Ordean East Middle School News

Happy Monday!

We have worked hard to get all of our students and families connected through Canvas and Infinite Campus. This work continues as we strive to get access to all of our students. If your child is 12 or younger, a COPPA form must be signed and on file by Friday, Sept. 18 in order to keep their account active. COPPA Letter & Link to Form

This week, full academic content will start!

Academic Content begins this Thursday, September 17. The first full week of content will open on Thursday by 9:00 am.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week students will learn more about their classes, teachers, and each other. Orientation to distance learning will also continue through Wednesday with new activities appearing.

Some updates included in this newsletter:

Materials Pick-up
Online Interaction with Teachers - THIS IS IMPORTANT!
Digital Learning Center: Links for support and video tutorials
Attendance: Student-driven in Distance Learning
Connecting to your students in Canvas as a parent/guardian
Free Breakfast and Lunch

Textbook-Instrument-Materials Pick-up

6th Grade- Wed., Sept 16th 9:00am to 3:00pm

7th Grade- Thurs., Sept 17th 9:00am to 3:00pm

8th Grade- Fri., Sept 18th 9:00am to 3:00pm

(If you have kids in multiple grades, we can accommodate pick-up on the same day.)

Staff will be at the main entrance of OEMS, off 4th St. Pull up to the curb and a staff member will approach your car to get your student's name. We will retrieve all of the materials and bring them right to your car. Please have instrument rental forms filled out and checks written out to Ordean East Music Department.

You may also drop off forms. We have additional copies available to fill out if needed. If you have not picked up your reserved Chromebook, stop by or give us a call to make arrangements.

Thank you for wearing a mask when the OEMS staff approach your car.
We look forward to seeing everyone this week!

ATTENDANCE

We know that many of you have started this successfully already. Great job! As of Monday, every student will need to log in to mark themselves present for each course daily.

Students will enter their attendance daily through Infinite Campus
Video instructions can be found below
Teachers will review the instructions and give reminders
Starting Monday, if you forget a day, email dawn.warner@isd709.org to clear the absence. It's okay if you forget sometimes! We are here to help!
If you have trouble logging in to mark yourself present that day, email Dawn in the attendance office the next day.

Canvas Learning Management System

Each class on your child’s schedule can be accessed on their Canvas Dashboard

Go to isd709.instructure.com
Username is their Student ID/Lunch Account # (see sticker on schedule)
Password is their Network Password

Content for each class will be released on Thursday mornings, for an entire week, due the following Wednesday by noon.
As we ease into the academics, the first nine days of school will include Orientation, Internet Safety, & Community Building activities. Research tells us that it takes about two full weeks for students and staff to get to a spot where online learning starts to smooth out. Hang in there!
A week’s worth of academic content will average 3 hours of workload per week

6 classes x 3 hours = 18 hours of reading, building knowledge, creating projects/products, and completing assigned tasks

Watch the video tutorial here to learn how to pair with your student to monitor their progress in Canvas. All grades will now be housed in Canvas until the system rolls them into Infinite Campus.

FREE BREAKFAST AND LUNCH

Free bagged meals are available weekdays when school is in session to children 18 years of age and younger.

Parents/Guardians can pick up the bagged meal without students present.
Even though meals are free, we encourage families to fill out the Application for Free/Reduced Price Meals.(See below for instructions and links.)

Qualifying for free or reduced price lunch may also qualify your family to pay a lower fee or no fee for school activities.

Educational Benefits (Free/Reduced Lunch) Application:

Even though we are starting the year in distance learning, it is important that you fill out this form now. It impacts many aspects of school funding in addition to the family benefits of meal assistance.

Breakfast and lunch will be available for pick-up at Ordean East throughout Distance Learning. A new application must be completed every year. Applications are available on the OEMS and district website, click https://paypams.com/OnlineApp.aspx to log in and complete your application. Eligibility will be determined by each family’s ability to meet specific requirements. Failure to turn in a completed application will forfeit your child’s ability to have a free/reduced lunch, waiver of instrument rental fees, waiver of activity and athletic fees, etc. If you would like support completing this application, please contact the Child Nutrition office at 218-336-8789.