Alohomora!
Reading Elementary Roundup ~ August 24-28 ~ 2020

Welcome Back to School!
MON, AUG 24
- Professional Day for teachers
- No school for students
TUES, AUG 25
- Group 2 students learn in person - early-out schedule
- Group 2 students with last names L-R excused at 1:20pm - all others at 1:25pm
- Group 1 students learn from home
WED, AUG 26
- Group 1 students learn in person - early-out schedule
- Group 1 students with last names A-F excused at 1:20pm - all others at 1:25pm
- Group 2 students learn from home
THURS, AUG 27
- Group 2 students learn in person - early-out schedule
- Group 2 students with last names L-R excused at 1:20pm - all others at 1:25pm
- Group 1 students learn from home
FRI, AUG 28
- Group 1 students learn in person - early-out schedule
- Group 1 students with last names A-F excused at 1:20pm - all others at 1:25pm
- Group 2 students learn from home

Message from our PTA President, Jodi MulitaloOur theme this year is "Alohomora". It is a spell from the Harry Potter series that means "to open or unlock". I felt like this was very fitting and fun for two reasons. First, we have opportunities in school to metaphorically open or unlock many things. Some of these are: Opening our minds to reading, having patience with ourselves when it is hard to learn or understand something, learning different methods to math, learning new things in general, showing kindness and reaching out to those that my need an extra lift, and unlocking our minds to greatness and gratitude. The focus in each of these is to "unlock our minds". Second, I love the Harry Potter series for many reasons. It demonstrates the unique abilities that all of us have, as well as the capacity to handle difficult struggles and find the inner strength to endure or overcome them. I think this mentality may come in very handy during this year in facing COVID-19. Alohomora! | "The Big Five" Working Together to Stay HealthyAs we follow the health department's guidance for lowering COVID-19 related risk, we urge parents and students to continue to take precautions to slow the spread of the virus. We can help each other stay safe by practicing good hygiene, social distancing, wearing masks when social distancing is not possible, looking out for high-risk individuals, and staying home when sick. You can also keep informed about current conditions and do your part in sharing credible information. Doing these things will help us strengthen our community. Videos for elementary students explaining "The Big 5" are included toward the bottom of this newsletter. Link to the District's COVID-19 "FAQ" Page: \https://www.davis.k12.ut.us/departments/risk-management/covid19/covidfaqs | Rich? Maybe Not. But We Do Have Openings The following positions are open at Reading Elementary. Please contact the office for information on how to apply! Playground Supervisor needed each Monday and Wednesday from 10am to 2:45pm. Love the wind? Love the sun? Do you know how to apply Band-Aids? Do you like to hear students' funny stories? Are you nice? This job is for you! 504 TA needed Monday-Thursday from 10am to noon. This employee receives training from the district on everything from diabetes management and food allergies to concussions and the 3 B's - "booboos, bloody noses and barf". This is technically a shared position and the hours may change at the semester. Classroom TAs are needed in some of our grade levels. We are hoping to find employees able to work Monday-Thursday so both groups of students have access to help. Sharing the job between two employees would also be considered. These teacher assistants usually work with directly with students in small groups or one-on-one. In lower grades the primary focus is reading, and in upper grades the primary focus is math. |
Message from our PTA President, Jodi Mulitalo
Our theme this year is "Alohomora". It is a spell from the Harry Potter series that means "to open or unlock". I felt like this was very fitting and fun for two reasons.
First, we have opportunities in school to metaphorically open or unlock many things. Some of these are: Opening our minds to reading, having patience with ourselves when it is hard to learn or understand something, learning different methods to math, learning new things in general, showing kindness and reaching out to those that my need an extra lift, and unlocking our minds to greatness and gratitude. The focus in each of these is to "unlock our minds".
Second, I love the Harry Potter series for many reasons. It demonstrates the unique abilities that all of us have, as well as the capacity to handle difficult struggles and find the inner strength to endure or overcome them. I think this mentality may come in very handy during this year in facing COVID-19.
Alohomora!
"The Big Five" Working Together to Stay Healthy
As we follow the health department's guidance for lowering COVID-19 related risk, we urge parents and students to continue to take precautions to slow the spread of the virus. We can help each other stay safe by practicing good hygiene, social distancing, wearing masks when social distancing is not possible, looking out for high-risk individuals, and staying home when sick. You can also keep informed about current conditions and do your part in sharing credible information. Doing these things will help us strengthen our community.
Videos for elementary students explaining "The Big 5" are included toward the bottom of this newsletter.
Link to the District's COVID-19 "FAQ" Page: \https://www.davis.k12.ut.us/departments/risk-management/covid19/covidfaqs
Rich? Maybe Not. But We Do Have Openings
Playground Supervisor needed each Monday and Wednesday from 10am to 2:45pm. Love the wind? Love the sun? Do you know how to apply Band-Aids? Do you like to hear students' funny stories? Are you nice? This job is for you!
504 TA needed Monday-Thursday from 10am to noon. This employee receives training from the district on everything from diabetes management and food allergies to concussions and the 3 B's - "booboos, bloody noses and barf". This is technically a shared position and the hours may change at the semester.
Classroom TAs are needed in some of our grade levels. We are hoping to find employees able to work Monday-Thursday so both groups of students have access to help. Sharing the job between two employees would also be considered. These teacher assistants usually work with directly with students in small groups or one-on-one. In lower grades the primary focus is reading, and in upper grades the primary focus is math.

Mask Exemption Information
https://coronavirus-download.utah.gov/Governor/State-Public-Health-Order-UPHO-2020-11-v.2.pdf
Face coverings are required of all students, employees, and visitors due to the Public Health Order issued by the Utah Department of Health (see link above). This order provides for exemptions for very specific reasons. For parents who believe that these exemptions are applicable to their children, there is the Mask Exemption Form (see link at bottom). The request must be completed by a licensed physician and then presented to a committee of representatives of the Davis School District Risk Management and Nursing Departments for approval. This committee will ensure that the request is within the scope of the Public Health Order. Prior to approval of the exemption request, the individual in question must wear a mask when in a school building. Those who receive an exemption may be more susceptible to both COVID-19 spread and potential quarantine as that student will not have the same level of protection as those who wear face mask.
Strategies We Can Use to Help Students Wear Masks
These Suggestions Are From Utah's COVID-19 School Manual
- Try to always be positive when you talk about ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and wearing face coverings. This is a scary time for students. Students are likely to practice health behaviors to help others.
- Try to frame prevention as something positive we can do to reduce everyone’s risk, without letting students be scared.
- Consider asking parents, caregivers, and guardians to practice wearing cloth face coverings with students at home before the first day of school. If they show students how to use face coverings correctly and help them get used to wearing one before they have to in school, students may be more comfortable using one on the first day.
- Make sure there is someone to help students put on and adjust face coverings if students need help. Teachers and employees should wash or sanitize their hands before and after they help students with face coverings. Teachers and employees should ALWAYS wear a face covering when they are in close contact with students.
- Post signs in classrooms and in the hall to remind students how to wear a face covering correctly. You may want to use pictures of popular influencers or characters your students are interested in to promote or model how to use a cloth face covering.
- Remind students about face coverings during daily announcements, in the school newspaper, and any other medium students are likely to engage with. Make sure communication is written in plain language and available in different languages.
- You may want to include how to correctly use, take off, and wash a face covering in back-to-school materials.
- Play games or do fun activities to teach students how to wear a face covering.
- Use some art materials or other creative ways to help students understand how face coverings help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
- Read or share stories so students know what changes to expect at school.