Friday, May 21, 2021
This will be the last formal newsletter of the school year. Thank you all so much for your love and support for me and your student. As a class, we have overcome so many challenges together and it has been a pleasure to watch them all grow both as little people and as learners. I know this will be a group, and a year, I will remember forever! We were able to preserve and learn while also navigating how to survive a global pandemic, which is HUGE!
This week we learned all about jellyfish. We were all surprised by how fascinating jellyfish can be. Did you know they have been alive for 500 million years!? We also were able to paint some beautiful watercolor jellyfish for our portfolios. As readers, we are enjoying our time together reading books that bring us joy and inspire us to keep reading!
I will begin to slowly send work and supplies home next week; it will be helpful if your child has a backpack or a bag they can put all their belongings in to ensure work/supplies gets from school to home. May 25th will be our Teddy Bear Sleepover. Students will be allowed to bring in a stuffy (has to be able to fit in their cubbies/backpacks). Our stuffies will learn alongside us for the day and spend the night at school on their own! When we return to school on the 26th we will see how our stuffies behaved while we were gone.
If you have a Chromebook please return the Chromebook and changer ASAP. All library books are also due. Students will have a fee on your students account if the book is not returned. If you have any questions, please reach out to Dianne at dianne.bohach@jeffco.k12.co.us
From PALS:
Let’s celebrate the end of school!! On May 27 we have an early release at 1 pm. Meet at Morse Park on Carr & 20th for the end of school play date!! Parents must accompany children on the play date 💗 we’d like to meet you and make plans for summer meet-ups!!
Also, REMINDER Staff Appreciation is happening May 28th for staff at The Open School!! Please be in touch with Barbara for details and to support the plans for sending our teachers into the summer with love & appreciation the Open School way. barbaradray16@gmail.com or 716-465-1467!!
With Much Gratitude,
Ari
Friday, January 22nd 2021
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dear Families,
We spent this week studying the biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and diving into the water cycle as part of our Water Study. We also spent time learning about the inauguration. We were surprised to hear that the white house has 132 rooms! To celebrate the new president we imagined what it would be like if we were president of the United States. We wrote about what our famous words would be, our secret code names, pets and food that you could find in our fridge if we lived in the white house. You can see our classwork that is hanging on the garage door of our classroom! Remember there will be no school on Friday, January 29 as it is a teacher work day.
Their reading notebooks are due Thursday, January 28th! They should have AT LEAST two entries for the month of January.
Connect with classroom Parents
Hello
Parents!
I’m Genevifka’s mom and have volunteered to be the Parent Advisory Liaison
(PAL) for Genevifka’s advising group this year. The PALs program is a parent
network organized according to classrooms or advising groups, intended to
support JCOS parents during these disorienting times and as a liaison to PTSO.
The idea is to supplement family interactions that don’t happen under the
current protocols, such as in-person school events, celebrating birthdays, and
chatting at drop-off/pick-up time. Being more connected to each other, we will
be better able to support our students. Research shows that family involvement
in schools positively affects student outcomes on multiple levels!
I suggest that initially we (parents) meet for a “virtually connected happy hour”
one evening in January. Let me know if YOU’RE IN!
/Barbara J Dray
barbaradray16@gmail.com
cell
716-465-1467
Smart but Scattered - Executive Functioning Seminar
Smart but Scattered: Helping Children and Teens Strengthen Executive Skills Executive skills are brain functions which help us to accomplish goals, overcome challenges, plan and organize activities, and work to complete a task. These skills are critical to learning and while some students acquire them naturally, others struggle to develop them. Dr. Peg Dawson will teach how these skills develop and strategies families can use to help children be successful.
Peg Dawson Parent Session Flyer--English
Integrated Arts with Tom
Check out Tom’s Google Site for updated info about his Integrated Arts class: https://sites.google.com/jeffcoschools.us/jcoselementaryintegratedarts/home
Friday, January 15th 2021
Picture your brain forming new connections as you meet the challenge and learn. Keep on going. – Carol Dweck
Dear Families,
We began our week by looking at how we can start 2021 with a positive outlook. We worked on finding a word to inspire in the new year. The words that your children chose are truly inspiring. Students created art pieces and flipgrid videos to share their work We ended our week launching our study of water. We shared our schema about the water cycle and some wonders we might have. Next we are going to start exploring where water can be found on earth. Remember there will be no school on Monday, January 18 in observance of MLK’s Birthday. I will see everyone on Tuesday morning at school.
Check-In with your Student
Writing: Our Words for 2021 - check to see if your child has chosen a word, filled out their google slides, and made a piece of art and shared on flipgrid. Have your child share their work in their Science Notebook - we spent time recording our schema for where water can be found and then recorded our thinking about various bodies of water on our planet after exploring on Google Earth.
Reading: Please check in with your child about what they are reading. Encourage your child to read different genres including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, mysteries, etc. It can still be great practice for many students to practice reading aloud. Consider getting a chapter book to read aloud together at night.
Our time with online learning has come to an end, at least for now. Now that we are transitioning back to in-person learning please read all the information below so you can help prepare your child for being in-person school again.
New Mask requirements!
In a continued effort to minimize the risk of exposure students are asked to wear masks as they enter in the building.
Gaiter masks or buffs will no longer be allowed (adults and students). These masks are often made of a looped fabric covering the neck and pulled over the mouth that allows for lots of particles to get in.
Please contact me or Stephanie, our health aid if you need assistance with getting the appropriate masks
Things that NEED to come back to school
Any books from the classroom
Research Lab Notebook
Green Writing Folder
Writing Journal (yellow or teal)
Sketch Book
Handwriting Notebooks
Back and Forth Folder (inside should be their final drafts of their personal narratives)
1st Graders- bring back ALL math homework that was assigned during remote learning
Drop Off Reminders
Students will continue to enter through my classroom door.
Drop-Off at the bus loop is to support students entering the east side entrances of the building (PK, KG*, ELC, and IA). Please remember to pull all the way around to the east curve to drop-off your child. We ask that drivers do not park and walk students to the gate (HUG and GO zones).** If you would like to park, the dirt parking lot is open to families who wish to walk their child to the HUG and GO zones.
Pick-up Updates
Students will continue to exit through their designated doors.
The Bus Loop is closed for PM pick-up as this created too much congestion with our 5 buses and cars. Pick-up for students grades K-6 will be along W 10th Ave.
Families may also continue to utilize the dirt parking lot if they wish to pick up students at HUG and GO zones near their designated doors.
Please create a pick-up plan with your kiddos and/or siblings so
that students can get safely to their vehicles.
Connect with classroom Parents
Hello Parents!
I’m Genevifka’s mom and have volunteered to be the Parent Advisory Liaison (PAL) for Genevifka’s advising group this year. The PALs program is a parent network organized according to classrooms or advising groups, intended to support JCOS parents during these disorienting times and as a liaison to PTSO. The idea is to supplement family interactions that don’t happen under the current protocols, such as in-person school events, celebrating birthdays, and chatting at drop-off/pick-up time. Being more connected to each other, we will be better able to support our students. Research shows that family involvement in schools positively affects student outcomes on multiple levels!
I suggest that initially we (parents) meet for a “virtually connected happy hour” one evening in January. Let me know if YOU’RE IN!
/ Barbara J Dray
barbaradray16@gmail.com
cell 716-465-1467
Integrated Arts with Tom
Check out Tom’s Google Site for updated info about his Integrated Arts class: https://sites.google.com/jeffcoschools.us/jcoselementaryintegratedarts/home
I am looking forward to in-person learning!
Warmly,
Ari
Friday, January 8th 2021
Dear Families,
Welcome back and Happy New Year! It was wonderful to see the smiling faces of all the children when we returned to class on Wednesday. We reconnected with one another sharing highlights from our winter break. This week we read Thank You Omu. We paused throughout the text to work on the strategy of inferring. As readers we gather text evidence and combine these clues with our schema or background knowledge to make an inference and reach a logical conclusion or opinion.
Some students have found that staying on working with me and other students is just what they need to stay motivated and get their work done, others prefer to hop off the computer after the lesson to focus on their work. Please take a moment and reflect with your child. PLEASE be sure to make a nightly check-in part of your routine. Students should be reading, writing, and completing math assignments daily. I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for your support.
I will be out Thursday, January 14th. This means there will be no zoom meetings (except for 2nd grade math with Jana). I will post their assignments for the day on the google classroom. As of today January 8th, we are still planning on returning to in-person learning Tuesday, January 19th . I will send updates if anything changes.
Upcoming Unit of Study
We will begin a unit on the water cycle. Throughout this unit we will research and identify where water is found on earth, and the states of matter for water. From here we will explore weather events and cause and effect relationships
Important Dates:
Monday, January 18th- MLK NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, January 19th- Return to in-person learning
Friday, January 29th- NO SCHOOL
Parent Contact
If you are interested in connecting with other parents for our class, please contact Barbara Dray at barbaradray16@gmail.com
Friday, December 18th 2020
Dear Families,
We continued learning about seasons, and different holidays that are celebrated this time of year After learning about the seasons we wrote winter poems and learned about hibernation. On Thursday morning the entire ELC got together for our first virtual Community Circle hosted by Mary’s class. We loved hearing their songs, poems and getting a chance to see friends from last year! Mary’s class inspired us to write hibernation poems of our own! I have so much gratitude for all the support parents are giving at home. Remote learning is not ideal for any of us, and I know we are doing the best we can. Without the support at home online learning would be impossible, thank you.
Winter Break Homework:
Read for 30 minutes every day!
Math-
o Stars (1st grade) math homework will be posted in the google classroom by the end of the day Friday.
o Moons- Check in with Jana
Create a flip grid sharing your winter poem. (This is optional; however, I would LOVE to hear your poems )
TAKE A BREAK FROM THE SCREEN
Play outside
Spend time with family
Build things with Legos, plus plus, blocks, other toys found around the house
Create art! Color, draw, paint, etc
RELAX and ENJOY the time off
From Tom
Check out Tom’s Google Site for updated info about his Integrated Arts class: https://sites.google.com/jeffcoschools.us/jcoselementaryintegratedarts/home
Parent Contact
If you are interested in connecting with other parents for our class, please contact Barbara Dray at barbaradray16@gmail.com
Important Dates:
Winter Break No School- December 21st through January 5th
Wishing everyone a safe and healthy winter break. See you on January 6th , 2021!
Ari
Friday, December 11th 2020
Dear Families,
We made it through another week! I am so proud of everyone for getting online and participating in class. We spent this week digging into the seasons. We activated our schema for the seasons and then worked on researching why we have seasons and why the cycle of the seasons happens the way it does here in the northern hemisphere. We developed lots of vocabulary as we grappled with understanding why we have seasons including: hemisphere, equator, orbit, and axis. In reading, we talked about finding our prefect reading spot. Our reading spots should be a place where we can sit, focus and read for the whole 30 minutes of read-to-self. We have also been working in our gratitude journals during word study. We have shared we are grateful for many things, such as, gravity because it keeps us grounded, teachers, family and trees for giving us oxygen. Next week we will attend virtual Community Circle in Mary’s ZOOM Room on Thursday morning at 9:00. We will be joining students from other advising groups in Mary’s ZOOM Room. I will post the link later this week.
Check-In with your Student:
Please help your child check their google classroom so they are aware of what is due.
Writing Check
Make sure your student has completed the final draft of their
small moment story. Final drafts should be put in the blue back and forth
folder.
Have your child create a FlipGrid of them reading their final draft.
Check in that your students wrote about the reasons for seasons, spring and summer.
Math Check
Stars (1st Grade) has continued working on finding unknown partners in an equation. Yesterday, we began exploring how addition and subtraction might be related. Please check their google classroom for their homework for the week. They are not expected to “turn in” their math homework. I trust that everyone is doing their best to get it done. Please just hit “submit” in the google classroom once it is complete.
Moons (2nd grade) check in with Jana for math questions.
Reading Check
o Please keep reading aloud to your students AND make sure they are reading for at least 30 minutes every day! Check-in with them about what they are reading, asking them to talk about characters, themes, summarizing plot. A quick 5 finger re-tell can be helpful when checking in (first, after that, next, next, finally).
Google Classroom
After I have taught a lesson, I will post the assignment related to the lesson on the Google Classroom under the relevant topic (for example - Handwriting pages 2 and 3)
PLEASE check in with your child daily to see if they are completing their assignments you can check in with them by looking through the Google Classroom together.
If you would like to attach photos of student work related to an assignment you can do so by attaching a file - there is no need to attach pictures of everything (ex: pages in handwriting book or math binder), but it is valuable for me to see some of their writing assignments.
I will really be depending on parents to check their child's work and let me know if their student needs additional support from me. I trust that I am delivering the content, structure and routines that guide our days and parents are checking in to make sure their children are doing their work and reaching out when they need help.
If you would like to know more about navigating the Google Classroom you can review this video Dianne made for us: Google Classroom from the Student Edition
There is a PLAID Day Topic in the Google Classroom which includes ideas to help you design a meaningful PLAID day experience for your child. I also love seeing what your student is up to. Feel free to email me pictures of their PLAID experiences. All pictures will be shared with the class on Friday mornings.
From Tom
Check out Tom’s Google Site for updated info about his Integrated Arts class: https://sites.google.com/jeffcoschools.us/jcoselementaryintegratedarts/home
Parent Contact
If you are interested in connecting with other parents for our class, please contact Barbara Dray at barbaradray16@gmail.com
Important Dates:
Winter Break No School- December 21st - January 6th
Friday, December 4th 2020
Dear Families,
We made it though our first week of virtually connected learning! Thank you for your patience and understanding as we both embark on this new way of learning together. I am amazed with how quickly the students adapted to online learning! This week we began reading aloud The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes. We have already made serval connections to Billy and shared ours worries and excitement about online learning. We worked on revising, editing, and finally publishing our small moment personal narrative stories this week.
Check-In with your Student
Please help your child check their google classroom so they are aware of what is due.
· Writing Check
o Make sure your student has completed the final draft of their small moment story and made a video on flip grid sharing their story with the class.
o PLEASE help your child self-evaluate using the Narrative Writing Checklist (found in their green folder). This checklist will give you and your child an opportunity to look through the skills we worked on during this unit.
o Have your child put their published story into their portfolio.
· Math Check
o Stars (1st Grade) began a unit on finding unknown partners in an equation. Please check their google classroom for their homework for the week. They are not expected to “turn in” their math homework. I trust that everyone is doing their best to get it done. Please just hit “submit” in the google classroom once it is complete.
o Moons (2nd grade) check in with Jana for math questions.
· Reading Check
o Please keep reading aloud to your students AND make sure they are reading for at least 30 minutes every day! Check-in with them about what they are reading, asking them to talk about characters, themes, summarizing plot. A quick 5 finger re-tell can be helpful when checking in (first, after that, next, next, finally).
Google Classroom
After I have taught a lesson I will post the assignment related to the lesson on the Google Classroom under the relevant topic (for example - Handwriting pages 2 and 3)
PLEASE check in with your child daily to see if they are completing their assignments you can check in with them by looking through the Google Classroom together.
If you would like to attach photos of student work related to an assignment you can do so by attaching a file - there is no need to attach pictures of everything (ex: pages in handwriting book or math binder), but it is valuable for me to see some of their writing assignments.
I will really be depending on parents to check their child's work and let me know if their student needs additional support from me. I trust that I am delivering the content, structure and routines that guide our days and parents are checking in to make sure their children are doing their work and reaching out when they need help.
If you would like to know more about navigating the Google Classroom you can review this video Dianne made for us: Google Classroom from the Student Edition
There is a PLAID Day Topic in the Google Classroom which includes ideas to help you design a meaningful PLAID day experience for your child.
Too Much, Just Right, Not Enough ???
As the Home Based Advisor it can be challenging to figure out how to support your child. At school, advisors “differentiate” for individual students. We will re-teach, modify the workload, encourage, set deadlines, and support students with natural consequences. What does this mean for you as the Home Based Advisor? You will often need to do the same.
Too Much: If you notice the workload is overwhelming for your child you may have to make some adjustments - for example if doing two pages in the math binder is overwhelming you can have your child do the first page or maybe half of each of the pages. You should expect your child to practice for a reasonable amount of time.
Not Enough: If you notice that the workload is not challenging enough for your child again you may have to make some adjustments - for example you might encourage your child to explore a topic of their choice in a more in depth way (this might be an extension of the work your student is choosing to do on PLAID Day).
Attendance and Accountability
I do not take attendance at every meeting throughout the day. With young children it is the responsibility of the Home Based Advisor to oversee the children, check the google classroom and have the student make up work when absent (or submit an alternative learning plan), modify/extend workload, and have daily checks to see that their children are doing their work. If a child is absent from a ZOOM Meeting I assume that the Home Based Advisor is aware of the absence and is supporting their student.
Library Update
We are excited to announce that the library will remain open during virtual learning! We have a large selection of fiction and nonfiction books, print and ebooks. Students can log in to Destiny Discover to view ebooks and place holds on print books. Please view the embedded video in Destiny Discover to learn how to log in and place holds. Holds placed on print books will be available for pickup by noon each Monday. Books will be labeled and placed on the holds shelf in the breezeway of the school front doors, which will be unlocked 8:00-4:00 M-F.
Technology Problems? Please check out this document for answers to many of your tech questions:
Open School Technology Support
Public Library Resources
There are many electronic resources for reading through the Jeffco Public Library. You need a library card to use these resources
Tumblebooks - mostly K-2 books, most have a read-aloud component, some with comprehension quizzes and games
Bookflix - K-2 paired Fic/NF texts
Axis360 - ebooks and audiobooks
Parent Contact
If you are interested in connecting with other parents for our class, please contact Barbara Dray at barbaradray16@gmail.com
Integrated Arts with Tom
Painting at home seemed to go really well this week. I was really proud to see students set up for class, and immersed in painting together. Thanks so much for your support on that, and in helping students to attend class, arrive on time and solve Zoom/Google Meet problems. On Monday, we’ll briefly celebrate the completion of the gift card project and then begin Mexican Modernism.
Check out Tom’s Google Site for updated info about his Integrated Arts class: https://sites.google.com/jeffcoschools.us/jcoselementaryintegratedarts/home
Friday, November 6th
Upon waking, let your first thought be, Thank you – Abraham Hicks
Dear Families,
November is here and we are all taking time to pause and notice what we are thankful for. I am thankful for the all the students who are showing up every day with masks and trying their best to keep each other safe. I am also thankful for all the gifts that have been donated to our class from our wonderful parents!
This week we launched a narrative writing project. We will be working on narrative writing for the next several weeks. We have been working on making sure our stories have a clear beginning, middle and end. I have enjoyed hearing all the stories each child has to share!
As readers we have continued to pause and notice our questions while making connections using our schema. Kian shared with us how schema is like doing a puzzle. The picture on the front of the box is what you know the puzzle will look like (our schema), and the puzzle is our questions we might have. By using the front of the box we are using our schema to help up piece together the puzzle. When we read the story One Day we paused to wonder together. We have noticed how inspirations for stories from our own lives can come from connections to literature as well as thinking back on our most important memories.
Reading Homework
Your child should be reading at home every night for at least 20 minutes. They also need to write me a letter in their reader’s notebooks once a week. Reader’s Notebooks are Due Friday, November 20th. There needs to be at least three entries in their notebooks by the due date.
From Tom
If you haven’t already, please have your child bring in a large plastic container, like an empty clean yogurt container, for watercolor painting
Important Dates
· Picture Retakes-Tuesday, November 10. Please let me know if your child needs to retake their school pictures.
· NO SCHOOL- Friday, November 13th
· Fall Break- November 23rd-27th
Friday, October 2020
Dear Families,
I truly enjoyed meeting with everyone during conferences on Monday and Tuesday. It was great to see everyone face to face, or rather mask to mask or through the screen. When I think back to September I am truly impressed by your children and all of the growth they have continued to make. As we came back to school on Wednesday the children returned with enthusiasm ready to return to school together. I appreciate how flexible all of them have been as our class continues to grow and our schedule made yet another change to our schedule. We began to conclude our Dragonfly Project. We also dove deeper into reading by looking at how readers stop and ask questions to better understand the text. Math was a huge success this week! We enjoyed seeing some familiar faces and being able to focus on one task at hand.
Moon’s (2nd Grade) Math:
Your child will be bringing home their Math Binders this week. The binders should stay at home and Jana will comminute what the homework pages are each week.
Reading Homework
Your child will be coming home with a
journal either today or during conferences for their reading homework. Each
week students will write me a letter about what they read. At the end of each
month students will bring their notebooks in for me to read their letters. I
will send out a reminder when their journals are due.
Library News
The library is open! Please visit Destiny Discover, our online catalog, to browse and put books on hold. Dianne will deliver books to advising classrooms for in person learners. For our virtually connected learners, books will be delivered to the holds shelf located between the two sets of front doors of the school. Holds are typically ready 24 hours after they are placed, but you can always check in your account to see if the books have been checked out to you (which means they are waiting for you). We have a ton of new books, old books, and books for all ages. Happy reading!
Scholastic Book Fair
The Scholastic Book Fair is back! While the Fair will be exclusively held online this year, we still plan on making it a fun and joyous experience for our kids. Every dollar you spend will benefit our school directly (25% back in rewards!).
Online Store:
https://www.scholastic.com/bf/jeffersoncountyopenschool2
From Tom
1. We will begin our 2nd Art Unit of the semester, Painting/Mexican Modernism, on Monday 11/2. For this, In-School students are asked to bring in:
-a large plastic container, like an empty clean yogurt container, for watercolor painting
-old newspaper to put down on top of the table/surface that they paint on
2. Visit Tom’s Google Site for updated information about his classes, virtual displays and general information about his program: https://sites.google.com/jeffcoschools.us/jcoselementaryintegratedarts/home
Upcoming Dates:
Friday, October 30th- We will celebrate Halloween in the classroom. Your child may wear a costume as long as they will still be able to read and write throughout the day. Masks, gloves and other distracting elements need to be able to be removed and out away for a bulk of the day. NO WEPONS
Tuesday, November 10th- Picture Make-Up
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Dear Families,
We have continued to work on our Dragonfly Projects this week delving more deeply into and elaborating on the stages of the life cycle. At the Open School we work to integrate science and social studies projects across the curriculum in order to explore a topic in depth. As we embark on our study of cycles this year our study of the dragonfly has been an opportunity to grow our schema about the lifecycle while expanding our knowledge of insects. Students continue to take this study beyond the classroom and out into the world. Students are noticing dragonflies and other insects around them and have been bringing them in for us to observe. As researchers, we have learned how to we can make inferences by looking at the pictures and how we can write words/labels to go along with our pictures! Students have also been prepping for conferences next week by writing about what they are doing in school and pulling out work they would like to share. I am looking forward to meeting with all of you during our conference days next week on Monday and Tuesday. Please double check the time you have signed up for our conferences here. If you are having a virtual conference, I will be sending out an email the ZOOM link Thursday afternoon. In-person conferences will be held outside my classroom garage door. Please enjoy your fall break.
Reading Homework
Your child will be coming home with a journal either today or during conferences for their reading homework. Each week students will write me a letter about what they read. At the end of each month students will bring their notebooks in for me to read their letters. I will be covering this is more detail during our conferences.
Library News
The library is open! Please visit Destiny Discover, our online catalog, to browse and put books on hold. Dianne will deliver books to advising classrooms for in person learners. For our virtually connected learners, books will be delivered to the holds shelf located between the two sets of front doors of the school. Holds are typically ready 24 hours after they are placed, but you can always check in your account to see if the books have been checked out to you (which means they are waiting for you). We have a ton of new books, old books, and books for all ages. Happy reading!
Scholastic Book Fair
The Scholastic Book Fair is back! While the Fair will be exclusively held online this year, we still plan on making it a fun and joyous experience for our kids. Every dollar you spend will benefit our school directly (25% back in rewards!).
Upcoming Dates:
10/15 (Thurs.) - Teacher Work Day No School
10/16 (Fri.) - Fall Break No School
10/19, 10/20 (Mon., Tues.) Fall Conferences
Week of September 25th:
We have completed our third week of school. Students have been learning about germs and the importance of washing our hands and wearing our masks over our noses! Raina came and did some Social Emotional Learning with us and we learned how to do joy breaths and volcano breaths, which are prefect for our masks breaks throughout the day. This week we also learned how to go book shopping, and what it means to find a good fit book. Students also completed their first writing project- The Dragon and the Unicorn! We also talked about what inspires us to write and began writing in our writing journals. The journal entries ranged from stories about missing hotdogs to things we love, like our moms, sisters, dads, brothers, etc. For reading next week, we are going to be looking at questioning and how researchers ask questions. We will also begin our non-fiction writing unit about dragonflies.
On the class website, be sure to check out the new tab- “Day in the Life of Ari’s Dragonflies.” This is where you can find pictures of what our school day looks like, and fun activities we do. Also be sure to check out our class history. At the end of every school day we sit down as a class and share some of the things we learned. Class history will be updated every Friday.
Important Dates:
Tuesday, September 29- Picture Day
Thursday, October 1- Count Day (see below)
Friday, October 9- Pumpkin Dash (see below)
October Count
It’s official – October Count Day this year is Thursday, October 1. The most important action you can take to support school funding is to make sure your student attends school on that day. Much of public education funding from the State of Colorado is based on student count so we encourage you to be sure your child engages in school that day whether remote learning or in-person. The “count window” the state observes is from Thursday, September 24 through Thursday, October 8 but the most important student count day is Thursday, October 1. Please help us ensure an accurate count by having your student participate in learning that day. Due to COVID-19 and adhering to public health guidelines, if your child will be absent on October 1 due to illness, call our attendance line, 303.982.XXXX to report the absence. Attendance during the “count window” will help counteract an absence on October 1. Thank you for your support. Every child counts!
Pumpkin Dash
The 9th Annual JCOS Pumpkin and Zombie Dash has an official website! Use this link for details and to streamline donations, as we are not taking any cash or checks this year. https://www.pumpkinzombiedash.com
We are working hard to make the 9th Annual Pumpkin Zombie Dash a fun and successful event while making modifications so it can be safe and inclusive for our entire community.
In the past, this school-wide fundraiser supported all the amazing trips our students take. This year the funds are being directed to the school's pandemic related needs. I think we can all agree that the Open School staff has gone above and beyond to show up for our kids this year and there is no better way to show our appreciation than to make this event a huge success and bring in funds to help keep them safe, as well as the students. Rosie will be coming up with socially distanced games for in-person students, and games for remote learners to join in from home as well!
From Tom
Read about the third week of Integrated Arts class on Tom’s Google Site
We made it through our first week! Hooray! This week we spent time getting to know each other and ourselves by making a self-portrait. As a class, we made a promise everyone will stick to. Some of our promises include, wearing our mask, being polite, forgiving each other, cooperating and being friendly. In readers workshop we discussed how everyone can read, no matter what level they are at. The first reading strategy we learned about was how to read the pictures. We also voted on our class name, and this year we will be the Dragonflies! We will begin researching dragonflies and start writing non-fiction books about what we are learning. Your child will be coming home with a red math folder. Inside you will find some homework for them. The homework does not have to be turned in, it’s for extra practice outside of school. However, the red folder needs to come back to school every week.
As a class we have had lots of discussions about washing our hands and wearing our masks in school, and everyone is still adjusting to the new rules. It would be helpful if you could continue the conversation at home about how important it is to keep our masks on while inside the classroom.
Important Dates/Reminders:
· Students need to bring a water bottle or 2 EVERYDAY. Students can leave at one water bottle in the classroom to ensure they have access to water throughout the school day.
· ALL STUDENTS will Receive FREE Meals through December 2020, we encourage you to complete this GRAB-AND-GO Meals WEEKLY SURVEY to provide a WEEKLY count of meals to prepare.
o Surveys can be completed far in advance but must be submitted by Tuesday during the week prior. One survey per student needs to be completed.
Click here for the GRAB- AND- GO- WEEKLY- Survey
· NO SCHOOL Friday, September 18th
· School picture day is Tuesday, September 29th and Wednesday, September 30th
Start/End Times, Drop Off/Pick Up, and Health Screens
Thank you for your grace as we work through these new school procedures. There has been some confusion about when school starts and ends as well as when and where to drop off or pick up.
· Health screening begins at 8:25am and ends at 8:45am. If your child arrives at school after 8:45 am they need to come in through the main entrance for health screening.
· School being at 8:30am and ends at 3:25pm. This means students must be picked up by 3:45pm at the absolute latest. The closer you can arrive to 3:25pm the better.
Drop Off Reminders
· Students will continue to enter through their designated doors.
· Drop-off at the bus loop is to support students entering the
· East side entrances of the building (PK, KG, ELC, & IA). Please remember to pull all the way around to the east curve to drop-off your child. We ask that drivers do not park and walk students to the gate (HUG and GO zones). If you would like to park, the dirt parking lot is open to families who wish to walk their child to the HUG and GO zones.
Pick-up Updates
· Students will continue to exit through their designated doors.
· Pick up for the east side has changed. Due to increased traffic, buses have not been able to park in the bus loop. Students may be picked up along 10th Ave or from the sidewalk just west of the building, near the parking lot. At dismissal, staff will escort 1st and 2nd graders from the back of the building, through the playground, past the east end of the building, to the front of the building along 10th Ave for pick-up.
· Families may also continue to utilize the dirt parking lot if they wish to pick up students at HUG and GO zones near their designated doors.
· Please create a pick-up plan with your kiddos and/or siblings so that students can get safely to their vehicles.
Integrated Arts
Read about the first week of Integrated Arts class on Tom’s Google Site
Thank you for reading through.
If you have any questions please let me know,
Ari