Upcoming Dates For Your Calendar
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October 16-20: Fall Break, No School
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Wednesday, October 21: In-Person Learning begins for 4th and 5th Grade!
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Friday, October 30, 4:30pm: Trunk-or-Treat
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November 23-27: Thanksgiving Break, No School
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Dec 21 - Jan 4: Winter Break, No School
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Returning To In-Person Learning & Updates for Community
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Dear Hallett Families,
It was so wonderful welcoming our 2nd and 3rd Grade in person learners this week and we look forward to welcoming back our 4th and 5th Graders after Fall Break. If you haven't seen it yet, Ms. Ferrigan created a fun video explaining some of the changes you can expect if you will be joining us in person, so be sure to watch it above! There is some very fine acting in addition to the helpful information.
Superintendent Susana Cordova alerted families this week that DPS is delaying the in-person return of our middle and high school students because of rising numbers of COVID-19 in Denver. "Our health partners assure us that elementary-aged students are at a significantly lower COVID risk, and we all know that remote learning presents special challenges for elementary students and their families. As a result, we feel confident right now in continuing with our plans to open elementary schools to all grades next week. We have the support of experts at Denver Health in that plan."
Your child's health and safety is our highest priority. We will continue to do everything we can to keep our community healthy. Reminders about our safety protocols and expectations are below. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Important: If your family is struggling in ways that we might be able to support, we hope you will reach out. We have access to many resources that might be helpful and would appreciate knowing how we can best meet the needs of our families. Please fill out this survey and we will be in touch:
Continue scrolling down for more community resources as well.
This year's Trunk-or-Treat event will take place on Friday, October 30th from 4:30-5:30pm. (Mask-wearing and social distancing will be enforced) If you are able to donate bags of treats, please drop them off at the front office! The flyer for this event is later in this email. We hope you can join us!
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Free Covid-19 Testing for Students
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Denver Health’s School-based Health Centers (SBHC) and Denver Public Schools (DPS) announced yesterday that students throughout the entire district will now have access to free COVID-19 tests at any of the four Denver Health testing sites, starting immediately.
Read HERE for more information.
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For those interested in what Ballot Measures 4A & 4B would do for Hallett, we want to supply the following information. This is purely informative for your educational purposes. (Of particular note is the addition of air conditioning.)
Please view the video above to understand more about these measures, or click here to read about how the measures would impact DPS overall.
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As we continue to welcome back our in-person learners, here is some key information to remember:
School Hours: 9am-3:30pm
Arrival:
- All students arrive on the playground
- No entry through the front doors
- No playing on the playground - go directly to your assigned location (see below)
- Maintain a minimum of 3' distance from others at all times
- Classes will enter/exit through their assigned door ONLY.
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All students must complete their health screening at home.
- Teachers will take temperatures upon entrance into school.
- Tardy arrivals:
- Buzz in at the front door
- The main office will check your child's temperature and get them to class
Dismissal:
- Grades 3-5 will leave the building at 3:25 pm through assigned door and walk to assigned meeting location
- Grades ECEK-2 will leave the building at 3:30 pm through the assigned door and walk to assigned meeting location
- Paras will walk bus riders to fence (if bus is present, students will get on bus- if no bus is present, students line up along the fence, socially distanced)
- There will not be a sign out procedure for any grades outside of the health screening
- Masks must be worn at all times by students and adults
- Listen for student names to be called
- Early dismissals:
- Buzz in at the front door (remember, parents are not allowed in the building)
- Front office will call the student down from classroom
- Front office will bring student to their adult at the front door
Visitors:
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Last week, we shared that, in order to minimize health risks, parents, guardians and visitors are not allowed in DPS buildings at this time. In addition to the groups we outlined last week (school staff, approved district staff, approved contractors, students participating in child care or approved for 1:1 support aligned to this guidance) individuals accessing a School-Based Health Clinic or a mental health professional are also currently allowed in school or other DPS buildings. As a reminder, all approved students/adults in buildings must complete a health screening and follow health protocols.
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Arrival & Dismissal Locations:
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REMINDERS ABOUT OUR GENERAL IN-PERSON PRECAUTIONS
The most recent return-to-school guidelines that we have received from DPS and Denver Health place the following limitations on in-person instruction:
- Cohort sizes may not exceed 35 students and cohorts may not mix. We intend to keep our cohorts under 25 students.
- Cohorts may be served by up to 5 adults over the course of the day as long as there are not more than 2 adults with a cohort at the same time.
- Teachers can support up to 2 different cohorts in person.
- Students in grades K-5 should be socially distanced a minimum of 3 feet. Adults must maintain 6 foot distance from each other, and 3 foot distance from students.
- Students and adults must maintain appropriate physical distancing, wear masks and practice daily hygiene.
In addition to adhering to these safety guidelines, our top priority for the return-to-school transition is that we maintain consistency and relationships for our students and team. Therefore, we are maintaining the general structure of our school day when students return to campus. Some parts of our day will look different. These include:
- The school day for students will be from 9am - 3:30pm
- Masks must be worn at all times with the exception of meals and mask breaks. NO GAITERS OR BANDANAS.
- Every cohort/classroom will have its own entrance/exit into the building. This will be the only door that the cohort uses to get into/out of the building.
- If your child is late to school, he/she will need to enter the front door and be checked by the front office.
- All Parents/Guardians must complete a health screening with their child(ren) before arriving at school.
- Parents are responsible for ensuring that their children are safe and healthy before arriving at school.
- Parents/Guardians will conduct symptom screening before they arrive in person and temperatures will be taken at home if possible
- Those that do not pass the self report screening MUST stay home and CANNOT come to school. Please call the attendance line at school, notifying the school of illness
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This pre-screening must be done via the app Safe Access. (General guide for at home screening can be found HERE (and below)). We will send more information about the Safe Access app next week.
- Students will have their temperature checked prior to entering the building every morning.
- Hand washing will take place every 2 hours at minimum.
- Meals will be eaten in the classroom while maintaining 3-6' social distance. Breakfast and lunch will be taken to them and individually served.
- Breakfast and lunch will continue to be provided at no cost.
- Recess will look a little different as cohorts can only interact with themselves. There will be no intermixing of cohorts at Recess and each cohort will have designated space outdoors to play.
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For the safety of the community, no visitors are allowed inside the school building, including parents and families with the exception of individuals accessing a School-Based Health Clinic or a mental health professional are also currently allowed in school or other DPS buildings.
DISCOVERY LINK
DPS Discovery Link has returned with reduced capacity to regular before and after school programming. Registration for Ages 5-5th grade opened on Wednesday, Sept. 16th. Families who have already enrolled their students in Discovery Link programming can register for the days their students will attend by clicking here. For families new to Discovery Link, please click here to enroll.
Only students who are attending in-person learning will be eligible to register and must attend school the days they attend before and after school programs. Students whose grades have not yet returned to in-person cannot attend before and after school.
Sites are limited to 60 students total including a maximum of 10 ECE students. Morning programming will begin at 6:30 a.m. and last until the school bell, and afternoon programming will begin at the school bell and last until 6:00 p.m. *Time subject to change. Cohorts will be no larger than 15 students to promote social distancing and will be split by grade when possible. Students will also be outside as much as possible, weather permitting. (Please note, Hallett can only accept students ages 5+)
FOOD RESOURCES
If you are looking for food distribution sites near you, this website can be very helpful. Simply enter your zip code and it will show you options close to you. See additional emergency food locations below.
Don't forget that breakfast/lunch pickup is FREE for ALL students ages 1-18 in Denver. Please be sure to stop by between 11am-1pm to pick up meals on regular school days.* Meal distribution is ongoing through both DPS and some local Recreational Centers. Please visit this page to learn more about locations and times for breakfast/lunch/dinner meal pickups or view the documents below.
If you are in need of additional assistance, please be sure to contact our Family Liaison, Ali Larson at alison_larson@dpsk12.org or by text at 303-242-6414.
Thank you for being with us on this journey.
With love,
Dominique Jefferson
Principal
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Protect Yourself From Wildfire Smoke
This year's wildfire season has been extraordinarily active, and Denver has seen changes in air quality and visibility. Fires in various parts of Colorado and the west coast impact Denver's air quality and can create unhealthy conditions. You can get email or text alerts about air quality in your region by signing up for air quality alerts from the Regional Air Quality Council. These air quality updates can help you make informed decisions about poor air quality. When air quality readings are in the "yellow/ orange" range, air quality is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. That includes individuals with heart disease, respiratory illnesses, the elderly, and young children. When readings reach the "red" or "purple" zones, air quality has reached unsafe conditions. During periods of unsafe air quality conditions, consider indoor activities when possible to help reduce your exposure to the harms of poor air quality.
Love My Air Denver provides communities access to real-time, local air quality data at DenverAQ.com. The program also empowers communities to make decisions regarding their health through education and behavior change. To do your part to help prevent wildfires and unnecessary smoke, don't burn yard or household waste, only use firepits for cooking purposes, and limit firework use to open spaces. To learn more about what the city of Denver is doing to improve air quality and to learn more about the Love My Air Denver program visit LoveMyAirDenver.com.
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“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
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