Daisy Staff,
The first three weeks of the 2020-2021 school year have just flown by!
Thanks so much to all that everyone has done to ensure the safety of our students while we have adjusted to new, COVID-related protocols. It is hard work-- engaging our students in-person as well as remotely-- and I appreciate all that you are doing to make this work!
Thanks for giving our students an opportunity to decorate masks last Friday, designated as "Create a Mask" Spirit Day......
As we head into the 4th week of school, here are a few notes about the upcoming weeks:
- Wednesday, Sept. 23 will feature:
- "Good News" All-School Assembly--to be livestreamed; time TBA.
- "Kindness" Spirit Day--Please wear any of your "Kind" T-shirts; theme of All-School Assembly *
- 3:15-4:00 pm--Joint Department PLCs (ELA, Math, Special Ed at Daisy); theme--State Flexibilities for Teacher Evaluation Plan (Virtual Meeting)
- 6:30-7:30 pm--Virtual PTO Meeting
- Thursday, Sept. 24:
- School Photo Day (to be conducted outside in a socially-distanced manner, as previously detailed in email)
- Friday, Sept. 25:
- "Westbrook Purple" Spirit Day *
- October 6 & 8 feature:
- Early dismissal at 1 pm for Parent/Teacher Conferences
- All conferences will be virtual
- Please feel free to contact families re: setting up Google Meet Conferences
- October 12--Columbus Day Holiday
For those applicable, please plan on attending Grade 2, 3, and 4 Team Meetings this week, as scheduled.
As always, please check our Daisy Staff Google Calendar daily, as we continue to add important dates, meetings to this staff calendar:
We're so fortunate to have three dedicated building substitutes from Kelly Services and Delta-T. They are truly a part of our Daisy family and have helped in a multitute of ways already.
The updated procedure for securing a teacher or paraprofessional subsitute is as follows:
As soon as you know you need to be out, please email Alicia, Lisa and myself. (I prefer email because I can access this 24/7 and if you leave a message on one of the office voicemails, we can't all access that.) We will deploy one of our building subs, if available. Tovah and Lori can cover as a teacher or para (through Kelly) and Brandi provides services as a paraprofessional (through Delta T.) If we can't cover additional absences, we may ask you to contact Kelly or Delta T to ask for an additional substitute. The same paperwork applies as in the past; that is, please fill out an absence form after the absence. As always, requests for a Personal Day or Professional Development Request, must be made in advance as approval must be given before that type of absence.
Please also welcome Meredith Werner, who joined us just lask week as a paraprofessional in Kate Cote's Preschool Classroom. We are very fortunate to have two of Meredith's children with us at Daisy this year as well.
I understand staff concerns regarding supplies that have been back-ordered, especially some of the additional "COVID" staple supplies as well as instructional materials. Please know that our office staff is tracing these so that I will be able to give you an update this week. Fortunately, all of the PPE supplies that we needed to start the school year were in place before the first day of school.
The other big-ticket item is ensuring that every student has access to a Chromebook for school use, as well as for any possible change in our Re-opening Plan, which might move us into Hybrid or Total Distance Learning. The priority in getting all Chromebooks back in school and updating was to get Chromebooks into the hands of all current remote learners and then we worked backwards from Grade 4 to PreK, so that students would have what they need in school. Grades 1 through 4 should be all set now and we may still have some matches to make in Grades K and PreK. Thanks to all for your patience as we have had an influx of new students in PreK and across all grade levels, which is good.
Again, thanks to all, for making this work. We must work together and we need to be patient with our students as well as with our colleagues. You are all doing an amazing job in the most challenging circumstances.
Let's make it a great week!
Warmly,
Ruth
Our students are so enjoying our new playgrounds.....
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