Dolphin Weekly
5.24.20
We are proud of our 8th grade class! Congratulations! We look foward to celebrating with you on June 4th at 5 PM at the Clifford Virtual Graduation Ceremony!
Dear Clifford Community
We will soon be ending this unique school year and there are many emotions surrounding it. In some sense it will be great for all of us to get a break. A break from packets, online learning, and daily battles with probably some grumpy and unmotivated kids. I know that there are many mornings I find myself trying to get my two teenagers up in the morning for their Zoom classes, while at the same time my meeting on Zoom is on mute and I am trying to keep the toddler from standing on the table. Yeah, those mornings will be smoother as the school year ends and the summer begins. However, there will also be some tears as this is not the way we typically end a school year. Normally, we have parties, dances, graduations, and play dates on the playground after school as the daylight stretches out longer and longer into the evening. Our kids miss their friends. I miss seeing you, your kids and the staff.
None of us signed up for this. Not you, me, teachers, the district, or our kids. We won't have closure in the way we know it this year. However, for what it is worth, I want you to know that I am proud of you and your children. I am proud of our staff and our entire Clifford community. We are strong and united and together we figured this crazy online school thing out- sure we stumbled and it wasn't always perfect but we stayed the course for better or worse. You trusted us as professionals to make sure your kids were learning and thriving. We worked together and became co teachers on this journey. I see our parent/teacher partnerships being even stronger going forward. I see our children better prepared for the digital world, and acclimating to changes without much effort.
Our kids have gone through something none of us have and no doubt they will be stronger because of it. I have hope for our future even in the darkness of this Global pandemic. When we are all able to come back to school on campus and our World has quieted down, we will rebuild our lives slowly but surely. We will all come out stronger- we're just those kind of Dolphins.
Thank you for supporting our staff,
Jude
Upcoming Events
Next Week
- Mon, May 25 - Memorial Day - No Distance Learning
- Tues, May 26- TK-2 student item pick up 10-3
- Tues, May 26- SSC @ 5:30 PM https://meet.google.com/wxk-efbx-bnc
- Wed, May 27 - 3-5 student item pick up 10-3 & Library Book drop off
- Thurs, May 28- 6-8 Student Item pick up/drop off 10-3
- May 29 - REVISED Last Day of Instruction for Students (to allow for staff development and planning for 2020-21)
Upcoming
- Thursday June 4th @ 5PM Clifford School 8th Grade Graduation! You're invited! Click here to enter our virtual graduation!
- Wed, Aug 19 - First Day of Instruction, 2020-21 School year
K-5 Pick Up and Drop off of School Items
- Kindergarten - 2nd Grade: Pickup Tuesday 5/26 between 10:00-3:00
- 3rd-5th Grade- Pickup Wednesday 5/27 between 10:00-3:00
There will be staff in the drive through circle to help you find your items while you wait in your car. At this time, we will also be collecting classroom books that you may have borrowed from your teachers. If you could bring those in a bag labeled with the teacher’s name, that will help us get them back to their correct classroom. If you have children in multiple grades at Clifford, we may ask you to return during that pickup window since we will have minimal staff on site to coordinate collecting all these materials. We appreciate your flexibility and your understanding. Mrs. Parrish will be on site coordinating this effort, so if you have questions you can email at tparrish@rcsdk8.net.
You may drop off library books, text books at this time. If you left library books in your classroom, these have already been collected and returned.
6-8 Pick Up and Drop Off of school items
Hello Middle School Parents,
We went through and packed up all items that were left behind in middle school lockers this week. There are very few items to be picked up across 6-8 grade, so we are making the middle school pickup day Thursday 5/28 form 10:00-3:00 for all grades 6-8. You only need to come pick up items if your student left items in their locker, or if you had a student in Mr. Candelaria's class. This pickup will still happen at the upper lot, so enter the drive through circle and travel to the upper lot through that parking lot. Please reach out to Tiffany Parrish at tparrish@rcsck8.netwith any questions.
- Drop off textbooks/teacher books
Library Book can be dropped off at this time
Instrument drop off upper lot
Note from our Music Teacher:
Instrument Collection Information
It is that time of year that we must collect ALL Clifford musical instruments! Please see the below information and instructions.
All school instruments and school owned music books need to be returned. Please bring the instruments with you to the Middle School Personal Items Pick Up on the scheduled day and time.
Procedure:
Put all supplies you are returning in the trunk of your car
Follow directions for the personal items pick up.
PLEASE DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR CAR! Just let us know that you have an instrument to return.
Unlock your trunk, and a staff member will get the instrument out of your car
Thank you,
Carol McNamara
Chromebooks
RCSD Grading Policy Spring 2020
The following grading policy for the emergency school closure was approved by the RCSD Board of Trustees:
Grades TK-5: Use scores from Trimester 2 as the final end of year grades. The 3rd trimester scores are left blank. Teacher comments will be filled out.
Grades 6-8: Grades entered in early March prior to school closures will need to move over to the Passing/Incomplete marking with teacher comments. The teacher comments will allow the teacher to give affirmations to students who are able to excel during this difficult time but also be able to document those students who have not been able to complete assignments without marking adversely affecting grading. Honor Roll will only be calculated based on Trimester 2 grades. Students earning an Honor Roll award have already been notified and a certificate has been mailed to their parents.
Record cards will be mailed home between June 4 and June 8 and will include a note that the report card reflects the COVID-19 School Closure time period.
Provide Input on School Attendance Boundary Change
RCSD seeks the input of the community as the school district studies its attendance zone to shift the current attendance boundary areas of neighborhood schools. The district’s school boundary change study comes after the moves and mergers of programs and consolidation of schools.
A demographer’s presentation took place on 5/20 at the School Board Meeting. Click here to view the slides.
This page includes the latest updates from RCSD including next steps and a form for community input.
Additional Food Benefits Available
Because schools are closed due to COVID-19, children who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals can get up to $365 in food benefits in addition to their pick up meals from school. These food benefits are called Pandemic EBT or P-EBT. Click here for more info.
Zones of Regulation
Parent Toolkit from folks at Zones of Regulation & Stop and take a mindful minute
Clifford School
Principal: Jude Noyes
Vice Principal: Tiffany Parrish
Office Manager: Mayra Guerra
Office Assistant: Maria Stockton
Email: jnoyes@rcsdk8.net
Website: https://www.rcsdk8.net/clifford
Location: 225 Clifford Avenue, Redwood City, CA, USA
Phone: 650-482-2402