North Chatham News:
Special Edition for 3rd - 5th Grades
PLAN B
We Are Moving to Plan B
Earlier this week, The Chatham County Board of Education voted to provide the option for students in third grade through fifth grade to participate in a mix of in-person instruction and remote instruction beginning November 19th. 3rd - 5th grade students will have the option to come to school 2 days a week while also continuing to learn remotely 3 days a week. Students that are signed up for CCS Virtual Academy will continue with remote learning 5 days a week.
Take a look at the infographic in this link. The illustration shows how we’ll do school on campus some days and off campus other days in Plan B. As your children return to in person learning, their daily schedule will look different when they are at school from when they are at home. Teachers will continue to use the same platforms that they have been using in Plan C for remote learning days in Plan B. However, the schedule for your child’s remote learning plan will look different.
Group A or Group B
Letters were mailed earlier this year which shared Group A and Group B assignments with all K-5 families. Teachers will be able to confirm this information for those that are returning to in person instruction. Please know we have worked on this assignment list for weeks and that we have done our best to coordinate with the entire Northwood High School feeder pattern to ensure that siblings are in the same group and therefore we are unable to accommodate any personal preferences or requests for certain days.
In the event you wish for your child to return to face-to-face instruction, you can unenroll from the Virtual Academy by sending an email to Mr. Mitch Stensland requesting your child be unenrolled from the Virtual Academy: mstensland@chatham.k12.nc.us. The deadline for 3-5 students to unenroll in Virtual Academy is 5 p.m. Monday, November 16th.
Plan B - Transportation Survey:
Please take a moment to complete this form to let us know how your child(ren) will be arriving and departing school each day. Buses are running at reduced capacity, so WE NEED TO KNOW HOW MANY STUDENTS PLAN TO RIDE THE BUS. If your student is a car rider, that information will help us with planning as well.
Plan B - Back to School Materials Pick Up:
Scheduling for Plan B:
- Specials teachers will be coming to the classroom to do their lessons. Except for PE which will be conducted in the MPR or outside.
- Students will travel to the cafeteria to purchase lunch, but they will all return to their classrooms to eat lunch.
- Teachers can opt to take students outside for lessons, but the 6 feet rule and masks will still apply.
- Recess will be outside, but the classes will be separated. Each class will have a rotating designated area outside to play daily.
While students are at home, they will follow a learning plan created by their classroom teacher which will have asynchronous activities to practice the material they learned in person as well as options to join their class on Zoom once or twice a day for morning meeting, small groups, or other activities. The times, subjects, and frequencies of these Zoom meetings will be communicated by your child’s teacher in the coming days.
Documents Used to Help Guide Reopening
Daily Screening will happen at NCE each morning.
Plan B - CCS Parent Attestation Form:
Here is the English Parent Attestation Form: click here
Here is the Spanish Parent Attestation Form: click here
Plan B Students:
We are so excited to welcome back your children into the building next week! While we know things will look a little different, we are fully prepared to keep the students safe, engaged, and learning! Here is some more information regarding Plan B:
- If your child has a school issued laptop, they will be required to bring it back and forth to school fully charged each day. We cannot give your child another computer to "borrow" for the day while in the building, and they will need it for the days they are doing remote learning at home.
- If your child does not have a school issued laptop and has been using a personal device during Plan C, we will have a laptop ready for them to use while they are in the building that they will not share with other students. However, they will not be allowed to take this laptop home for remote learning days. They will still need to use a home device on remote learning days.
- Teachers will only be sending home Learning Plans for the days the students are not in the building. If you are Group A, your Learning Plan will contain asynchronous work for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. If you are Group B, your Learning Plan will contain asynchronous work for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
- There will not be any direct instruction Zooms on the days your child is learning remotely. The teachers will include videos and assignments for the students to watch and complete independently. This work will directly relate to the material that was learned in the building.
- 3-5 teachers will continue to use the Google Classroom platform for these assignments.
- District purchased tools such as Freckle and iReady will continued to be used for remote learning days as these tools are differentiated. Your child's diagnostic results were used to create individualized pathways in reading (Freckle) and math (IReady) for your child.
- If reading specialists, EC teachers, ESL teachers, and/or the AIG teacher were already supporting your child, they will still be working with your students. They will reach out to the families they currently work with to share about how they will continue to support your child.
Morning Meeting Zooms: While there will be no direct instruction Zooms on remote learning days, your child will still have the option to connect with their class during morning meeting each day they are not in the building. This is a time in which teachers are building and maintaining class community, working on social emotional lessons, and reinforcing math concepts with calendar work. The times and links for these Zooms will be included on your child's weekly Learning Plan.
Masks:
Desks will be set up six feet apart. Markings are in place throughout the building to help remind students to stay six feet apart.
Arrival:
Plan B - Car Rider Procedures:
Carpool Procedures
- With your masks on, pull up to a carpool stop where a staff member is standing and wait inside your car. Students will not get out right away.
- Parents/Guardians will have to complete the Daily Symptom Screening/Attestation.
- Students will have their temperature taken by staff member.
- Fever free students (less than 100.4) may exit the car. Fevers above 100.4 will pull up to the overflow spot and have their temperature taken again in 10 minutes.
- Students needing breakfast may pick it up at a kiosk at carpool
- Students will then enter the building at the back of the school and will walk on the right side of the hallway to class.
- Students should follow the markings on the floor to ensure social distancing guidelines are met.
Plan B - Bus Procedures:
- Students must have a mask on to get on the bus.
- Upon arrival at school, students will get their temperature taken by a staff member.
- Fever free students (less than 100.4) may exit the bus.
- Students needing breakfast may pick up at kiosk along the bus path.
- Students will enter the building through the front door and walk on right side of hallway to class.
- Students should follow the yellow markings on the floor to ensure social distancing guidelines are met.
Dismissal:
VIRTUAL ACADEMY INFORMATION
Scheduling for Virtual Academy:
3-5 Virtual Academy students will be using Edmentum's elementary program called "Calvert Learning". Calvert is a self paced, project based virtual curriculum. Your child will follow the Calvert curriculum and your child's classroom teacher will be grading the work in the Calvert Platform.
Individual students will log on and follow their “Suggested Daily Schedule” which includes links to all of the daily lessons, assignments, projects, and assessments designed by Edmentum. While this is a self paced program, it is suggested by Edmentum that each day students should spend about 90 minutes for ELA, 45-60 minutes for math, 30 minutes for Social Studies and 30 minutes for Science. Your child will also have access to PE/Health and Art courses within Calvert. Edmentum/Calvert is designed to be flexible; and families can decide how and when they complete the work with their child(ren). Parents will have their own log in information which will allow them to access all of their student's work, see their grades, and use Calvert's "teacher notes" to help guide your child through the daily lessons.
If your child currently has Zooms with AIG, EC or teachers during the I/E (Intervention/Enrichment) block, these new or updated times and Zoom information will be conveyed to you privately via the teachers in the upcoming weeks.
NCE Support and Connection: Each day your child's teacher will offer two Zoom opportunities to Virtual Academy students.
- All the virtual academy students in your child's class will be able to connect with their Plan B classmates during morning meeting each day via Zoom. This is a time in which teachers are building and maintaining class community, working on social emotional lessons, and reinforcing math concepts with calendar work.
- In addition to morning meeting, all Virtual Academy students will have the opportunity to do a Zoom check in with their classroom teacher. This will be a chance to ask questions about the work on Edmentum.
- On Wednesdays, your child will also have an opportunity to Zoom with their teacher to work in a small group and/or have help sessions.
- While Virtual Academy students will have assigned courses in PE/Health and Art in Edmentum, NCE's specials teachers will also be offering asynchronous work and optional Zooms.
- These Zooms are optional. The days, times, and links for the Zooms will be communicated by your classroom teacher in their weekly newsletters this weekend.
In the event you wish for your child to return to face-to-face instruction, you can unenroll from the Virtual Academy by sending an email to Mr. Mitch Stensland requesting your child be unenrolled from the Virtual Academy: mstensland@chatham.k12.nc.us. The deadline for 3-5 students to unenroll in Virtual Academy is 5 p.m. Monday, November 16th.
Dual Language Information for Virtual Academy:
At this time, Dual Language is not an offering in the Virtual Academy. Virtual Academy students will be following the curriculum in Calvert and not following the dual language teachers' assignments at NCE. Virtual Academy students will have the option to join their classes on Zoom for morning meeting in English and/or Spanish World. And, we are discussing with our Spanish World teachers possible opportunities to practice Spanish oracy in a Zoom on Wednesdays. These possible offerings will be communicated to you via your teachers at a later date.
Beginning the Edmentum Platform
Early next week, the district will email a welcome letter with important information for all Virtual Academy families. Your child's teacher will email the login information in their weekly newsletter. Here is some more information regarding the Calvert Curriculum that K-5 students will be using within the Edmentum Platform:
Getting Started: Here are some very short but incredibly helpful videos that you and your student should watch together to familiarize yourselves with Virtual Academy and what their learning will look like while using Edmentum:
Video: How Students Use their Suggested Daily Schedule. The "Suggested Daily Schedule" within Edmentum will replace the Learning Plan that your child used during Plan C with their teacher.
First Week: When your student logs into Edmentum the first day and accesses their Suggested Daily Schedule, you will notice that many of the first assignments are a "Getting Started Lesson" link. There is a different Getting Started Lesson for each course your child is enrolled in. It is important to complete the "Getting Started" lessons and watch each video for each course. These videos will walk you through the all the important information for each subject.
Parent/"Learning Guide" Information: The adult working with your child at home as they use the Edmentum Platform will be referred to as the "Learning Guide". This could be the parent or guardian, or a tutor or babysitter. Parents will have their own login information. When parents/Learning Guides login, they will have access to "Teaching Notes" which will help you know how to work through the lesson and will give you answers to questions/problems. Here is some information to help the adults understand what the Calvert Curriculum is and how to support your child during Virtual Academy:
Calvert Learning curriculum overview video - The first few minutes is theory, just hang on through this part! The rest is informative.