Bulldog students and families;

It's been great seeing our students in our building learning along with us. Students have been arriving wearing masks and using hand sanitizer upon entering. We continue to remind students of keeping safe social distancing while passing in our hallways. Please encourage our students to refrain from hugging, hand-shaking, and conversing in close proximities. Overall, our bulldog students are doing a good job of working with us to remain safe.

We continue to communicate Covid exposures and positive cases through our school messenger system. We have extensive contact tracing procedures in place and will contact individual students and families in the event of a close contact exposure outlined by our district guidelines. We are working hard to keep these cases low.

We encourage you to follow any announcements from our district communications department as we safely return to in-person learning. We are attaching links to the latest district information and communications within this newsletter.

Students will notice our health and safety protocols upon entering the building. We have multiple hand sanitizing stations throughout our building, social distancing signage, and cafeteria seating to help us keep socially distanced the best we can. We have supplies ready to disinfect high traffic areas, cafeteria areas, and classroom spaces. Keeping everyone healthy and safe is our top priority and we will need a team effort from our staff, students, and families.

We are providing updated information to this link weekly to help keep our students and families informed of information related to remote learning and the return to in-person learning at Burke High School.

The week ahead on who is "in-person learning" and who is "remote learning". This will be on an ODD and EVEN day rotation.

Monday, October 26: A-K In-Person Day -- Even Day Classes

Tuesday, October 27: A-K In-Person Day --Odd Day Classes

Wednesday, October 28: L-Z In-Person Day -- Even Day Classes

Thursday, October 29: L-Z In-Person Day --Odd Day Classes

Friday, October 30: L-Z In-Person Day -- Even Day Classes

We have attached a downloadable PDF of our bell schedule when as we return to in-person learning and for our remote students. This will be an alternating Odd/Even day block schedule.

High School students return for in-person learning following the Family 3/2 model beginning on October 19th. We have attached downloadable PDF's of the Second Quarter of the Family 3/2 Model for in-person learning.

COVID-19 Close Contact Exposure

Two key critical factors that determine whether or not a person is in direct close contact with a known COVID-19 positive individual is as follows:

1. Close Contact: A person is considered a close contact when they have been within 6 feet of the COVID-19 positive individual for 15 cumulative minutes

2. Unmasked Individual: A person is considered a close contact when they have been within 6 feet of the COVID-19 positive individual for 15 cumulative minutes and face coverings are not worn by one or both individuals.

We are providing some visuals of the health and safety measures in place for our return with our in-person learning groups.

Due to health and safety concerns, our typical water fountains are off limits during this pandemic. We do have 4 water bottle fill stations in various locations to re-fill water bottles. Students are allowed to bring their own water bottles to keep with them through the day.

Students will receive a 5-pack of face coverings on the first day of reporting back in-person. Our teachers will provide these to students in their first block classes. Students can wear a personal face covering as long as it covers the face and nose securely. Bandanas are not considered face coverings and students will be asked to put on a face covering that meets our district guidance.

There are some face covering accommodations in place:

Face Covering Accommodations Will Be Provided for Students Who Meet One of The Following Conditions:

• Student is unable to remove a cloth face covering by themselves.

• Student has significant sensory needs in which a cloth face covering will cause pain.

• Student requires lipreading for communication.

• Student has a medical condition that will cause breathing difficulties with a cloth face covering.

We are partnering with Scholastic Photography to provide school picture packages and school identification pictures on October 26-27-28-29 through our English classes. Parents can download the school picture flyer attached here or can order on-line through Scholastic.

Flyers will also be distributed to students the week of October 19th.

Bulldog families can pre-order or pay by credit card with the following on-line option.

Online Ordering Link: www.ScholasticPhotography.com

Use Passcode: Bulldogs

If students are 100% remote learning, we are working with Scholastic to provide an alternative date for school pictures. We will communicate details once they are finalized.

Recognizing Those Who Make a Difference Everyday

The Alice Buffett Outstanding Teacher Award recognizes the achievements of skilled and dedicated educators in the Omaha Public Schools (OPS). Given to 15 teachers annually, the Award has recognized and rewarded nearly 300 teachers over the past two decades. Any Omaha Public Schools teacher or counselor (Pre-K through 12), with a minimum of two years experience, is eligible for nomination.

Each year we receive nominations from students (current and former), parents, other teachers, administrators, and the general public. Our deserving winners are publicly recognized and awarded with the following:

• $10,000 gift
• Alice Buffett Outstanding Teacher Award Medallion
• $1,000 in McDonald's gift cards

Submit a nomination today! The online form is available here: https://buffettoutstandingteachers.org/nominate

We are offering after-school virtual tutoring to students who are interested. This tutoring will be provided on Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday from 3:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. Students must sign up for an appointment with one of the tutors through Bookings. Information and links to Bookings are on our school website (within the daily bulletin) and included in this update. After booking an appointment, students will receive an email with a link to the Team for the tutoring. Subject areas include: English, math, science, technology support, ELL, French, and Spanish. Each slot is for 30 minutes. If you have addition questions, Laura Geiger can assist my emailing her at Laura.Geiger@ops.org

Click the DogHouse Bulletin for link to tutoring sign up:

https://burke.ops.org/

Regular school attendance is crucial to the development and education of students, and this is especially true during remote learning.

All students should be logged into their device and first block class at 7:40 a.m. and preparing for their first block class. This time is the official start to the school day.

If your student will be absent, even for remote learning, please contact our school attendance secretaries before 7:40 a.m. each day. If you leave a voicemail or email, please include your student's name and the reason for the absence. We appreciate your partnership and support and look forward to learning together in person soon.

Email addresses for attendance:

Cindy.Shulewitz@ops.org

Melanie.Pistillo@ops.org

Burke High School Attendance Phone Numbers:

531-299-2588

Burke High School Fax Number for Medical Notes:

531-299-2619

Student schedules are available to view through our Infinite Campus Parent/Student portal. The parent portal provides families and students opportunities to check grades, missing assignments, attendance,, view student schedules and many other features. If families or students do not have access to the parent portal, we ask that you contact Nyla Bodfield via email at nyla.bodfield@ops.org for assistance. Ms. Bodfield can also be reached at 531-299-3928.

Burke has a Community Counselor available to provide both in-person and telehealth counseling services to support you and your families during this difficult time. Visit www.bestcare.org/CCP to complete paperwork or contact the counselor directly for more information. Need immediate assistance? There is also a covid-19 emotional support talk line with counselors available Mon-Fri 8am-4pm.

Shelly Taylor, LCSW, LIMHP

Burke High School 531-299-2586

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner

The Omaha Public Schools has 4 school-based health centers that are available and open for all Omaha Public Schools students. As a result of Covid-19, we know many parents have experienced concerns about taking their children to the doctor. Vaccinations, physicals and health screenings are more important now than ever. School-based health centers are located at Bryan High School, Indian Hill Elementary, Liberty Elementary, and Spring Lake Elementary. Families can call and schedule an appointment at 402-734-4110.

Check out the following information for resources to support learning during Covid-19. The below resources may offer help in supporting parents who may need to continue to work from home, while also helping their children with remote learning or finding alternative childcare solutions.

We are attaching the latest district calendar for the 2020-2021 school year.

November 3: No School for students; Election Day/Professional Development for teachers

November 4: No School for students; Professional Development for teachers

November 25-26-27: Thanksgiving Recess; No School for students

December 11: End of First Semester

December 14 - January 1: Winter Recess