January News
January 4, 2022
Happy New Year!
As we welcome the new year and hope for positive things in 2022 we want to share a few things to note.
PTO - Please consider getting involved. We need YOU! We need parents that are willing and able to get involved and be a vital part of our PTO. Many of our current officers have children that are soon moving on to middle school. In order to keep our PTO in tact, we need new members and officers. Please consider joining us. If you have questions I would be more than happy to discuss what we are looking for.
Covid Mitigation strategies - We want to keep students and staff in school and healthy. We are increasing some of our mitigation strategies to reduce the potential of close contacts when there are positive cases.
3 W's
- wear a mask,
- wash your hands
- watch your distance
Increase high touch surface disinfecting
Keeping students with their class. Students will stay with only their classmates throughout the day to decrease the opportunities for co-mingling of students
Students will report directly to the classroom upon arrival. No morning playground.
- If a student wants to have breakfast, they need to go directly to the cafeteria when they arrive to grab a bagged breakfast to take to their classroom.
Lunch times have been slightly modified to allow us more space in the cafeteria to spread out while unmasked. Your child's lunch time may have adjusted by a few minutes. To make this all happen our Kindergarten students will be eating lunch in their classrooms. Your child's teacher will keep you updated on schedule changes at the classroom level.
A note from our School Nurse
As we continue to experience COVID cases, we do our very best to communicate school exposures in a timely manner. That being said, sometimes there is a delay in notification or contact tracing, especially on weekends or over scheduled breaks. However, if you would like to email positive results to me, Heather Hedin, Licensed School Nurse at hhedin1@isd77.org , I do periodically check my emails on my time off. If I am notified of a case and have the needed information, I will do my best to do the contact tracing and notification as soon as possible. That being said, I am not always available on the weekends or may not have all the required information needed for contact tracing. So please continue to be patient as we do our best to work through these situations. As always, if your child is sick, or showing any COVID-like symptoms, please keep them home and have them evaluated/tested.
Winter Weather Information
To check information about school being delayed, dismissed early or cancelled, you can:
Call: The District Information Line at 386-4777. HINT: If you save it to your phone your kids can check it and not bother you at 6 am.
Watch: WCCO (Ch 4), KSTP (Ch 5), FOX (Ch 9), KARE (Ch 11), KEYC (Ch 12)
Listen: KMSU (89.7 FM), KXLP (94.1 FM), KDOG (96.7 FM), KEEZ (99.1 FM), KXAC (100.5 FM), KRRW (101.5), KYSM (103.5 FM), WCCO (830 AM), KTOE (1420 AM)
PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE OFFICE TO SEE IF SCHOOL IS CANCELLED OR RELEASING EARLY. Our school phone lines tie up quickly when an early closing is announced so be sure you have your Snow Emergency Form current as we will follow the directions you have given us on that sheet.
You can also find resources on the district website Weather Related Information page.
Please remember that ACES, our after school childcare program, does not operate when we close due to inclement weather.
* When the weather causes school to start two hours late, breakfast will not be served.
Upcoming dates to note
UPCOMING DATES TO NOTE:
1/10 -1/28- DIBELS testing
1/17 - No School
1/20 - PTO meeting @ 6:30 (virtual)
1/24 - No School
2/14 - No School
2/17 - PTO Meeting (virtual)
If your child needs to be out of school for an extended period of time
We understand that some unplanned extended absences can create many difficulties for families and because of illness and hectic schedules some households may not be able to make sent home work a priority. If you find yourself in the boat of having extended absences, please reach out to the teacher to get work if that is your preference.
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PTO MEETING DATES
Thursday, January 20 @ 630pm
Thursday, February 17 @ 630pm
March TBD
April TBD
Thursday, May 19 @ 630pm
All meetings will be held virtual again.
Student Support Services Team
Our Student Support Services team (pictured above) at Rosa Parks includes Marcy Koch, counselor, Tiana Iverson, social worker, and Rachael Hudson, psychologist. This team collaborates daily to support student learning and they enjoy building relationships with all students and families in order to help our Pumas become successful. Please don't hesitate to contact them if you have a question or concern about your child's learning or social emotional needs!
MASKS
We need your help in making sure that students come to school with a mask each and every day. If you'd like to donate masks to the office and/or your child's classroom, please know we would welcome any/all donations!
Arrival and Dismissal Procedures
We have our arrival and dismissal procedures in place to keep students safe, and operate in an efficient and effective manner.
Arrival:
- Doors will not open until 7:35 unless you are enrolled in our ACES program. Adult supervision also does not start until 7:35.
- Students that arrive between 7:35 and 7:50 should currently report directly to their classroom.
- As students enter the building they are required to wear a mask.
Curbside drop off is in the lower lot, door (#3). Please follow the flow of traffic.
DO NOT PASS cars and skip ahead in line.
Pull ahead as far as possible at all times. It may be super convenient for your kid to exit the vehicle right in front of the door but please be considerate of others. The better everyone follows the procedures the smoother the experience is for everyone.
The upper lot, (door #1) is reserved for buses only. Should you need to visit the office, use the upper lot to park and enter the building.
Students who walk or ride their bike will approach on the path, on the playground side of the building. They will walk/bike around the building to the bike racks and use the lower door (#3).
THE END OF DAY PICK-UP PROCEDURES - THE NUMBERS ARE HERE TO STAY.
DISMISSAL PROCEDURES
Students who walk home will exit door #7 (near orange playground equipment)
utilize the walking path
must promptly begin leaving campus once they exit the building.
Students who bike home will exit door #3 (near lower parking lot)
utilize the walking path
must promptly begin leaving campus once they exit the building.
Students who are car riders will exit door #3.
We are committed to keeping Rosa Parks students, families, and staff safe. Thank you for your cooperation!
Each family is given a number that will need to be displayed in the car window
Families will get two numbers to have in multiple vehicles
Display number on the passenger side
When pulling up, always pull up as far as you can and we will load multiple cars at a time.
Staff will communicate the numbers in the order they have arrived into the building.
Avoiding the process and driving to the front will result in your number not being called. Follow the process!
As cars load, they will be dismissed and the next batch of cars will pull in.
Make sure your children know their number for dismissal.
Please make sure your child knows how they will be getting home each day. Inform your child’s teacher or the school office if there is a change in your family’s plan.
Contact Us
Email: dkamph1@isd77.org
Website: rpe.isd77.org
Location: 1001 Heron Drive, Mankato, MN, USA
Phone: 507-387-7672