Weekly Message 4.20.20

eLearning Week Four

It is hard to believe that we are heading into week four of virtual learning. This weekend we all also received the news that our school year will be continuing through a virtual platform throughout the remainder of the year.  Although this decision is understandable to keep everyone healthy, it is hard to believe that this is our new reality.  This announcement has brought forth many more questions for all of us.  How will students get their belongings in their classroom?  How will we say our end of school year goodbyes? We are working to make a plan for all of these questions and more.  As we solidify plans we will be sure to let you know as soon as possible.  If there is one thing that we have all learned through this pandemic it is that we are all in it for the kids and for each other... together we will always find a way to do what is right for our families and staff!

This week will continue with our regularly scheduled meetings.  Just a reminder, our staff meetings are scheduled for Thursdays at 1:00 pm.  These meetings are an important time for us to all come together and hear the most recent updates from the District and State as the staff meeting directly follows our morning principal and assistant principal meetings.  It is also just a great time to hear each other, post comments to one another, and feel connected as a whole staff.

iReady vs STAR

For those of you that are instructional staff, we are asking you to do a bit of research this week and share your thoughts with us about the possibility of us transitioning from the i-Ready assessment platform to the STAR platform.  Below are a few documents and videos that may assist you in learning a bit more about STAR.  One of the things we wanted to be sure that you were aware of is that STAR does not have its own interactive lesson path for students between assessment periods.  But, what they do have is a program that is called Freckle that we would like for you to look into as well.  The purchase of the STAR program would also allow teachers and students to continue our use of MyOn that we have been using the last few weeks during eLearning.  Once you do some research, please complete the survey link below by Friday to share your thoughts with us.

STAR Information:

https://www.renaissance.com/products/star-assessments/

https://p.widencdn.net/i26cwk/302820-Star-Gatefold_final

https://p.widencdn.net/6ef2st/300804-Star-Reading-flyer

https://p.widencdn.net/lgrgsf/300804-Star-Math-flyer

Freckle Information:

https://www.freckle.com/differentiation-platform/

SURVEY:

Instructional Staff Survey for iReady vs STAR

Thank You

Thank you again for all you do.  We are seriously lucky to have such an amazing staff.  Take a deep breath, be sure to relax a bit, and soak up some of this extra time with your families too!  

-Keli and James

Phone Message 4.19.2020

Hello to all of our Cub families.  This is Mr. Vernon with some updates for the upcoming week.  If you haven't heard our governor did shut down schools for the remainder of this school year.  I am extremely sad about this happening, but understand the safety reasons that must be thought of first.  Our staff will continue to work hard to reach students virtually.  With that being said,  I again, want to thank all of our Cubs families and our DCES staff for all the work and patience they have put into the e-Learning process.  Currently we have between 96% and 97% of our Cubs meeting their weekly requirements.  We know this type of learning will often become dull, but we need to keep encouraging our students to have Grit and persevere until we can get back to our normal routine.  If you are having difficulties with your Chromebooks or internet, please reach out to your child’s teachers and we will try our best to assist.  Also, a reminder that each day Monday – Thursday between the hours of 10am to 1pm lunches are being served at Peace River Elementary, Neil Armstrong Elementary, Punta Gorda Middle and in Englewood at LA Ainger Middle.  A lunch, as well as breakfast for the next day, we will be served to all children 18 and under.  Also, don’t forget that WCUB news plays every day and students have access to the show through Classlink.  Each Friday on WCUB, we have our Special guest scientists who visit and present the science question of the week.  Students can submit an answer to their grade level question on our DCES webpage yourcharlotteschools.net/dce .   Also, don’t forget about our Specials Hub. Each day of the week our specials teachers are posting a fun activity.  Thank you all for listening.  Please keep our Cubs working and reading.  I can’t wait until I get to see our Ready, Responsible and Respectful Cubs back at school.  Have a great evening. 

Weekly Message 4.8.2020

We didn't want to post a bunch of information leading into next week.  Only a reminder of our appreciation for all you have done the last two weeks.   I know it won't be a normal holiday, but we are hoping that you all can relax and enjoy being with your loved ones.


Thank you and Happy Easter
Keli and James

Weekly Message 4.6.20

eLearning

We have survived our first week of eLearning!  Our Cubs have wrapped up their iReady diagnostic assessments and are hopefully settling into a routine.  Although this is not what any of us expected or wanted, we are here and are making the best of this crazy situation.  We again want to thank you for your calmness and patience during the last two weeks.  As plans were developed and launched into place you were there to support our families and students every step of the way. 

Stay at Home Order

On Sunday our families received their weekly call from us.  We let them know that with the new stay at home order that we had to close our campus.  This means that families will not be able to contact us via the phone in the front office.  We have asked families to reach out to teachers with any questions they may have and for teachers to then forward those questions to the appropriate staff member.  The District is in the process of creating a google form that parents can complete that will notify us of questions as well.  As soon as that is up and running we will let you know.  As of right now, the campus will be locked up other than visits that we will need to make to the school to complete things such as payroll and mailing out AR shirts to our students.  If you need anything from campus, please be sure to email one of us so we can make arrangements to help you.

Positivity and Celebrations

Some of our kiddos have some obstacles stacked against them as they are working from home.  Let's be the ones to spread some positivity into their days.  If interested, please take a photo of yourself holding a small sign/note for our Cubs and upload it to the shared google folder by clicking here.  We are also looking for some staff members to read a book to our students.  Once you record a video, please upload it to this folder by clicking here. Also, look for small accomplishments students are making academically.  Find creative ways to celebrate their success.  Some of our staff have already done small gestures that have made a big impact.  Sweet notes to them in their google classroom accounts, an old fashioned postcard in the mail, or a specific praise message sent via remind will brighten their day!

Big Bucket Book Bash

Our Big Bucket Book Bask kicks off this week!  A big thank you goes out to our committee and to Jackie Riddell for finding some creative options for hosting this year's event virtually.  Please be sure to see her presentation for the specifics and to encourage our Cubs to read, read, read.

Weekly Agenda

We had to make a few tweaks to our weekly agenda.  Please be sure to look at the revisions made to Wednesdays (core team) and Thursdays (staff meeting) on our calendar.  Remember, if you need to hold meetings with staff members you are always welcome to contact Keli to reserve DCE Meets at open time slots, or set up your own google meets meetings.  We are looking forward to meeting with you this week!

Hoping you have a great week.  Stay healthy and please be sure to let us know if you need anything!  Missing you all lots!
-Keli and James