Hearst Weekly Update
May 4, 2020
Principal's Message
Good afternoon, Owls,
On this first day of Staff Appreciation Week, I know that you share in the deep appreciation and respect I have for our Hearst staff. The past six weeks have placed incredible strains on all of us personally and professionally and despite this, our staff have shown resilience under these circumstances, transferring the magic of their classrooms into the at home learning arena with little notice or training. They have shown perseverance and creativity and handled the last six weeks with grace and empathy for our kids and families and each other. Their commitment to the well-being of everyone in our Hearst community shines through and it continues to bring me joy to serve our community alongside them every day. I hope that you will take a few moments to share your appreciation of our staff using this link: Staff Appreciation Notes.
As we move into Week 7 of at home learning, we expect all of our Hearst families to continue to have differing needs. We have cleared a large at home learning implementation hurdle in that as of last week, all of our families now have devices and consistent access to the internet and nearly every family is accessing Teams on a regular basis. Now that we have equity of access across our school, we will continue to adjust and adapt our at home learning supports accordingly. Our leadership team will be reviewing the Term 3 Family Survey so that we can continue to adjust and refine our instructional practices over the last weeks of the school year, as well as plan for the upcoming school year. Thank you to all that completed the survey and please continue to share your feedback about what is and is not working for your family.
On the topic of the upcoming school year, I know that many of you are wondering about what the summer will look like, as well as next school year. Our team is working through three different scenarios, one in which we are all back in the building to start the year, a second in which we are continuing at home learning, and a third hybrid model that mixes at home and at school learning. Mayor Bowser and Chancellor Ferebee indicated that more information about summer and the upcoming school year will be shared on May 15. Once we have a better understanding of the school calendar and expectations from both city and DCPS leaders, we will refine our planning for summer learning and the upcoming school year and share our draft plans with you for your feedback and input. Be on the lookout for invitations to community meetings May 20-22 where I will share our plans, solicit your feedback and input, and answer your questions to the best of my ability given the many unknowns that will likely still exist.
As always, please reach out to let us know how we can continue to support you and your family in the coming weeks.
In partnership,
Jen
About Us
Email: attendance@hearstes.org
Website: www.hearstes.org
Location: 3950 37th Street Northwest, Washington, DC, United States
Phone: (202) 282-0106
Facebook: facebook.com/hearstes
Twitter: @hearstes
News and Announcements from Hearst
Quick Updates
- Several people have reached out with questions about where to find the activities that our Inner Core/Special Subject teachers are posting. These activities are located in their individual content channels on each homeroom Teams page and it may be helpful to unhide all these channels for ease of access. You can do that by hitting the three dots next to the Team name --> Manage Team --> top tab "Channels" then click the checkbox under the column "Show for me."
- This year, in place of Hearst’s typical International Festival, the ELL team has organized a virtual International Celebration. Languages from Hearst will be celebrated in the morning announcements from May 4-May 28. We are so lucky to be a part of such a diverse and unique community! This is something we always want to celebrate. Tune in to the morning announcements each day and feel free to leave your comments in the post.
Upcoming Key Dates
- Tuesday, May 12 - Tentative Weeks 8, 9, & 10 Packet Pick Up, 8:30-2:00; Term 3 Report Cards Mailed Home
- Wednesday, May 13 - Tentative Weeks 8, 9, & 10 Packet Pick Up, 8:30-2:00
- May 20-22 - Community Meetings (more information above and to be shared)
- Friday, May 22 - Parent Teacher Conference Day
- Monday, May 25 - Memorial Day Holiday
- Tuesday, May 26 - Thursday, May 28 - Student Item Pick Up
- Friday, May 29 - Last Day of School for Students
Hearst's Distance Learning Plan
Weeks Seven and Beyond (5/5 - 5/29)
We will continue to modify the ELA and math work in the DCPS packets to address where our students are in their learning. We'll also be doing a modified version of the writer's workshop that kids experienced when we were learning at school. This will include introducing opinion writing, providing anchor charts and writing checklists for students to reference, and a creating few how to/try this video lesson that we will incorporate into the writing work in the DCPS packets. Based on feedback from students, families, and staff, we have determined that we will not be modifying the science content in the packets. If students have questions about the science material, their homeroom teacher (PK-2), math/science teacher (3rd-5th), and/or Mr. Munz is available to support.
Staff will continue to focus on live/synchronous individual or small group Teams meetings with all students. They will check in with kids (and you!) and answer questions related to work packets or materials that have been posted in Teams. Staff may record videos that students can access when convenient to your families. These videos may be used to: host Morning Meeting, present content to supplement or clarify information in the work packets, make announcements, organize student groups, and facilitate online asynchronous discussion forums. As a reminder, we are not yet engaging in synchronous/live whole or large group meetings or instruction at this time. Also, students continue to have access via Clever to a variety of blended learning programs such as iReady, Lexia, Edulastic, Typing Agent, and Newsela. Please reach out to your child's teacher with questions about these programs.
*Hearst Modifications to the DCPS Term 4 Grading Guidance
Last week, DCPS shared Term 4 grading, promotion, and graduation guidance (Click here to read more). Knowing that families continue to experience barriers to at home learning, we have refined the grading guidance for Hearst and will be using the following guidance for Term 4 grading:
- If students engage twice per week in ELA, Math, Science, or Social Studies, they will receive a P in all subjects (Grades K-2).
- If students engage once in ELA and once in Math per week, they will receive a P in ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies (Grades 3-5).
- If students engage in any Inner Core subject 1x/week, they will receive a P in all Inner Core subjects (K-5).
- K-5 students will be assigned a “NM” (no mark) if they were unable to engage in at home learning assignments and activities.
- PK: For the Spring Checkpoint, teachers will share narrative comments about children’s growth and development rather than the GOLD Development and Learning report.
- Engagement at Hearst is defined as but not limited to: completing assignments, responding to prompts/messages posted in Teams, asking questions on Teams, engaging in small group instruction, and posting a photo of completed work
News and Announcements from DCPS
Teacher Appreciation Week: May 4-8
Teacher Appreciation Week 2020 will take place from Monday, May 4 through Friday, May 8. During Teacher Appreciation Week, school communities are encouraged to celebrate DCPS teachers, including any of these options:
- Download the “I Love My DCPS Teacher” graphic and use it as your social media profile photo during Teacher Appreciation Week.
- Print out the “I Love My DCPS Teacher” poster and take a photo or video of yourself holding the sign. Then, post the photo/video sharing what you love about your DCPS teachers. Be sure to use #ThankaDCPSTeacher in your post or tag @dcpublicschools, so we can share your post, too!
- Remind your families to share what they love about their teachers on social media! Encourage them to use the “I Love My DCPS Teacher” sign or graphic along with #ThankaDCPSTeacherwhen sharing their shout outs. We also created customizable backgrounds for Instagram stories.
Learning at Home Family Survey
During this period of school building closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are reaching out to families to get an understanding of how learning at home is going for you and to receive feedback to help our teachers and staff continue to provide support. Please take a few minutes to complete our learning at home family surveyby May 6.
Families may also take the survey over the phone by calling 202-671-2617 on weekdays between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. If you have multiple children enrolled in DCPS, please fill out the survey for your oldest child first. You will have an option to fill it out for additional children at the end.
Enrollment for SY20-21
For more detailed information on changes in enrollment, please see our Frequently Asked Questions. As always, we are ready and eager to support you with any enrollment questions you may have, especially if you need help with the new electronic submission process. Please don’t hesitate to contact Ms. Hinchey (manik.hinchey@k12.dc.gov) or the DCPS Enrollment Team at enroll@k12.dc.gov or (202) 478-5738.
Empowered Learners Family Guide Available in All Languages
The DCPS Empowered Learners Family Guide is now available in all languages. It explains how to use and care for DCPS technology devices, how students can log on to find learning programs and resources, and how to submit work to teachers. Download the guide on the Learning at Home support page on Canvas.
Special virtual Parent University sessions on Microsoft Surface Go 101 Trainings took place last week to help families navigate their new learning at home device. Workshops will be archived on YouTube.
Learning Lessons on Local TV
News and Announcements from Other Organizations
The next Ward 3 - Wilson Feeder Education Network Meeting
Since our children have distance learning, we can have distance meetings. W3Ednet's next meeting is Monday, May 11 at 7pm on Zoom (see details below). We are very happy to host Karen Cole, DCPS Deputy Chief of Academic and Creative Empowerment, to talk about distance learning. Hope that you can join us. All are welcome.
Join Zoom Meeting https://jh.zoom.us/j/96151856577?pwd=dVlRL3RGWE03V1VhWVNnUkQ2UW5qQT09
Meeting ID: 961 5185 6577
Password: 147366
One tap mobile +16465189805,,96151856577#,,#,147366# US (New York) +16468769923,,96151856577#,,#,147366# US (New York)
Thanks,
Brian and Melody
Co-Chairs, W3EdNet
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The Ward 3 - Wilson High School Feeder Pattern Education Network (W3EdNet) is a group made up of PTO Board and LSAT members as well as other interested community members. We aim to work together to support schools in the Wilson feeder pattern, host community events of common interest, and advocate for better schools across the city.