Weekly Hot Topics
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Warm Welcome: We would like to wish a very warm welcome to Ms. Pinying Carol Yeh who will be teaching Ms. Lin's Mandarin classes while she is on leave to welcome her baby! Ms. Lin's last day was Friday, March 27 and we wish her all the best and send a very warm welcome to Ms. Yeh!
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Census Day is observed nationwide tomorrow, April 1st. By this date, every home will receive an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census. Once the invitation arrives, you should respond for your home in one of three ways: online, by phone, or by mail. Please don’t forget to complete the Census! See more information on the MPS website:
https://www.montclair.k12.nj.us/cms/One.aspx?portalId=889560&pageId=25140985
Week 2 of Remote Learning: I shared in an email on Thursday evening (3/26) regarding two ways we are trying to be supportive to our families as we work through remote learning. Please see below for important information about Flexible Fridays and SNAP Classrooms:
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Flexible Fridays: Beginning this Friday (April 3rd), teachers will NOT be assigning new work on Fridays. Fridays will be used for receiving extra support for any lesson or concept from the week and for finishing all work from the week including work from classroom teachers, related arts teachers, band lessons, and related services such as speech, OT, and PT. Please note that next week we will do this on Thursday, April 9th as there is no school on Friday, April 10th.
Here’s how it will work:
○ Students must sign in on Fridays as they normally do so that they get credit for attendance
○ Remember that students can complete their related arts work in any order and at any time during the week including Fridays
○ Staff will be available during the school day to answer questions and provide support
○ Teachers will post directions each Friday that will explain specific support that they will be offering that day
○ Additionally, students and families who are seeking “more” can log into Clever to explore resources or pursue individual interests/hobbies at home.
We are hoping that Flexible Fridays will be helpful in providing more balance for everyone—I look forward to your feedback.
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SNAP Grade Level Classrooms: In an effort to make navigating the Google Classroom a bit easier and help manage the number of posts on your student's stream, we have created a separate Google Classroom for the SNAP subjects. Beginning Today, Monday, March 30th, all SNAP assignments will be in grade level SNAP Classrooms. Most assignments will be posted at the beginning of the week and due by midnight on Friday of each week. SNAP teachers will no longer be posting to, or receiving messages from, homeroom teachers' Google Classrooms after March 30th. Please make sure any unfinished work is turned in by this date. Art, Mandarin, and P.E. assignments may be posted by either teacher of those subjects as the teachers are in close collaboration. Classroom teachers will still remind you which SNAP class your child would visit on a particular day, but the work can be completed at any time during the assigned week.
You can see the SNAP Classroom(s) and be able to join them when logged in as your child and clicking on the Classroom icon in the Google grid - just like when you joined the current Google Classroom.
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Student Attendance: Students must sign in and be working on assignments every day that school is open in order to receive credit for attendance—we are flexible with the sign in time. Students are expected to be working on their assignments and completing them to the best of their abilities throughout the week (reach out to the teacher for help with the learning/workload). If there is something going on at home that is making it difficult or impossible (illness, technical issues, etc.) for your child to sign in and work, please send a message to your child’s teacher so that we know and can support you.
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Mindful Minute: Another way to stay mindful during social distancing is by staying active. There are numerous ways that you can get moving, which helps to regulate emotions and behavior (
childmind.org/coronavirus).
○ Go outside, when the weather permits. Remember to follow social distancing and local guidelines.
○ Increase your heart rate indoors with indoor exercises like push-ups or jumping jacks.
○ Turn on some music and have a dance party. This is aerobic and so much fun!
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eBook Resources: Mrs. Arnold is going to start to post some ebook resources that you may find useful. She will post one at a time so we don’t get overwhelmed with too many resources. Here is one of her new favorites—Unite for Literacy:
https://www.uniteforliteracy.com/
There are hundreds of ebooks (no registration required) that will entertain and teach our young readers. These non-fiction ebooks are brief and age-appropriate.
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Nurse’s Note: Dear Families, Happy Spring and I hope you are all doing well. These are unusual times and yet I’m so impressed with everyone working together to maintain the health and wellness of our community. While I miss seeing everyone, we know that “social distancing” is for the best. We can use social media to keep in touch with friends and family on a regular basis. Although we cannot be together, it is important for all of us to stay connected. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that all healthy adults do 30 minutes per day of physical activities, and children should be physically active for 1 hour per day. Doing any activity around the home is better than none at all. If the weather permits, a short walk can have mental and physical benefits as well. Just make sure not to touch anything and stay at least 6 feet away. Exercise and sunlight help lessen stress in general. The children will soon enjoy the blooming of flowers. Spring allergy season has begun and it is a good time to start taking daily allergy medicine if you suffer from any pollen allergies. Remember, we can all get through this. Wishing you great health, Grace Alfaro.
Our 2019-2020 calendar and Family Handbook are both available on our school’s website!