The Weekly Buzz
A Weekly Newsletter from Corner Middle School
Volume 2, Number 11: September 13, 2020
Talking About the Corner Middle School Re-Opening of School Plan . . .
The district will use an A/B Model to gradually re-enter students to schools in order to help in monitoring COVID-19 numbers, practice social distancing routines on the campus and in the classroom, and to acclimate students back into a traditional classroom routine. Students who wish to remain in the remote setting may do just that.
The "A (Group) Days" are on Monday and Tuesday for the two-week period. Wednesday will be used for deep cleaning. The "B (Group) Days" are on Thursday and Friday. Students with the last names beginning with A-L will come to the campus on the A Days. Students with the last names beginning with M-Z will come to the campus on the B Days.
The district's plan will return students to CMS and other Jefferson County Schools beginning September 21, 2020. On that day, only students who are in our self-contained class will return to school on the A/B Day schedule for two weeks. On October 5, 2020, the remainder of our students in grades 5 through 8 will return to campus on the A/B Day schedule for two weeks.
As was stated last week, should all go with the gradual return to school, the district plans for each group to return to a 5-day a week schedule two weeks after each start date. That would be:
Self-Contained Students: October 5, 2020
5-8 Students: October 19, 2020
This week, we worked on our updated instructional schedule that will be put in place upon the return to students in the traditional setting. Those schedules will be in The Weekly Buzz next Sunday. In addition, we will share our re-opening of school plan which addresses instruction, transportation, health services, cleaning of the school, communication, and child nutrition once it has been approved by the superintendent.
The administration and Continuous Improvement Leadership Team will be reviewing survey data on Monday to look at parent suggestions for the safe and effective re-opening of school. We look forward to seeing ALL of our students back on campus very soon!
CMS Return-to-School Survey
Thursday, we asked CMS families to assist us in preparing for the re-opening of school for the 2020-2021 school year. Families were sent a survey via Blackboard Communicate text AND through all of the various CMS-related Facebook pages on social media.
As of 5:00 today, we had 236 responses to the survey which we will utilize to shape our return to school plan. The results to this point look like this:
Of the respondents, 90% indicate a plan for their child to return to school in the traditional setting. Almost 60% will need bus transportation, and 75% have a school-issued device.
CMS families who have not submitted a survey by noon on Monday will be contacted by phone beginning Monday, September 14, 2020, to gather this information. Should two parents/guardians have completed the survey for a student and provided differing responses, they will be called to get clarification.
If you have not completed the survey, click on the link below. Thank you so much for your assistance!
Frequently Asked Questions about the Re-Opening of School
What if my children in our household have different last names? Will they have to come on the A or B Days designated by last name if they are in two groups or could they come on the same day? Blended families who have students who fall into the A or B groups may choose one or the other to attend. If you fall into this category, please email our counselor, Chloe Whitaker, at cwhitaker@jefcoed.com to make this request and assist us in planning.
Why is there only one day of cleaning built into the re-opening of school plan? At CMS, we clean and will continue to clean everyday. That is what occurs in all Jefferson County Schools. It is, however, hard to really clean a school with kids in it. That is why we have a deep cleaning day scheduled for Wednesday. We will also disinfect between Friday at close and prior to opening on Monday. We want a safe and sanitary environment for our students and staff.
What if we did not get a school-issued device on Remote Learning Pick-Up Days? CMS either issued or shared 404 Chromebooks and 30 laptops to students in our feeder pattern. As we return to school, the Jefferson County Board of Education realizes we still have a number of students without school-issued devices. We will work to utilize our computer labs and our iPads, but encourage any student who has a personal device that is mobile and usable to bring that with them to school as we will continue to use Schoology in this hybrid model. All students who were issued a school device should bring it with them when they return to campus.
Do we need school supplies that were on the supply list sent to us in August? It would be helpful to have those supplies when your child returns. Remember, however, we pared that list down drastically, and we shared a wish list. It is up to you to fill those wish lists, however, your students' teachers have worked SO HARD over the past month to have a successful remote opening of school. They have spent much of their own money to get much of what is necessary to teach in this new environment. Any assistance you can provide with extra supplies would be greatly appreciated.
Will we have to pay fees when we return to school? Unless you are playing a sport, participated in an organizational fundraiser, or had an outstanding balance from last year, we have not collected fees or donations from any families. We will wait until Jefferson County approves the collection of fees to do so, but we will work with any family who needs assistance to get class fees paid. In addition, I know that our teachers would greatly appreciate the donations for their classrooms for the remainder of the year. We just gave out 404 Chromebooks to our students and students at other schools in the feeder pattern. We do not waste your donations to Corner Middle School. That money goes to your teachers and to your students.
What happens if someone gets sick with COVID-19? Corner Middle School will follow the Jefferson County Board of Education protocol designed based on guidelines from the CDC, the Jefferson County Health Department, and the Alabama Department of Public Health. The exact protocol will be shared with all CMS families in next week's Weekly Buzz.
We will answer more of your questions next week.
Corner Middle School Schedule for September 14, 2020 - September 18, 2020
Monday, September 14, 2020
Remote Learning Schedule - ALL Classes WebEx
CMS Volleyball at Corner Middle 5:00
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Remote Learning Schedule - ODD Classes WebEx
CMS Cross Country Meet at CMS 3:30
CMS Football at Moody 6:00
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Remote Learning Schedule - EVEN Classes WebEx
CMS Volleyball at Corner Middle 5:00
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Remote Learning Schedule - ODD Classes WebEx
CMS Softball Tryouts at Corner Middle 3:00
CMS Cross Country Practice 3:00
Friday, September 18, 2020
Remote Learning Schedule - EVEN Classes WebEx
CHS Football at Alexandria 7:00
PLEASE FINISH SCANTRON TESTS BY 9:00 A.M. ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14th. THANK YOU!!!
How Can We Help You?
Quote of the Week . . .
"There is no doubt in my mind that there are many ways to be a winner, but there is really only one way to be a loser and that is to fail and not look beyond the failure."
--Kyle Rote, Jr. (American Professional Soccer Player and Coach)--
Corner Middle School
The mission of Corner Middle School is to serve our community of learners by:
· Utilizing highly-effective instruction and a challenging curriculum.
· Meeting the needs of diverse learners in order to prepare them for college and entry into the work force.
· Partnering with the community.
· Cultivating student leaders.
· Integrating technology into all areas of learning.
Email: mmanning@jefcoed.com
Website: https://cornerms.jefcoed.com
Location: 10005 Corner School Road Warrior, Alabama 35180
Phone: (205) 379-3230
Facebook: facebook.com/CornerMS
Twitter: @CornerMiddle