Cheetah Newsletter
Cooperative - Accountable - Respectful - Enthusiastic - Safe
October 8, 2020
A Message from the Principal
Dear Families,
It was wonderful to see some of you at the Principal Chat on Tuesday! If you were unable to attend, you can access the recording of the chat here. I love connecting with our community, and I look forward to more of these evenings in the future.
Excitement is buzzing as we make our final preparations to welcome back Kindergarteners on Monday. While many routines will be different than what we typically do in school, having classes learning on campus is something we have been waiting for since March! We can’t wait to put all our hours of planning into action for our Kindergarteners as we continue to hope for our older students’ return to campus in the near future as well.
Afternoon Schedules: We have been receiving questions around our afternoon schedules including, Choice Time and Flexible Access Time. The afternoon activities are included on your child’s Canvas schedule as a part of the school day. Afternoons are a teachers’ chance to provide students opportunities to engage in activities outside of Reading/Writing/Math. The district schedule mentions several options in the definition of Choice Activities. Your child’s teacher is determining the activities that will be on the schedule for the afternoon.
We have a LOT of information in our newsletter this week! Keep reading below for health & library updates, counselor’s corner, important information about family resources, and more.
Warmly,
Ana
Food Pantry
Chain Lake Elementary is starting a free food pantry for families in need. Starting next week on Thursdays, non-perishables will be available during the lunchtime pickup, from 11:30-1:30. If you would like to come and collect items, you are more than welcome to do so.
Save the Date!
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Health Room Screening for Student Return
Dear Chain Lake Parents,
We wanted to inform you of the health guidelines our Health Room Staff will be following to screen children for COVID-19 who are either presently at school or who will be attending in person school at a future date. We have provided the flow sheet of this screening for your review and reference.
The district is following guidelines for COVID Screening from the Snohomish Health District. If a child has one of the symptoms listed or more, they will go to a separate room with a health room staff member while the parent is being contacted to pick the child up. Please make sure you have provided a local emergency contact person and phone number in the event we cannot reach you. We will wait 30” before calling the emergency contact.
Please review the attached Screening Tool paying close attention to the box in the lower right corner which explains when the child can return to school. Please note that if your child does not get a COVID test, they will need to wait 10 days from the time the symptom(s) started and at least 24 hrs. after a fever has resolved before they can return. The Snohomish Health District has informed us that they provide COVID testing if you cannot get one from your local medical provider.
We are working to ensure that all children at Chain Lake stay healthy and safe! Thank-you for your understanding and cooperation.
The public health recommendation is that children receive a flu vaccine this season as an extra protection to their immune status!
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Joy Good RN BSN
Chain Lake Certificated School Nurse
360-804-3170
Important Attendance Update
As we continue shifting back to typical attendance practices, please remember that if your child will not engage with learning on a particular day, we do need a parent/guardian to excuse the child for that day by calling 360-804-3100. Thank you for your help!
Counselor's Corner
October is Bullying Prevention Month!
If we were in school we would be participating in activities focused on understanding what bullying is and how we can work together to stop it! Right now we are learning from home and social distancing in our small circles. Many of our families have several students learning at home and can add stress to sibling relationships. Our students are also missing social interaction with friends and can use many skills to be kind to each other.
I am missing our Cheetahs so much! I am thinking about them everyday and have enjoyed reconnecting with some in Zoom morning meetings. Thank you parents for working so hard with us to keep our kids learning. I have included a resource below that I think will be helpful during this journey.
https://www.cfchildren.org/resources/bullying-prevention-resources/
-Mrs. Mitchell
Digital Learning
As our students have been learning online, it was important to start the school year with a focus on Digital Citizenship. Staying safe, acting responsibly and being respectful were the main ideas in the lessons taught in DL during the month of September.
As we move into October, we will take a look at which topics will be the focus of DL this year, and ask for feedback from students on what topics are of most interest to them. We will also emphasize the importance of perseverance and not giving up, even when tasks become difficult or frustrating.
While we have not had assignments that are submitted in the same way as regularly assigned classwork, I ask that students participate in whatever platform is being used to provide feedback for each lesson (e.g. Padlet).
A Note from the Library.......
As we continue on with the year the library is still happy to be checking books out to students and offering them to be picked up during lunch pick up times Monday thru Friday 11:30am-1:30pm, if that time frame doesn’t work please feel free to email me at swalwellc@monroe.wednet.edu and I am happy to try and help make other arrangements to the best of my abilities. I’ve been very fortunate to get to pop into some different classroom’s morning zoom meetings and see the smiling faces of our students and show them how to place books on hold and answer questions about the library, keep up the amazing work cheetahs we are all in this together!
Happy Reading,
Mrs. Swalwell
Do You Qualify?
The Monroe School District implements the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act.
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act of 1987 provides support for homeless children and youth to continue their education without interruption or barriers. If your family is homeless, or if you are in a temporary living situation due to economic circumstances, your preschool-aged and school-aged children have certain rights or protections under federal law.
Who Qualifies?
A child or youth is considered homeless and qualifies for services when he or she lacks a nighttime residence that is fixed, regular, and adequate.
This may include the following:
Sharing housing due to economic hardship, loss of housing, or a similar reason.
Living in motels, campgrounds, trailer parks, or similar locations due to lack of alternative, adequate accommodations.
Transitional housing (a program going from homeless to independent living usually within 24 months).
Staying in an emergency shelter.
Children and youth abandoned in hospitals.
Living in cars, train stations, public spaces, parks, abandoned buildings, and other substandard housing.
Runaway youth, or children whose parent will not permit them to live at home.
Unaccompanied youth who are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian and also meet the McKinney-Vento definition of homeless.
Migratory children and youth who are living in one of the above situations.
If you are homeless or know someone who is experiencing homelessness please contact us:
Kathryn Bernhardt, McKinney-Vento Liaison - Monroe School District
425-236-1762 Cell Phone (call or text) or 360-804-2500 Monroe School District, District Office
Free & Reduced Lunch Information
While we are currently offering FREE breakfast and lunch to all students, the funding for this program ends December 31, 2020. We know that each year many of our families qualify for free or reduced price meals and it is very important that families who may qualify fill out the annual application now in order to receive free or reduced price meals beyond December 31st!
We know many families may be waiting until January to apply, but it’s imperative you do not wait. If you think there is a chance your family might qualify for free & reduced lunch, please submit your application as soon as possible. The application process is simple and confidential. New this year, is the online application process! Directions for filling out the application online can be found HERE. Prefer print applications? Those can be found here: English/Spanish and returned to any school office or the District Administration Office.
If you qualify for free or reduced price meals, you may also be eligible to receive free internet service at your home. If you qualify for the free or reduced price meal program, you will receive a letter of approval. Once you have this letter, and if you are interested in the free Internet Access Program from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), please contact Brenda Hunt at: huntb@monroe.wednet.edu or 360.804.2500 to receive the name of the internet provider and the offer/promo code to sign up for free internet. You can find more information on OSPI’s internet program here.
As a reminder, all families wishing to receive free or reduced meals must complete a new application each school year. We care about our students and want to do everything we can to make sure they receive every available support we can offer. If you need assistance filling out the application, please contact your child’s school or the District Administration Office at (360) 804-2500.
Yoforit Night!!!
Our first Yoforit Night is coming up! Mark your calendars and join us next Thursday, October 15th from 5-8pm! We also found out that, while the main fundraising hours are 5:00-8:00pm, you can participate any time that day! If you go in outside of the stated hours, just tell them you are with CLE and they will include your purchase in the fundraiser. Enjoy a delicious treat and know that a portion of the sales goes to CLE!!
CARES
At Chain Lake, each and every one of us is a Cheetah who CARES (Cooperative, Accountable, Respectful, Enthusiastic, Safe)! In school, we talk about what each of these ideas looks like in different settings. In distance learning, being a Cheetah who CARES is important too! Feel free to use the below as a guide to what it means to follow our Chain Lake expectations in this type of learning environment (Click here for larger picture).
School Meals
Student lunches will be available for pickup at all elementary locations Monday- Friday from 11:30-1:30pm daily. These meals are free for all children under age 18.
If you would like to preview the lunch menu before coming to the school please go to Chain Lake Lunch Menu. You will be able to view daily or weekly menus.
Technical Difficulties?
Further Questions?
We encourage you to reach out to our school office:
Chain Lake Elementary - 360-804-3100
About Us
Principal - Ana Apter
Guidance Counselor - Heather Mitchell
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Office Manager - Kathy Bruning
Office Assistant- Judy Aaby
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24 Hour Attendance Hotline - (360) 804-3101
FAX - (360) 804-3199
Health Room - (360) 804-3132
Kitchen - (360) 804-3135
Transportation - (360) 804-2650
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NOTICE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION
The Monroe School District does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination:
Title IX Coordinator
Joanne Dickinson
200 E. Fremont St, Monroe, WA 98272
(360) 804.2539
Section 504/ADA Coordinator
David Paratore
200 E. Fremont St, Monroe, WA 98272
(360) 804.2603
Compliance Coordinator for 28A.640 and 28A.642 RCW
Joanne Dickinson
200 E. Fremont St, Monroe, WA 98272
(360) 804.2532
The Monroe School District will also take steps to assure that national origin persons who lack English language skills can participate in all education programs, services and activities. For information regarding translation services or transitional bilingual education programs, contact:
Kimberly Whitworth
200 E. Fremont St, Monroe, WA 98272
(360) 804.2558