Hearst Family Update
December 12, 2021
Principal's Message
Good afternoon, Owl families,
As we enter the last full week before the winter break, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank you for all that you are doing to keep our community safe, healthy, and full of joy this year. For me there were two particular small moments of joy that brought a smile to my face this past week. The first was early in the week during arrival when I looked over to see Ms. Murphy and Mr. Jackson, the bus attendant and driver for some of our littlest Owls in the ECE CES class, playing with them and pushing them on the swings in the tot lot. Even though our staff were on the tot lot and ready, willing, and able to supervise the kids, they stayed because they were having fun and they wanted to spend more time with the kids. As a school, we've often had challenges with our OSSE bus transportation and I was thrilled to share this moment of joy with OSSE and DCPS because it was so heart-warming.
The second moment of joy came while I was doing 1st grade recess duty last week and swinging next to one of the kids. We had been swinging side by side for a few minutes when she told me that adults couldn't swing and I definitely couldn't swing. When I asked why, she said that I was going to break the swing! That certainly raised an eyebrow and when I looked at her with said raised eyebrow, she quickly said that because I was pumping my legs to swing, they were getting stronger and stronger and my big muscles would make me too heavy for the swing. Her quick-thinking recovery has me smiling as I type this! :)
Thanks for your continued support and I hope you had a great weekend,
Jen
About Us
Email: attendance@hearstes.org
Website: www.hearstes.org
Location: 3950 37th Street Northwest, Washington, DC, United States
Phone: (202) 282-0106
Facebook: facebook.com/hearstes
Twitter: @hearstes
News and Announcements from Hearst
Upcoming Key Dates
- December 15 - LSAT Meeting, 4:30-5:30
- December 23-January 2 - Winter Break for Students and Teachers
Quick Updates
- Reminder: For the safety of our kids, dogs are not allowed on school or playground grounds, particularly at arrival and dismissal. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation!
Reminder: 2021-2022 Class Names
- Dawkins - Silly Spiders
- Haith - Trusty Turtles
- Shea - Blue Birdies
- Clark - Efficient Superstars
- Gray - Rocking Rainbows
- Prince - Cool Cupcakes
- Ouellette - Black Tip Sharks
- Schiers - Powerful Pepperoni
- Volpe - Golden Falcons
- Boyle - Elegant Eagles
- Solms - Smart Serpents
- Marber - Mighty Minions
- Thompson - The Golden Phoenixes
- Burleigh - Creative Corgis
- Halpern - Daring Dalmatians
- Duvall - Super Snakes
- Madzongwe - Shadow Clan
- Dilley - The Fierce Ferruginous Pygmy Owls
- Lee - Special Snowy Owls
- Diaz - Brilliant Blue Whales
Reminder: 9th Annual Hearst Elementary Day at AU Men's Basketball on Jan. 1, 2022
FAQs From Families
No questions were submitted this week!
Reminder: Asymptomatic Student Testing on Wednesdays
Starting the week of 11/8, our asymptomatic testing time will move to 9:45am on Wednesday. During a typical week, we will pull test a random sample of approximately 25% of students who have not opted out of testing. Knowing that some students in this group will not be able to produce a sample or their saliva sample will be rejected, this will allow us to ensure we are hitting the goal of testing 20% of our students each week. Know that we will attempt to test at least one student from each homeroom each week. Here are a few things to know about asymptomatic testing :
- Teachers will be provided with names of students to be tested and those students will be escorted by staff to our testing location.
- Because the test is a saliva test, students identified for testing cannot eat, drink, chew gum, or have on chapstick an hour before their testing window.
Families of kids who are tested will receive notification that their child was tested and information on how to access the online portal where they will be able to view results. Your child may indicate that they were pulled for testing but they were not given a letter with online portal log in information. If this is the case, this means that your child did not produce enough saliva to fill the test tube. Please reach out to Ms. Johnson (kestaganer.johnson@k12.dc.gov) with any questions and/or if you would like to opt your child out of asymptomatic testing. If you wish to opt-out your student from receiving any COVID-19 test at school, you must complete the available at osse.dc.gov/page/school-based-covid-19-testing and email it to the school at kestaganer.johnson@k12.dc.gov.
The website to access results is: https://shieldt3k12.pointnclick.com/ and our Agency Code is: HearstES and the website . As a parent, you should be able to enable notifications be sent to you if a testing result is available for your child.
We believe that the email you use to register on site has to be the primary contact's email used to enroll your child. You will also have to wait at least 12 hours until after the student was tested for the agency code to work.
News and Announcements from DCPS
DCPS LSAT Budget Webinar on Wednesday, December 15
JOIN US!
DCPS is updating the way that funding is allocated to schools for Fiscal Year 2023 (School Year 2022-2023) through a revised budget model that focuses on students' needs. To learn more about this revised model, the budget process, and the LSAT's role in school-level budget development, join our colleagues from the DCPS School Finance Team for an LSAT webinar next Wednesday, December 15 at 5:30pm via Microsoft Teams.
Reminder: COVID-19 Vaccine for Students
The COVID-19 vaccine is the best way for us to help stop the spread of the virus and keep our community safe. On November 2, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that children ages 5 and older are now eligible to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
To help DCPS families get vaccinated, free school clinics will open beginning November 8.
Any DC youth ages 5-11 can visit an elementary school site to receive their first dose, while students ages 12 and older should visit a secondary school location. There is no appointment needed, and the parent / guardian accompanying the student should bring a valid photo ID for themselves. Student IDs are not required, and second doses will be available at schools in December.
Parents who are unable to bring their child will have the option to print and sign a form allowing a trusted family member to accompany their child to the pop-up vaccine clinics. The trusted family member should bring the printed forms along with a photo ID.
You can see a full list of other locations for youth ages 5-11 to get the COVID-19 vaccine and their operating hours at https://coronavirus.dc.gov/page/get-vaccinated. DC Health on Twitter shares the status of doses available each evening as school sites open, tickets are distributed to families, and clinics may reach capacity -- https://twitter.com/_DCHealth.
While vaccine consent forms are available at pediatric clinics, you can also now access them online at these links:
Additionally, information has been posted for student athletes 12 and older at https://www.thedciaa.com/covid-19-vaccine-mandate and https://dcpsreopenstrong.com/vaccines/#covid-19-vaccine-for-ages-12-and-student-athlete-requirement.
We encourage all our families to take the life-saving step of getting the vaccine as soon as possible.
Thank you for prioritizing the health and safety of our school community, so that we can safely continue in-person learning throughout the year.
Holiday Travel Reminders
With the fall and winter holiday season approaching, please continue to review and follow DC Health travel guidance. We encourage families to limit travel as much as possible as part of our Stronger & Safer Together Pledge.
DCPS will continue with in-person learning throughout November and December, and schools will be closed for students on the following days per our school year calendar:
- December 23-31
News and Announcements From Other Organizations
Reminder: Next W3EdNet Meeting on Monday, December 13 at 7pm via Zoom
The next meeting of the Ward 3 - Wilson Feeder Education Network (W3EdNet) is on Monday, December 13 at 7pm via Zoom (link below).
We are very happy to host DCPS Director of School Finance Allen Francois to talk about DCPS budgeting and anything he can share on plans for a new budgeting model.
Register in advance for this meeting here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Upcoming meetings:
- Monday, January 10 at 7pm via Zoom: Council Member Christina Henderson will share her vision for education in the city and take questions.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Melody, Karin, and Brian
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The Ward 3 - Wilson High School Feeder Pattern Education Network (W3EdNet) is a group made up of PTO Board and LSAT members as well as other interested community members. We aim to work together to support schools in the Wilson feeder pattern, host community events of common interest, and advocate for better schools across the city.
Website: https://www.w3ednet.com/
Twitter: @W3EdNet