Spring weather is right around the corner, what a perfect time to shower our CST Staff with appreciation! Join the CST Family in participating in a gift card shower as CST Staff transitions back to full time in person learning! Let’s make sure they are covered, whether it be a little pick me up from Starbucks, classroom supplies from Target, or extra treats for students as they adjust to a new schedule as well! Please use this LINK to sign up, gift cards can be dropped off in the office at CST during the weeks of March 1st and March 8th. We can’t thank the CST Family enough for the continued support and appreciation you have shown the staff during this school year!

Please send questions to Lori Grantham (lori.grantham@mac.com) and Becca Stanley (rmstanley@olatheschools.org)

Please see the attached file for a traffic pattern update and important reminders.

Please note: The CST traffic pattern will remain unchanged but we will begin using the entire front curb for drop off/pick-up (pictured in attachment).

Thank you for following our process for the safety of our students.

Cheer--March 2-5 (3:20-5:30)

Dance--March 8-10 (3:20-4:45)

Cheerleading tryouts will begin next Tuesday for interested current 6th and 7th grade students. All participants must have their permission slips submitted to attend tryout clinics and tryouts. Please have all permission slips submitted by Friday, February 26th.

Participants should check the Google Classroom for any updates on tryouts. Please see Ms. Hankins or Mrs. Grauberger for any questions.

Google Classroom Code: c53k2xd

(permission slip below has additional details about the tryout process)

State assessments will be coming up in April. All students, remote and in-person learners, are being asked to take the state assessment. We will communicate date and time opportunities for our remote students. These will be during non-school hours and for only our remote learners. Stay tuned for details in future weeklies. Below is the message from our director of curriculum and assessment.

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Dear District Families,

During the spring of the 2019-20 academic year, the Kansas Department of Education made the decision to not administer state assessments, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This spring, with schools being open and the majority of students learning in person, KSDE has made the decision to return to administering state assessments. This decision to move forward with testing is a positive one, embraced by the Olathe district. As we move towards the end of this school year, it is important our district has evidence of academic learning, as well as evidence of academic needs moving into the 2021-22 academic year.

KSDE has shared the expectation with school districts that ALL students take state assessments, even those students who have chosen to learn Remotely. For Olathe students who have chosen In-Person learning, this will feel very normal and state assessments will be scheduled during the normal school day, as in the past. For our students learning Remotely, the design of the state assessments requires that students take the assessments in person at school. Currently, each building is working on a plan to safely assess Remote students and they will reach out to families of Remote students in the next few weeks with those plans. The Olathe Public Schools expects all students to take the state assessments and provide the district and families with much-needed information to make the best decisions possible for 2021-22.

Once building administrators have sent state testing details to their communities, please feel free to contact your school’s principal (or building test coordinator) with additional questions.

Rich Wilson

Director of Curriculum and Assessment

Dear CST Family,

As we plan to welcome middle and high school students back in-person, full time, we are committed to making our schools as safe as possible as we work through this transition.

It's important to know that modifications have been made to the HVAC systems to bring in more fresh air and filters are changed more frequently than industry standard for indoor air quality. Hand sanitizer is placed throughout the buildings. Students and staff will continue to be encouraged to wash their hands regularly. Buildings are sprayed at minimum weekly with a Clorox 360 cleaning machine to help disinfect surfaces.

Masks will continue to be mandatory for students and staff. We have to work together to keep everyone safe. Please remind your children about the importance of wearing a mask properly.

For a review of other procedures and protocols specific to CST, please visit the week of 2/22 Weekly Wildcat newsletter (https://www.smore.com/zbvwu-weekly-wildcat).

Thank you for your support of our school, students and staff. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Rick Sola
Principal

23/7 CAT SPLIT

CAT 7:50 – 8:13

1st hour 8:17 – 9:07

2nd hour 9:11 – 10:01

3rd hour 10:05 – 10:55

4th hour 10:59 -11:49 (10:59-12:14 for 6th grade)

• 6th grade Lunch
• 10:59-11:24 (Taulbee, Totte-Boyd, Clark, Williams, Horner, Parker)
• 11:24-11:49 (Grauberger, Snethen, Olvera, Marye)
  

5th hour 11:53 – 1:11

• 7th grade Staggered Lunch
• 11:49 – 12:15 (Ruffin, Jones, Cromer, Rodriguez)
• 11:55 – 12:20 (Reed, M. Kinzer, Hylton, Kusek)

• 8th grade 1st Lunch 12:20 – 12:45

• (Carroll, R. Sheffield, Boyd, Rotert, Woolcott, Waller, Sutter)

• 8th grade 2nd Lunch 12: 46 – 1:11
• (Stumbo, Detrick, Robison, Haines, Gibson,)

6th hour 1:15 – 2:05

7th hour 2:09 – 2: 59

CAT 3:03 – 3:10

There has been an update to the Primary and Secondary symptoms of COVID-19 per JCDHE. Fever is no longer considered to be a primary symptom of COVID-19 even in secondary students and adults. It is now a secondary symptoms which means there needs to be at least one other symptom of COVID in order to classify the person as have COVID-like Illness requiring exclusion and/or testing. The symptoms are now as listed below:

Primary (any one symptom):

• New, persistent cough
• Difficulty breathing
• Loss of taste and/or smell (this is so specific that even in the presence of a negative PCR test, the person is considered COVID positive)

Secondary symptoms (any two or more symptoms):

• Extreme fatigue
• Fever (100o +) or chills
• Congestion/runny nose
• Nausea/vomiting/diarrhea
• Sore throat
• Headache
• Muscle or body aches

Be assured your child's teachers, counselors, and admin are all here to help throughout our students' return to school and beyond. An adjustment is expected and students have a wide array of feelings with this return. While there is some excitement to see more of their peers, there may also be some apprehension, some longing for what has been a year of smaller in-person class sizes, and a bit of a break every other day. Conditioning back to full speed will take some time. Feel free to reach out to any of us if you have questions or concerns. Below are guidelines that have been in place since hybrid began. Please note, however, some adjustments have been made at arrival and lunch to accommodate for more students.

Important Full Student Return Info

Please read...

Below are phases of the school day outlined with guidelines and procedures. These are listed because there are many questions surrounding our "return to school". However, CST will still be a school where relationships are a priority and socialization, engagement, fun, and learning will continue. Students will still be able to be social and interact--this is an important part of school and one we aim to keep intact a much as possible while also following the safety guidelines outlined for our buildings. We want to keep moving forward and keep school comfortable, fun, and engaging while implementing the health guidelines.

Please don't hesitate to reach out to any of us--admin, counselors, teachers--if we can help make your child's transition smoother.

CST In-Person Procedures and Guidelines

As a district we follow Johnson County health guidelines. Wearing masks and washing hands will be the expectation.

A high risk exposure is defined as: no mask, within 6 feet, for more than 10 minutes.

Anyone with what is considered a “direct exposure” would need to quarantine based on this criteria. While other variables may play into a situation, the emphasis on wearing a mask is not just safety and health, but for continuity of education by avoiding a need for our students and staff to quarantine. Please keep your child home if they are displaying symptoms (see message/symptoms from district nurse coordinator above).

Below are phases of the day and some general guidelines at CST. Teachers and admin will review these with students next week in Cat time in preparation for transition to full in-person learning.

General Items

• Masks are required in the building (gaiters are okay but need to be 2 layers)
• Students should bring their own masks, but disposable masks are available in the office if needed
• Students will still not be issued lockers (except in PE and music) and will be permitted to carry their backpack with them during the day
• Students are encouraged to travel efficiently—lunch, device, essential supplies—jackets/coats carried as well
• PE lockers will be issued and is a place to keep PE shoes and PE uniform
• Students may drop off PE items after 7:40am
• INSTRUMENTS: Instruments can be dropped off in their music room where one of our teachers will be there to receive instruments

What changes will occur for REMOTE students?

• Remote students’ day will not change and students will still log in beginning at 8:17 (1st hour) and follow the same bell schedule
  
• Their teachers may provide more details as needed for individual classes

Arrival

--First—refer to our traffic pattern for car rider drop off--entire front curb is used for drop-off/pick-up
--Students enter the front entrance or event entrance—car or walker
--Bus riders will be dropped off at the event entrance (and load at the event entrance)
--We encourage all walkers and car riders to arrive after 7:30.
--If students are in the building BEFORE 7:40 they will go to 1 of 2 locations depending on grade level

• 6th Grade will sit spaced out by Cat teacher in the auditorium (signs posted)
• 7th and 8th will take a different side of the bleachers in the main gym and sit in a location designated for their Cat class.
  
• If students want breakfast (see breakfast/lunch info below), they will go to the MPR to pick up the grab-and-go breakfast where they’ll check in and eat spaced out in the MPR.
• Students arriving 7:45 or later will take their breakfast to eat in their Cat class.
• Once finished with breakfast students move to their designated location.

--If students arrive AFTER 7:40 they go straight to the their Cat time classroom.

• Breakfast can be picked up in the MPR and taken to their Cat classroom to eat--the MPR will be cleared at 7:45
  

--Class begins with Cat at 7:50 and we’ll run through the rest of the day

• Students may drop off instruments in their music classroom

Lunch

• There will still be 5 lunch periods at CST
• 6th grade will eat during 4th hour, 7th and 8th will eat 5th hour. The 8th grade lunch will be split due to its higher numbers.
• 7th grade will have a staggered start to lunch by 5 minutes to limit the lunch line
  
• With a few additional tables and seating areas, the same distancing will occur for lunch as we had during hybrid.
• Students will be expected to wear a mask upon entering/exiting the lunch room and while seated after finished eating. Mask wearing will help mitigate exposure risk as defined by the health department.

• Hand sanitizer stations will be set up in the lunch lines with distancing markers as a guide.
• Students will have assigned seats by class

• Students will sit on a "powercat" sticker in a checker board fashion using, approximately 4 to a table (most tables designed to hold 16 students)
  
• 10:59-11:24 (6th)
• 11:24-11:49 (6th)
• 11:49-12:14 (7th)
• 11:54-12:19 (7th)
• 12:20-12:45 (8th)
• 12:46-1:11 (8th)

Passing Periods

• Passing periods will be 4 minutes in length

• Restrooms are available while limiting bathroom crowds (appox. 4 per restroom at a time)

• Markings on the floor will guide students to stay to the right during passing and to keep moving from class to class to promote passing period efficiency and limited congregating

• Hand washing or sanitizing is encouraged and available hourly

Classrooms

• Distancing will be followed to the best of our ability in classrooms

• Students will wear masks
  

• Desks will be sanitized a minimum of 2 times per day

• Hand sanitizer is available in every classroom
• Building receives a weekly deep sanitizing on surfaces

PE

• Students will be issued lockers strategically spaced out in the locker room

• Students will dress out for class--students may wear school issued clothes or clothes brought from home--PE teachers will share expectations in class.

• Masks will be worn in PE, but teachers will work with students for appropriate times to get a break from masks after heavy activity while maintaining distancing guidelines.

Miscellaneous

--Sanitizing Wipes! We would gladly accept a container of sanitizing wipes for use in the lunch room

o Drop off location in both entries upon arrival

--Drinking fountains are only used for filling water bottles—students are encouraged to bring a water bottle.

--Students can keep their cell phones in their backpack but we ask that volume is turned off

o Normally, phones are asked to be kept in lockers from 7:50-3:10

o If cell phones cause distraction they may be kept in the front office for return at the end of the day

--We have 3 microwaves available for student use at lunch

--Please remind students to fully charge their device

o Students are encouraged to have a non-permanent identifier on their charging cord (i.e.

Dear Olathe Public Schools families and staff,

The Olathe Board of Education met on Thursday, February 4. After a study of district and county numbers, the Board voted to bring secondary students back into full-time, in-person learning on March 1. This means that any middle or high school student who chose in-person learning at registration, would start coming to school full-time, every day on March 1. Elementary students who chose in-person learning will remain in school full time as well.
It’s important to note that this decision by the Board was not made lightly. Citing declining community numbers, internal numbers including low absence rates, declining COVID-19 numbers in our school, and limited spread within our buildings, Board members voted 5-2 to bring secondary students back to full time in-person learning.

Providing the best quality educational experiences for our students, while balancing the safety and health of our students, staff, and families, is a priority. We will continue to review numbers regularly and watch for trends within our buildings. Please do your part to help us by continuing to wear a mask, wash your hands, stay home when you are sick, keep your children home when they are sick and practice social distancing. We need a community effort to keep our schools in session, our students and staff safe and learning together.

Thank you for your support of the Olathe Public Schools.

John Allison, Superintendent

Attendance Corner

Welcome Parents to the 2020-21 School Year. A few suggestions to help us tackle attendance for your student(s) during this hybrid learning experience. Attendance is more crucial during these unprecedented times. We ask that you notify Chisholm Trail Attendance Office, preferably before 8:00am with your students all day absence. You can use any of the following methods of contacting us:

1. Call dedicated Attendance Line (voicemail only) – 913-780-7241

2. Call CST Main Line – 913-780-7240 (voicemail after 4:00pm)

3. Email Connie Bray, Attendance Secretary @ cbraycst@olatheschools.org

*all emails will be responded to with a follow-up email for verification of receiving

Information needed to report absence:

· Student Name

· Student Grade

· Your Relationship to Student

· Reason for absence (i.e. illness description, appointment, etc.)

· Phone number to return call (if needed for further info)

Due to remote learning, if your student checks out for an appointment, we ask for a second notification to Attendance (again via any of the 3 methods listed above) if student returns to learning with a time of return. If you contact your student(s) teacher via email please cc Connie Bray with info as to help us.

Please refer to this request as we proceed to continue to help make this school year as positive as we possibly can. We are always here to assist you in any way we can. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions. Thank you, and together we can do this.

Attendance Secretary,

Connie Bray

Need technical support? Go here for solutions and direction...consider bookmarking this page.

https://www.olatheschools.org/domain/3042

Surface Go Tip

If students are unable to connect to WiFi (example: worked one day but not the other):

o Press and hold the Power button until the screen goes black (ignore the “swipe to shut down PC” option)

o Press Power button again

o Give it a minute to restart – this should “kick out” new updates to Surface Go

(Just another way to update!)

Receptionist: Chrissy Walters

Assistant Principal's Secretary: Angie Peterson

Attendance Secretary: Connie Bray

Bookkeeper/Principal's Secretary: Andrea Wescott

Data Operator: Melynda Marquardt

School Nurse: Jennifer Ross

Please keep info updated (email, phone number, medical, etc.). Contact the office at 913-780-7240 if you are concerned you may be missing communication or need to update your family's information.