MATHEWS e-News
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Our Face to Face students are off to a great start! And our School to Home continues to meet the needs of our students learning from home!
Our year continues to become a 'Mavnificent' year! Thank you parents for EVERYTHING you are doing!
A reminder, if you want to look back at previous emails you just click the title above,
20-21 A Mavnificent Year! It is a hyperlink to our archived e-News on our school webpage.
Curbside Meal Bundles for PISD School@Home Students
Due to a waiver issued from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), effective September 15, 2020, all Plano ISD School@Home students will receive free breakfast and lunch meal bundles through December 31, 2020, or while USDA funds are available.
Weekly meal bundles will be provided on Tuesdays from 9:30am to 10:30am and 4:45pm to 6:00pm at Clark HS, Shepton HS, and Williams HS. Starting, September 22, meal bundles will also be available at McMillen HS and Vines HS. Meal bundles will consist of five breakfasts and five lunches.
*Anyone picking up meals for students, without the student present, must bring appropriate documentation in the form of a school issued ID, report card, parent portal attendance summary form, or birth certificate.
FACE TO FACE MEALS:
Effective Monday, September 14: Due to a waiver issued from the USDA all Face to Face Learners on campus will be eligible for free breakfast meals and lunch meals through December 31, 2020, or until USDA funds become unavailable. Please note: Students will be charged for a la carte items.
Safety Drills:
Parents, please note that we will be practicing our Safety Drills next week. Our teachers will be visiting with your children during the week about how we practice Safety Drills while practicing Social Distancing and wearing our masks. So if you happen to see us all outside practicing a fire drill next week...it is only a practice.
Bringing Materials to School:
If you are a parent of a Face to Face Learner...please know we know there is A LOT of materials to bring to school. Feel free to bring back a little each day.
Chromebooks:
Your child will need there Chromebook/charger at school. Your child's teacher will let you know if your child needs to bring your Chromebook home each evening and return it to school, or if the Chromebooks will remain at school. If the Chromebooks remain at school and we are unable to return to school, we will arrange a Chromebook pick-up. We understand for our younger students chromebooks/chargers can be difficult to carry back and forth.
At the End of the Day:
Please note that students are not permitted to remain on school property after dismissal. Students and parents need to leave the school grounds. We look forward to seeing your child back at school the next day!
School Day STarts at 7:40
Our School Day begins at 7:40 a.m. This is 5 minutes earlier than last year. Please remember that for your child to be in their seat, unpacked and ready for the learning day to begin that they need to arrive no later than 7:30 a.m.
Our building opens at the Caravan Way carpool line at 7:00 a.m. Breakfast is served from 7:00-7:30 a.m. So if your child wants to enjoy breakfast at school, please have them arrive early enough so they can eat their breakfast and still be able to get to their classroom and ready for their day at 7:40. Ideally, we find students who arrive between 7:00-7:20 have time to eat their breakfast then leave the cafeteria by 7:30 to get to their classroom.
Doors close for instruction to begin at 7:40 a.m.
Students that arrive after 7:40 are tardy. If you are running late or your child has a morning appointment before school then you need to drop off your child at the main door on Marchman Way so your child can enter the building.
PARENTS NOTIFYING DISTRICT
ARRIVALS:
Our building opens at 7:00 in the carpool line. Students are welcome to eat breakfast or wait in the gym. Students are supervised at all times and practice social distancing. At 7:15 students are dismissed with social distancing to go to their classroom.
We only have one carpool line and that is on Caravan Way. Marchman Way is not a carpool line and is for our walkers only.
To allow your child time to get to the classroom and unpack to be ready to begin instruction at 7:40 we encourage you to drop off your child no later than 7:30. Students are tardy at 7:40.
Below is what your child should bring to school each day. (Lunch is included unless your child is purchasing lunch from the cafeteria.)
WHAT TO BRING TO SCHOOL EACH DAY
KINDERGARTEN & FIRST GRADE ARRIVALS
Beginning Monday, September 14:
Parents, Thank you for remaining six feet back from the doorway to support social distancing from other families dropping off their children.
We will have staff on hand to help assist our Mavs into the building and safely to their teacher's classroom.
Beginning Monday, September 14:
Now that our Kindergarten students are familiar with how to enter the building and where their teacher's classroom is we will begin allowing our First Grade walkers to enter through the Kindergarten door to go to their First Grade classroom which is just down the hall.
DURING THE DAY
Each classroom has partitions/plexiglass and dividers to provide additional safety in addition to social distancing.
Handwashing. Students will be social distancing and utilizing the dividers between one another to promote safety.
Masks will be worn throughout the day in the building as well as during recess. All students will have to wear masks at school. Each student will also have a face shield.
Primary grades will use face shields to support learning at times when a masks interrupts instructions; i.e. phonics, etc.
Masks will be worn in the hallway and during specials. Face shields will remain in the classroom at your child’s desk.
If a child leaves his mask at home, one will be provided for him.
School to Home Learners:
Curbside Meal Bundles for PISD School@Home Students
Due to a waiver issued from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), effective September 15, 2020, all Plano ISD School@Home students will receive free breakfast and lunch meal bundles through December 31, 2020, or while USDA funds are available.
Weekly meal bundles will be provided on Tuesdays from 9:30am to 10:30am and 4:45pm to 6:00pm at Clark HS, Shepton HS, and Williams HS. Starting, September 22, meal bundles will also be available at McMillen HS and Vines HS. Meal bundles will consist of five breakfasts and five lunches.
*Anyone picking up meals for students, without the student present, must bring appropriate documentation in the form of a school issued ID, report card, parent portal attendance summary form, or birth certificate.
Lunch, Snacks and Water Bottles
UPDATE: BEGINNING MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 ALL FACE TO FACE BREAKFASTS AND LUNCHES WILL BE FREE.
- If students plan to bring their lunch from home, they need to bring a packed lunch with them when they arrive to school in the morning. Students will keep their lunches in their own backpack until lunch time.
- Students will be able to continue to purchase breakfast or lunch from school. Lunches will be enjoyed in the homeroom classroom.
- Birthday treats for classrooms of students are no longer permitted. Teachers will continue to acknowledge student birthdays in the classroom as in past years, but food will no longer be shared with students.
- Students should bring a water bottle each day that we can refill during the day if needed. Water bottles should go home each afternoon to be cleaned and refilled for the next day.
- Students are welcome to bring healthy snacks from home. Snack time will be provided in the classroom each day.
Please note that when selecting snacks to send to school we have the following allergies at our campus:
K – Peanut, Tree Nuts, Sesame
1 – Peanut, Tree Nuts, Fish/Shellfish
2 – None known
3 – Peanut, Tree Nuts
4 – Peanut, Tree Nuts
5 – Peanut, Tree Nuts, Sesame
New Lunch Account System
Online Lunch Accounts
Plano ISD is using a new online payment system, Rycor. In an effort to reduce time, money and paper waste, parents can pay their children’s school and lunch fees through a secure online website, https://www.studentquickpay.com/PISD.
SCHOOL MENUS
TAGS and Lanyards!
Each child will have a color coded dismissal tag to make sure that each child will be where they need to be to get home to you safely.
Once students are at the right place for dismissal, we will ask your child to place the tag that is on the lanyard in their backpack so they can bring it back the next day.
These tags also serve as their lunch card and library card so it is important they return to school each day so it is important they come back to school each day.
A second lanyard is provided to each student to clip their mask to. This helps the masks stay with the child and not get misplaced or lost during lunch or recess when students are socially distancing and playing outside.
Signing Your Child Out
Office staff will sign the student out, documenting both the time the student left the building, as well as the time the parent requested for early dismissal.
Please come to the front office to complete the pre-screening to enter the building to pick up your child during the school day.
From Mr. Lozano for ART
Art Supplies
Dear Parents,
When your child comes to art face to face they will need to bring the following general classroom supplies to art. These can be stored in a ziplock bag with your child's name on it.
If you do not have these supplies listed below that is o.k.!
2 #2 pencils
A pair of children's scissors - blunt
1 glue stick
1 glue bottle
1 pack of color pencils
1 pack of markers
1 pack of crayons
1 pack of 9 x12 multi-color construction paper
The purpose behind this is to prevent any spread of the virus.
District will soon be providing:
At a later date, all students will be receiving a creativity kit from the Plano ISD art department which will include the following items: a sturdy Ziploc bag, ruler, 2 black fine line pens, Magic Rub eraser, sharpener and a set of watercolors.
Students can place the general classroom supplies in the Ziploc bag to keep everything together. Students will need to bring their creativity kit to art every week. If they want to put other art supplies in their bag, they are most welcomed to do so.
PACE...PACE...PACE
PACE
JR. FFA
The Plano FFA will be accepting new Jr. FFA members for the 2020-2021 school year. Students must be in grades 3rd-8th and attend a Plano Senior High School feeder school.
In the Plano Jr. FFA Program, students can:
Learn and practice leadership skills
Raise and care for an animal
Show their animals at Stock Shows
Learn responsibility, dedication, and accountability
Participate in community service.
Learn about American Agriculture
Participate in mentorship opportunities
If you wish to join please fill out this google form
https://forms.gle/sT5P1BhcgnaWKpRJ6
We will have our first meeting of the year on September 24th at 6pm via Zoom. If you would like to attend please reach out to one of the teachers below.
Ms. Taylor Navarette (Clark HS): taylor.navarette@pisd.edu
Mrs. Tiffany Wilson (Vines HS): tiffany.wilson2@pisd.edu
Nurse Christina
From Mrs. Toler, Our Counselor
LIBRARY News from Mrs. Noble!
UPCOMING DATES
Mark Your Calendar...
Friday, September 11:
PACE Referral window closes.
September 28-October 2:
Next open window to request change of learning environment. Change would begin on October 13.
October 12:
School Holiday
November 3:
Student Holiday/Teacher Work Day
November 23-27:
Thanksgiving Break
December 18:
Early Release Day
December 21 through January 4:
Winter Break
20-21 PISD Academic Calendar
Window to Request Changes for the Second Nine Weeks
The initial selection period for choosing PISD School@Home ended on July 16. An extended window was open between July 24-August 6 if a selection was not made by the original deadline.Parents were able to make changes during this window as well.
The next window for parents to make a change will be between September 28-October 2 and would start October 13.
The button below takes you to the district website with information on how and when you can make or update your decisions.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to either Mrs. Powell or Mr. Steele.
If there are any revisions, PISD will reach out to our families, and we promise to do the same.
TECHNOLOGY
Chromebook Support:
If you have a broken Chromebook or are having difficulties with your power cord, please email our amazing Mathews' CTA, Justin Taylor at Justin.Taylor@pisd.edu
The Plano ISD help desk is also available to assist you in obtaining a working Chromebook. Contact the help desk Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at (469) 752-8767, or email tsos@pisd.edu.
Mathews Elementary School
Email: Patricia.Powell@PISD.edu
Website: https://www.pisd.edu/mathews
Location: 7500 Marchman Way, Plano, TX, United States
Phone: 469 752-2300
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