Tuscan Tidings
Newsletter, Issue 1, Vol. 10 | 12.11.20
Principal's Message
Greetings Tuscan Family and Happy Hanukkah to all families celebrating the holiday! We hope this week's edition of the Tuscan Tidings finds you and your loved ones safe, healthy and well.
Thanks to the insightfulness of our wonderful 5th Grade students, in Mrs. Secor and Mrs. Lamkin’s homerooms, we are delighted to share with you their list of gifts that money truly can’t buy. Kudos to our 5th graders for thoughtfully sharing gifts that we all can freely give and deeply appreciate.
Please enjoy this week’s featured student created videos and the special gift giving ideas from our amazing 5th graders.
As always, please know that your Tuscan School Family stands ready to offer guidance for accessing any needed support or resources. Please reach out to us via ROARforTuscan@somsd.k12.nj.us if assistance is needed.
Wishing you all the gifts of the holiday season,
~Ms. Majeed
Tuscan School Celebrates The Hour of Code!
Starting on Monday, December 7th, Tuscan students have participated in The Hour of Code, an annual event to promote the understanding of computer science, and especially coding, during their library classes. According to The Hour of Code website, it is a “worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities but expanding to all sorts of community efforts. The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week.” Tuscan students have been participating in The Hour of Code since it began in 2014.
Below are a few resources for Tuscan families (in addition, here is a printable list of resources). Please email Ms. Popp (apopp@somsd.k12.nj.us), Library Media Specialist, if you would like more resources.
~Ms. Popp
Message from School Nurses: Understanding Contact Tracing
Understand Contact Tracing and help the Department of Health keep your family safe from COVID-19 spread
WHAT IS CONTACT TRACING? Contact Tracing is the long-standing Public Health practice used to identify those who come into contact with people who have tested positive for many contagious diseases; for example, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, and - recently of course - COVID-19. Contact tracing is a little like detective work: trained staff interview people who have been diagnosed with a contagious disease to figure out who they may have recently been in contact with. Then, they call those close contacts* and encourage them to quarantine to prevent spreading the disease. Think of it as part of public health work, part investigation.
If a resident of South Orange or Maplewood tests positive for COVID-19, contact tracing begins:
The local Department of Health (DOH) officers recommend that the COVID-19+ resident inform their close contacts of their positive result. *Close contact is defined as being within six feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.
The local DOH officers and/or trained professionals will:
- Call that COVID-19+ resident to determine close contacts to whom they may have spread the virus; then they will get in touch with those close contacts
- Give instructions about next steps, such as self-isolation for the COVID+ individual and quarantine for close contacts
- Maintain confidentiality of the COVID+ individual
- NOT ask for your Social Security Number, bank account or salary information, money, or credit card numbers.
We encourage you to answer the phone – the DOH may be calling you!
Be well. Be safe. Be part of the solution to keep your family and friends safe from COVID-19 spread.
DECEMBER 2020 EARLY DISMISSALS, PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES & SCHOOL CLOSINGS
TUSCAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
The School District of South Orange and Maplewood
Email: ROARforTuscan@somsd.k12.nj.us
Website: www.somsd.k12.nj.us/tuscan/
Location: 25 Harvard Avenue, Maplewood, NJ, USA
Phone: 973-378-5221