Weekly Update: April 20-24
Harrisburg North Middle School
Week in Review
Good afternoon, and happy Friday, students and families!
This week our newsletter details the following
- Family Wellness Check
- A Message from the High School Regarding Driver's ED
- Locker Contents
- Weekly Password
- Parent Portal
- HNMS Website One-Stop Shop
- Tutor Help Line
- Attendance
- Contacts: Administration, tech support, counseling staff
- Note from the Counselors
Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s):
As your school's administrators and counseling staff, we will continue to find methods to check on your family during this difficult time. The Harrisburg School District has many resources and supports that can benefit you and your family. We are reaching out to gather information on your needs. If you haven't already or if your situation has changed, lease fill out the linked form so we can support you. This form is confidential and only shared with key District personnel. If you have children in more than one building in the district, you only need to complete this form one time.
A Message from the High School Regarding Driver's Education
Parents,
The SD Department of Transportation and SD Department of Education have postponed Driver’s Education until further notice. The Harrisburg School District is working on a distance learning for the classroom portion of the class. Driving training will begin as allowed.
We will be in contact with all families with information.
Locker Contents
Thank you for everyone that was able to make it for our locker content pick-up days. We understand that our available time-slots could not work for everyone's schedule. If you were unable to make it to acquire your learner's locker belongings, please contact Mr. Fesler (micah.fesler@k12.sd.us) or Mrs. Olinger (amanda.olinger@k12.sd.us). We will work with you to set up a time that works for you.
Password for April 20-24-- 77crash
Weekly Password
Check Parent Portal / Infinite Campus
As we approach mid-term of the fourth quarter of the 2019-2020 school year, staying up-to-date on grades via Parent Portal will be even more important.
- Grades--students and parents can see any missing work and help ensure your student is completing work. In addition, identify which standards currently have Ns and reach out to your teacher for opportunities to fix that standard!
- Messages--almost every email sent out will also go to your inbox in Parent Portal.
- Attendance and Behavior--while this won't be used much now that students are at home, but parents can always check these two items frequently to ensure students are meeting expectations with work and online behaviors.
Please plan to check Parent Portal/Infinite Campus daily for critical information regarding distance learning.
HNMS One Stop
- overview of the week's plan.
- grade level's office hours
- links to access those help sessions
- Check it out!
Tutor Help Line
The Tutor Help Line is open 8:00-4:00 Monday-Friday
Students simply join a tutor live zoom session and can get help!
Attendance
Completion of schoolwork will count as attendance to school, so it is important students turn in work by 8:00 p.m. Sunday. Whenever possible please be sure to ask questions of your teachers earlier in the week so they can help you BEFORE the due date and time! The administration will be monitoring missing work and adjusting attendance accordingly.
What Your Learner Needs to Do
- Your learner needs to check their email daily to see correspondence, learning schedules, and other communication from their teachers. If your learner is not receiving emails, have them check their Message Center on Infinite Campus.
- Your learner will need to do 3 lessons each day
- two academic lessons
- one wellness lesson
- Expect your learner will need to spend about 3 hours a day working on schoolwork.
- Your learner needs to submit lessons for the week by 8:00 p.m. on Sundays (of course, they can submit lessons before this deadline.)
Zoom Updates
On Thursday, students were blocked from logging into Zoom and hosting meetings from their devices.
Students do not need to login to zoom to attend a meeting with their teachers.
To Join a Meeting:
- Click on the provided link
- Enter the password (sirloin26 until Monday, April 20 @ 1:30, and then 77crash)
or - Click the big blue button that says "Join A Meeting"
- Enter the meeting ID number
- Enter the password ((sirloin26 until Monday, April 20 @ 1:30, and then 77crash)
Admin Team
Micah Fesler
Amanda Olinger
Support Staff at HNMS
From the Counselors
Hello from the HNMS School Counseling Center!
We are reaching out to you as your learner's school counselor(s) and we miss your learner(s)! We want you to know that even though our school building is not open, we are here to support your learner during this time. We are available via Zoom for virtual check-ins or via email. Learners can set up virtual appointments to check in with us Monday-Friday 11:00 am-3:30 pm. Also, we are working to develop a google classroom with social/emotional resources for all learners.
Virtual counseling (counseling via email, phone, etc.) has some limitations that ethically I am obligated to share with you. Counseling is most effective when it includes non-verbal communication such as facial expressions and body language. Virtual counseling doesn't allow for this. Additionally, confidentiality is a little harder to ensure with virtual counseling. Virtual counseling can more easily be overheard than in-person conversations in the privacy of my office. Emails are also less confidential than one on one meetings in the privacy of my office.
In accordance with the American School Counseling Association (ASCA), school counselors working in a virtual setting provide a comprehensive school counseling program through the use of technology and distance (virtual/online/e-learning) counseling with the same standards and adherence to ethics as school counselors working in traditional school settings. School counselors work collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure equity, access, and success of all students. School counselors provide school counseling services but do not provide therapy. I am more than happy to provide referrals to outside counselors as needed. If your child shares, they have thoughts of hurting themselves, thoughts of hurting others or someone is hurting them, we will break confidentiality to keep them safe.
In non-emergency situations, learners and parents/guardians may reach out to me via email. I am checking email Monday-Friday from 8 AM to 3 PM and respond within 24 hours. In life-threatening emergencies please call 911. If emergencies are non-life threatening, please consider these resources:
National Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Boys Town Hotline: 1-800-448-3000
Crisis Text Line is the free, 24/7, confidential text message. Text HOME to 741741
Call the Helpline: 211 for additional resources
We look forward to supporting your learner during these challenging times. Please reach out to us if we can be of assistance.
Krista.Groeneweg@k12.sd.us (6th (TL), 7th (PL), 8th (Siberian), Advanced Learning
Allison.Weideman@k12.sd.us (6th (PL), 7th (TL), 8th (Bengal)