Dear Beck Families:

As we prepare to open school again, I wanted to let you know about some new faces you will be seeing around Beck. In our Media Center we are excited to welcome Mrs. Cheryl Boes. Mrs. Boes was a well-known face at Messmore and Plumbrook, but has made the move to Beck to replace Mr. Widener who moves up to the UCS Technology department.

Also new to Beck is our Young 5 program! Our school will be the home of 2 classrooms helping students 'bridge to kindergarten'. The new faces teaching there will be Ms. Chelsey Eatmon and Ms. Taylor House. We are excited to see them and welcome our newest Beck Vikings!

Another new classroom this year is our CORE+ Kindergarten. Our new teacher in CORE+ K will be Ms. Brittany Wood. We already have two CORE+ classrooms, grades 4-6 with Mrs. May, but our other new teacher for the grades 1-3 classroom is Ms. Hannah Quinlan. Ms. Quinlan is replacing Ms. Novelly who moved to CA.

The whole Beck staff is gearing up and getting ready to get started with our new crew to welcome all our returning Beck Vikings and our newest students. It's going to be a great year!

Mrs. Christine Wilson

Principal

Student Device Responsibility & Optional Insurance - For all Assigned 1:1 UCS Students

Utica Community Schools is proud to deliver 1:1 technology to our students. Depending upon the grade level, your child has been issued either an iPad or a Dell laptop including charging cords and any applicable accessories. Your child is responsible for the device at all times.

Additionally, a separate Technology Device Use Agreement that includes an electronic sign-off must be provided to the district prior to device distribution. This agreement includes the procedures for Board Policy 6600 - Acceptable Use of the District Technology Resources, acknowledgement that the Student Device Agreement has been discussed with your child, and you have read Board Policy 5160 – Information & Communication Technology.

The Technology Device Use Agreement can be found by logging in to your Unified Classroom/PowerSchool parent account using a web-browser (see link below), selecting “Forms” from the Quick Links menu, and then selecting “Forms” again from the navigation bar. Please note that the PowerSchool app does not contain a link to district forms. Forms are only accessible through a web-browser.

Device Insurance Plan for Accidental Damage – Annual OPTIONAL COVERAGE

An annual insurance plan has been designed to help families if there is an accident that causes damage to the school issued device. When participating in the district’s insurance plan for $15 per year, any accidental damage reported will be covered as described below.

Insurance coverage will repair/replace the device for accidental damage with no cost incurred by the student for the first incident (claim). Subsequent damage repairs during the covered year will have a deductible assessed per instance. Insurance will cover a maximum of 3 damage occurrences during the covered year. The deductible fee schedule for each damage occurrence is outlined below. Please note, if insurance is not purchased, actual repair costs (not to exceed the cost of the device) will apply.

How to Purchase Device Insurance -- ONLINE:

The initial fee to purchase device insurance ($15 per device) can be paid online using your checking account, debit card or credit card through PaySchools. The link to PaySchools is unique to each individual school within the district. The link can be found on the homepage of the school your student attends, under “Parents” - “My *school name*” I have included the link for you below.

FINAL DATE TO ENROLL FOR TECHNOLOGY INSURANCE (2021-2022)

In order to be considered enrolled in the optional Technology Insurance Program, payments for 2021- 2022 school year must be received no later than Friday, September 10, 2021.

IF THE DEVICE IS DAMAGED:

In the event of damage, bring the device to your building principal. Your principal will advise the next steps.

HOW TO PAY FOR DEVICE DAMAGE FEES (with or without insurance) -- ONLINE:

All damage fees associated with the school issued device can also be paid online using PaySchools.