NES WEEKLY UPDATE
MONDAY, October 19, 2020
Latest Information
Dear Families,
We are incredibly excited to welcome Cohorts B and C back this week. Cohort B students will join for 10/19 and 10/20 and Cohort C students will join for 10/22 and 10/23. With all emails that have been shared weekly since July, with attention to the district and school websites, (www.npsk.org COVID information and click on schools - Nantucket Elementary School COVID information), and communications with your child's teacher. The children knew exactly what to do this morning - thank you!! They were so excited to be here, happy in their rooms, and with their peers!!
I want to also share a practice we believe strongly in at NES. If you have questions or concerns, I ask that you address them first with the teacher. If you still have questions or concerns after working with the teacher, you can bring them to NES administration - Assistant Principal Kimberly Albertson or myself for further resolution. If this still does meet with your satisfaction, then you could reach out to the Superintendent, Dr. Beth Hallett. We call this following the chain of command. I tell you this because I think this is a great way to problem solve situations at the level they exist before they become too big. This is in line with Responsive Classroom practices. All of us model this for students daily.
I am also very excited to share that all school lunches are free this entire school year. The costs are being subsidized by the Federal Government. Dr. Hallett did share this information in her letter to families last week. I just wanted to offer the reminder.
Cohorts are staying as is for now, we welcome back our Cohort B students on Mondays and Tuesdays and our Cohort C students on Thursdays and Fridays. Cohort A students will continue to come to school on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Wednesdays will be remote days for all students. Remember that when students are not present in school, the log in times and the independent work are required. It is necessary for students on remote days to share their work with their teachers. Attendance will be taken for students on their remote days when they are logging in to their synchronous times with the teacher and the in person students.
Soon, you will be receiving information about your child's virtual Open House evening. Teachers will share this information with you directly so you can log in to learn more about your child's year, their classroom, their expectations, and their work. Our NES Open House night will be held on Wednesday, November 4th.
As we continue to plan to bring students back for in person instruction, it will be very necessary for each family to do a check in with their child to review their health everyday. The document has been shared in our mailing and is posted on websites. It is also linked here. Home Screening Protocol Please know that we are working with our tech department to have each family receive an Aspen email and a remind message telling you to do this screening each day. I have done the mask wearing reminder. This is a mandate. It is required for all staff and students.
If your child is having difficulty with their devices, you must log on to the District Website - www.npsk.org. Once there, please go to Departments, then click on Technology in the drop down menu, and you will see the link for the NPS Technology Help Desk. This is where you put in your help requests. The tech department has been wonderful in replacing devices or fixing devices that have difficulties. The turnaround has been very quick.
I recognize that this is a lot to manage. This is not easy for any of us, and we understand that for you, too. It is so important to work together to support the students. We need you. You will want to set a schedule you can live with in your homes or the settings where your children will be. You decide when they are completing school work, when they are eating lunch, when they are doing recess, etc. They will need to join their online synchronous times. They will need a place to complete their work. They will need to share their work completed with the teacher. The classroom teachers will be supporting you in helping to clarify these expectations.
Our mantra at NES is patience, grace, and kindness. We are modeling this, practicing this, and providing it to each other regularly. You have shared this with us and we are so grateful. We need you and your partnership, along with your patience, grace, and kindness!
Best,
Kimberly Kubisch, Principal NES
Arrival and Dismissal (Transportation)
We know that arrival and dismissal will be a little awkward at first, we are again asking for your patience. We will be working closely with our School Resource Officers, the NPD, and the NFD to iron out the kinks.
- Children will be lining up outside the school. There are dots with teacher names on them. We will have line spaces for each class. PreK and second grade will be lining up in front of the main entrance to NES. First Grade will line up by the cafeteria doors and Kindergarten will line up outside the kindergarten door. Teachers will be coming outside to pick up their students and take them into the building safely and maintaining 6 feet distances. It is important for you to know that there will be no before school supervision, and breakfast buddies is also not available at this time. I share this with you because it is important that no student arrive at school much before 7:40. There will be a few adults outside to supervise students. We will be blocking off the Kindergarten circle. No one can drive through there, but the cross campus drive will be open. We will ask that no parents stand with students outside for arrival and dismissal. Our goal is to have students maintain social distances and this will be challenging with additional people standing nearby.
- Dismissal will be done by drive through pick up from Backus Lane. Students will be lined up with the youngest student in their family. Kindergarten will come out the K door, First will come out the Cafe doors, and Second will come out the Front doors.
Bus students will be picked up to go at 2:05.
Walkers and Bus Riders will go with Bus Riders at the back of their line.
Parents who are riding bikes or walking with students should meet them at the front of the school.
Once the buses clear, then teachers will walk students to their dismissal spots. Radios will be calling students to hopefully reduce the parents parking or standing outside of their cars.
Older students will go to the youngest students' line up spot.
Second Graders out to their line spots in the front of the building (if it is raining, they will go out the gym doors).
First Graders will go out the Cafe doors to their line spots.
Kindergarten will go out the Kindergarten doors to their line spots.
- There are very few students who will be riding the school buses. These students have been identified through the surveys, follow up phone calls, etc. There will be labeled seats on the buses for each child and the students will get a matching tag from their classroom teacher. No adults will be allowed on the bus.
Parent/Community Advisory Committee
Dr. Hallett has convened a group of community and NPS parent members to meet weekly to discuss all re-entering information. Should you have any questions or concerns feel free to email them. They will share your ideas with the entire committee. Our next meeting will be held on 10/20. Here is the link for the Frequently Asked Questions document.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nAYvRtpntrrEcIshDwGEqFziyXIZqJZtJhxMsdX7-WE/edit?usp=sharing
Members to Contact
Rocky (Anthony) Fox
Nantucket native, business owner, substitute
Vanessa Rendeiro
NES bilingual parent
Jean Witt
NES/SNAC parent
Micajah (Wiley) Mastriano
NES parent
Food Service
Free and Reduced Lunch Application (English)
Free and Reduced Lunch Application (Spanish)
ABOUT NES
Principal
Kimberly F. Albertson
Assistant Principal
Email: kubischk@npsk.org
Website: www.npsk.org
Location: 30 Surfside Road, Nantucket, MA, USA
Phone: 508 228 7290
Covid - 19 Relief fund through Immigration Resource Center
If you need a helping hand through this difficult time, please click on the link below!!
Traveling to and From Massachusetts
Remember to be mindful of any travel you may have planned for August. You will be required to follow the regulations that went into effect on 8/1. These include:
All visitors and Massachusetts residents returning home — including students returning to campuses this fall — must fill out a “Massachusetts Travel Form” and quarantine for 14 days. People can also text MATraveler to 888-777.
Exemptions include travelers from lower-risk states and people who can show a negative COVID-19 test administered no more than 72 hours prior to arriving in the Bay State. The current low-risk states are New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Hawaii.
People must remain in quarantine until they receive negative test results, except for when going to get their test.
Failure to comply can result in a $500 fine per day.
Exceptions include people passing through or commuting across state lines for work, military personnel, critical infrastructure workers, and people seeking or receiving medical treatment.