9/11/20
Parent Crew,
Good Afternoon! I hope your Friday has been smooth and your child or children have been able to stay engaged in their learning. I meant to have this email out earlier than this to encourage you all to pause and remember the events from September 11, 2001, and the ways that that event changed our society and world. May this day continue to remind us of those we were lost, the heroism of our first responders, and the potential evil that we must constantly seek to combat. At Pine Lane, we believe that our mission statement and our habits of character help ground us in our desired impact on our community and the type of people we strive to become. May all of our PLE BEARS demonstrates the excellence of character that truly transforms the world into a better place. May the reflections and conversations you have with your families be meaningful.
Please pay close attention to the next few items that relate to our current hybrid learning situation and the potential of needing to quarantine. I would encourage you to file this communication for future reference.
Attendance
Attendance for this year continues to fall under our state’s mandatory attendance laws. Because your child is at home learning three days a week, I would like to be clear on how attendance will be taken. I will define the two different types of at-home learning days and then address what we need to observe from your child to determine that he/she has participated for the day. Here is a link to the hybrid schedule laid out in the Road to Return for your reference to help clarify the different types of days.
“Independent Learning from Home” - This is the day that your child is at home completing work that their teacher has assigned either on Friday or while they were at school in-person. They will have two of these days per week. Participation will be credited to your child if there is evidence to support that they are completing the assigned work. Attendance will be finalized for these two days each Friday.
“Online Learning from Home” - This is Friday. Our teachers are holding live lessons via Google Meets and assigning classwork. Please know that our special classes are being held at their regular times as well. Again, participation will be credited to your child if there is evidence to support that they are completing the assigned work. We do understand that your family may not always be able to coordinate attendance in the live lessons due to a variety of factors. Attendance will be finalized for this day on the following Tuesday.
We hope that this process for attendance helps us hold our students accountable for learning as well as provide flexibility to your family as to when the learning occurs.
Quarantine Plans
As we continue into the 2020 school year, we have witnessed several schools that have needed to quarantine students and staff for a period of time. This is likely an inevitability for every school. I am very grateful that we have not needed to thus far and it has allowed us time to prepare. We want to be able to smoothly transition to learning and teaching from home in order to help continue learning and minimize the negative impacts of the disruption. Here are a few logistics for you to be prepared for if or when we find ourselves in that position.
Once you are notified of your child’s need to quarantine…
Day 1 - Prepare to have your child follow their Friday, “Online Learning from Home,” schedule. On day one your child’s teacher, if they are not the one sick, will continue to teach and prioritize preparing for learning until the quarantine period has ended. This is the schedule you should expect regardless of what day of the week you are notified that quarantine is needed.
Day 2 and beyond - Your child’s teacher will provide live lessons as they do on Friday. Specials class will continue via virtual live lessons. Student support staff will coordinate with you continued services for special education, English as a second language, and other specialized services.
This table below lays out a general guide for your child’s time. This is differentiated by age. Please also note that the Real-Time Direct Instruction consists of Crew, Math, Reading, Writing, Specials, and either Science or Social Studies. This instruction will not be delivered all in one sitting but rather in chunks throughout the day. Teachers will also be holding office hours for students and parents to get help if needed.