Greetings from Franklin,

The excitement is building for our Franklin Falcons to return to their virtual nest or fly in for the first time. We are putting all the pieces together for what we believe will be an amazing year.

Sometime in the afternoon of Tuesday, August 25, you will receive a welcoming message from your child’s homeroom teacher. With our focus on increased communication, this contact will be the first among many. We are committed to improving the number and quality of our connections with you. We will not be conducting our traditional Ready, Set, Goal conferences this fall. We instead will establish a system of ongoing communication that allows for input and relationship-building between your family and many different teachers from Franklin.

Your child’s classroom teacher will send a more detailed instructional schedule in the next few weeks. Our main focus during the first two weeks of school is on building relationships with students and families while learning virtual learning routines, digital citizenship, and ways to access curriculum. We have made every effort to make our program delivery as consistent across grade levels as possible. I have attached a general schedule that gives you a sense of a virtual school day for your Franklin Falcon. (SCHEDULE LINK ).

Please note that we are still creating a 4K schedule that will have opportunities for large and small group lessons throughout the day whether your child is enrolled in the morning or in the afternoon. We are also awaiting word about when 4K students will be able to get a district issued device if you need one. Please stay tuned.

We are working with the school district to establish a process for distributing other items, e.g., math kits, sketchbooks, library books, etc. More info to come!

Here is information about Franklin Chromebook drop off and pick up. Here is the MMSD webpage with more information and frequently asked questions.

You should make sure to check out our virtual learning landing page, the Franklin 411, which houses all of the resources that come home to you from school.

Get ready to spread your wings, Franklin Falcons! It’s GO time.

Sylla Zarov, Principal Franklin Elementary

8/7/2020

Dear Franklin Families,

I hope this letter finds you well. I realize that the news shared this past Friday about MMSD’s plan to begin the school year virtually comes with mixed emotion. For every one of you who believes it is the right decision to begin the year virtually, there is someone who wants their child(ren) in physical school for myriad reasons. I fully understand and empathize with both points of view.

I am sure you have numerous questions, concerns, and worries about how school will look in the fall and I do too. I also have hope, and complete faith, in our Franklin teachers as we enter this year with compassion, collaboration, efficacy, and resilience. We remain committed to working closely with you and our community partners to get through this together/apart. In the next few weeks, we will offer some drop-in sessions via Zoom for families to attend if you wish. Please see the links below. There will not be a formal presentation, but rather this will be a time for you to connect with others. I will do a lot of listening and will do my best to answer questions you have and allow space for you to share your thinking.

In case you missed it, here is the link to the press conference from last Friday, 7/17. It has information from MMSD about the plan for virtual learning in the fall.

I want to offer you a few assurances as we plan our year to begin virtually at Franklin:

• We will support your child’s social, emotional, and academic needs. We will be accelerating lessons and content and not remediating material.

• We will work to streamline communication coming from school. We have set up our Franklin 411 site for updates and all communication coming from MMSD and Franklin. This will be your hub for all things virtual learning and Franklin info beginning in late August.

• MMSD is transitioning to all elementary schools K-4 using Seesaw as their learning platform. The good news is that our teachers used Seesaw this past spring and are very familiar with all that it has to offer. In addition, there is a family engagement component in Seesaw that we will use this coming school year to strengthen our communication with families and share student progress.

• Beginning in mid August, we will provide additional information to help best prepare you and your child for the school year. As we begin the school year, we will work to ensure that your children have opportunities to build community with their classmates and many teachers at Franklin. There will also be opportunities for families to connect with teachers and other parents in the weeks and months to come.

• While we are completely focused on strengthening our virtual learning practices, we are also strategically planning for a possible hybrid approach later in the school year. We are planning to increase outdoor teaching spaces and spread out classrooms.

• We will create learning opportunities, both on and off of screens, and offer resources and supplies to support different ways of engaging in learning at home.

• Please DO NOT purchase a device for your child. If you have a student new to our district in K-2, or have determined your child needs a district issued Chromebook, MMSD will provide those to anyone in need. We are not certain yet what the plan will be for 4K in regard to device distribution. More info to come!

• Equitable access to resources, childcare, and technology are at the forefront of all of our decision making. Thank you for your partnership in these endeavors.

This will be a historic year in schools across our country at every level. We plan to make every moment count whether in person, virtually, or a hybrid of the two. I speak for our whole staff to say we are grateful to be on this journey with you. While we do not have all of the answers, rest assured we are hard at work to create the best possible experience for your child in the 2020-21 school year.

All my best,

Sylla Zarov

Principal, Franklin Elementary School