (in the Media Center.) Elections were held in the spring for these organizations but all parents are welcome to attend to help provide input and volunteer. Meetings will be held on March 9, April 13, and May 11 (if needed.)
Calendar of Events
All school events before, during and after school have been canceled for the rest of the year.
May 4-8--Teacher Appreciation Week
May 10--Mother's Day
May 22--Bad Weather Makeup Day
May 25--Memorial Day (No School)
May 29--Bad Weather Makeup Day
June 1--11:00-1:00 Drop-Off and Pick-Up; 4:00-6:00 Drop-Off and Pick-Up
June 2--7:00-9:00 AM Drop-Off and Pick-Up; 11:00-1:00 Drop-Off and Pick-Up
June 4--Last School Day