Conferences 2020

Welcome to our 9th week of school. This officially marks the end of the first quarter. This is also the end of a very historic quarter, our first ever in Flexible Remote Learning. It feels like we just got started and this quarter has just flown by, but we did it! I cannot wait to share with you during conferences how your children made growth, even in this unconventional setting. More on that below. First, I will share what we are learning over the next 3 days.

ELA:  There will be no ELA this week. This means no spelling and no reading groups or 1:1's. There is also no RTI this week. When we return from break we will begin learning about Ancient Egypt through our Magic Treehouse Book "Mummies in the Morning." Please feel free to purchase a copy of this book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble if you would like for your child to follow along at home as we read a chapter a day during class.

Math:  This week we will concentrate on using Doubles (ex: 3 + 3 = 6) and Doubles Plus 1 (ex: 3 + 4 = 7) to solve addition problems. Doubles is a relatively fun and easy lesson. Doubles plus one in extremely hard, and I do not expect mastery. Our curriculum gives one day to teach this, I am breaking it into 2 and depending on how doubles plus one goes I may extend it to all 3 days. There will be no practice set on Monday.

Science:  The kids loved planting their ryegrass and alfalfa seeds on Friday. That's right, we are growing our own little grassy lawns. Please remember to have your child check their lawns and see if they need water daily. The soil only needs to be moist, not soaked. If it is not watered properly their lawns will not grow. I am hoping they will have very tall lawns by Wednesday so that we can record our observations before and after we mow our lawns (that's right, our grass will be getting a "haircut" when it gets long enough). If this does not happen before break please make sure your child continues to water properly over the 5 day break so that this may happen when we return.

Parent/Teacher Conferences and Early Release:  Do not forget that all week we are on a special schedule for both learning and release. Monday and Tuesday we will release at 12:25 and Wednesday is extra early at 11:10. If you have not signed up for a conference yet please do so at this link Conference Sign Up. Please use your child's classroom link to access your online conference with me as this is the link we are using for online conferences. Zoom Conference Link. I think it is imperative that I touch base with every family during this round of conferences, and highly encourage you to sign up so that we can discuss your child's progress during remote learning. If you do not sign up, I might be reaching out to you for a conversation anyway. 

Schedule:  Please be aware of the schedule changes in our Google Classroom for this week. Lessons will be happening at different times, as well as lunch (M/T @ 10:30 Wednesday no lunch, just a half hour break from 9:30-10:00), and end of day meeting times. There will also be no Show and Tell next week, instead I will be doing Heggerty live for the closing meetings. 

Quarter 2 School Board Decision: As promised, the update on the Boards decision. I will try not to make it complicated. When we return from break we will begin in FRL. We will stay in FRL until we hit the benchmark requirements to begin a phased reopening. The Requirements are as follows:

FUSD must be within the Moderate (Yellow) community spread level, with all three benchmarks in the yellow and green categories for two consecutive weeks of data to initiate the phased return to in-person learning at schools.  

The highest risk color (i.e. Red is highest, then Yellow, then Green) shown in any benchmark on the chart below over the two-week period determines the overall risk level.  For example, if the health benchmarks show 2 Greens and 1 Yellow, the risk level will be Moderate because Yellow is the higher risk value.  If any one of the benchmarks is the Substantial (Red) community spread level, FUSD will continue with full remote learning as it has for the 1st quarter of the 2020-2021 school year.

Health Indicators for Initiating Return to In-Person Learning

The phased reopening plan looks like this:

Week 1:  Teachers and Staff return to district sites and schools

Week 2:  Initial students return to in-person learning (5 dayIs per week)                        Grade Bands:  PK, K, 1, 2, 6, 9, 12, *Special Education Specialized Programs

Week 3:  Additional students return to in-person learning (5 days per week) 
Grade Bands:  3, 8, 10, 11

Week 4:  Final students return to in-person learning (5 days per week) 
Grade Bands:  4, 5, 7

If you have any questions please feel free to contact the front office or the district.

I truly am impressed with what has transpired over this quarter and look forward to sharing your child's progress with your over these next three days. I will see you all at some point this week! -Ms. Shaw