October 2, 2020
Dear Burr Families,
It's hard to believe that it's October already. Thank you for a successful Open House and beginning to the school year. Your children are doing an amazing job of learning in school as well as following all of the safety protocols that have been implemented as a result of Covid19. Our goal - which is not easy - is to maintain as much normalcy as we can in terms of our instructional work with students. We also hope to support students' healthy social and emotional well being and, of course, make school a fun place.
Today we had a practice lockdown - our first of the year. We have also had a practice fire drill this year. Please keep in mind for both - we practice social distancing and make sure that students understand all of our procedures in the event that we have a real lockdown or fire drill.
Finally, this bi-weekly newsletter will serve as a consistent hub for communication and reminders.
As always, if you have any feedback or questions, don't hesitate to contact me directly at jbluestein@fairfieldschools.org
Be well,
Jason
We are learning at Burr!
Music
Thank you for your continued patience with our music special (our current lack of a music special) while Mrs. Maravich is on leave. We have spent the last month looking for a long term substitute who could teach music (virtually) to Burr's students. As of now, we have been unable to find a qualified person who will give students a meaningful music experience. As an alternative, we will be offering an asynchronous music experience from other music teachers from the Fairfield Public Schools. This includes pre-taped videos, accompanying assignments, and feedback on these assignments. These videos/assignments will be posted as a link in your child's classroom. The teachers who will be working with Burr's students are: Cid Kettles – Grades K and 3, Laura Haskitt – Grades 1 and 2, and Allison Rock Studer – Grades 4 and 5. Ms. Kettles is the music teacher at Riverfield, Ms. Haskitt is the music teacher at Osborn Hill School, and Ms. Rock Studer is the music teacher at Sherman. Please take note: Like all of Burr's specials, it is a requirement that students participate. Ms. Kettles, Ms. Haskitt, and Ms. rock Studer will determine grades for the first progress report term. I am not sure yet when Mrs. Maravich will return, but I will update you as I learn more.
Arrival/Dismissal
Some reminders and updates on Arrival/Dismissal:
We have transitioned to one line of traffic for cars entering Burr's driveway. Please do not make left turns into Burr's driveway. Instead, please drive past the driveway and get into a northbound line on Burr St. that will lead to making a right turn into Burr's driveway. This may necessitate driving past Burr and turning around on a side street. Once you are in the northbound line, please make sure that you pull your car as far to the right as you can, so traffic can pass safely on Burr Street.
Please make sure that you post the name of your child in your window everyday. While we are getting to know who is being picked up every day, having the name in the window is incredibly helpful for the speed and efficiency of our dismissal process. Please also remember to post the names of any other children that you are picking up.
We currently have dismissal default plans for all students participating in hybrid learning. If you need to change your child's default plan (Ex. You will have them ride the bus every Friday instead of being picked up), please call the office and let us know, so we can change it. If you have a change on any individual day, please make sure to send in a note to your child's teacher. The teacher will notify the office so we can record it.
We have had recent discussions as a school in about security and making sure that students get in the proper cars at dismissal. When a child is released to their parent or caregiver (like a nanny), we will not be checking identification or asking follow up questions. Since these same people pick up their children every day, and since we have gotten much more efficient at recognizing who these people are, we do not feel this is necessary. However, when a child is picked up by someone new (another parent, a new babysitter, for example), we will ask to check identification and/or question the child and/or adult before releasing the child to their care. We also will cross check with their dismissal plan (default plan, daily note.)
Conferences
Conferences are coming on October 8th 13th , and 14th. October 8 and 14 are early dismissal days and October 13th is a delayed opening day. Students will not be coming to school on October 8th and 14th. All students will be participating remotely in the morning. Teachers will be sending a schedule of synchronous and asynchronous learning.
On October 13th, students in the PM cohort will be coming to the school during their normal afternoon hours. Students in the AM cohort will be participating in PM asynchronous learning. There will be no AM learning schedule for any students. For spring conferences, this schedule will shift slightly so students in the AM cohort (if we are still in hybrid learning) come live to school for one conference day.
Approximate conference sign up times (these may vary slightly teacher to teacher) will include: October 8th between 2:00-5:00, October 13th between 8:45-11:45, and October 14th between 5:00-8:00 PM.
Individual classroom teachers will be sending sign up schedules as well as learning schedules for the days that students will be home.
SEPTA
SEPTA stands for Special Education PTA. They do a lot of important work for the special education students and families in our district. Here is a link to their website that includes meeting information, events they run, and their mission. https://fairfieldsepta.org/
Book Fair
The PTA Book Fair is coming soon! This is a great opportunity to get books in your child's hands and support our school. As you talk with your child about ordering books, have them think about what a Just Right book is. In fact, I would ask them specifically to tell you. Reading just right books will ensure that students practice the thinking skills they need to read more and more sophisticated texts. Being able to read the words at a fluent pace and having the skills necessary to comprehend the text make reading much more enjoyable for any reader.
The Book Fair is Monday, October 12th- Sunday, October 27th.
It will be held virtually, and will run for 2 weeks.
All orders over $25 will ship for free, and directly to your home!
Lots of great titles will be available, including the new release "Dog Man: Grime and Punishment"
If you would like a sneak peak, click here for the catalog