Monday AM Notes, April 12 2020

Hello Team,
I hope you had a fantastic weekend. It’s not super warm yet, but having all this sunshine sure is nice-and lots more to come this week! I was able to get away for a few days to the Metolius for my birthday, a place that always soothes my soul!

What a great week it was last week with outdoor lunch, buddies, and our very first Community Time! Another huge thank you to Frans and Grade 3 for kicking off the new Community Time format and inspiring us! Ray has volunteered Grade 5 for the next Community Time on April 22 and 23. Who wants to be after that on April 29 and 30? Let me know. Please see below for some reflections on keeping Community Time in line with current guidelines-a few things I hadn’t thought about until after the first CT.

One very important note here to start: A big thank you to anyone who is reading this some time before school starts on Monday morning. The intention of Monday AM notes is for you to read them prior to the start of the school week as there is usually some important and relevant information related to the week ahead. The intention is also so that there is one, consistent communication that goes to everyone, and which keeps it so that I don’t have to keep repeating the message(s) individually person to person. Please consider this as a requirement on Monday mornings, rather than something optional to be read later. I know you are busy and I try to be succinct so that you are able to read the note and jot down important info in 5 minutes or less (though I just slowed you down to read this 😏). Thanks!

A few notes to get you going:
1) Please be sure parents remember that there is school on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. NO School Friday.

2) Fire Drill on Tuesday at 8:50am. Be sure to have your Emergency Guide (red/green) and an updated class list.

3) We have been given the gift of 3 feet of social distancing which has allowed our 4th and 5th graders to return all-in and given us some really needed room to make some great changes. So, it’s more important than ever that we do all we can to honor this distance, both inside and outside. Now is not the time to abandon our vigilance and get lax–please stay on this. Just as important, remember that it’s 6 feet of distancing at lunch and any time masks are off. Additionally, for your knowledge, even though we are now using 3 feet of distancing in the classroom, if we have to contact trace due to an exposure, 6 feet of distancing for 15 or more minutes is still the measuring tool. I very rarely invoke the “slippery slope” argument because I think it is often used to avoid difficult decisions, but I feel it is appropriate in this instance; it’s a slippery slope if we start to get too relaxed and let down our guard, and we may find ourselves contributing to a situation none of us wants! Please, let’s all continue to do our very best to honor the 3 feet of distancing at all times.

4) We’ll have a Staff Meeting on April 21 at 2pm.

5) The end of lunch line-up is definitely smoothing out, thanks for your help with this!

6) No balls or playing on the playground during afternoon pick-up. Thanks for your help with this.

7) Now that we are using the gym and our new Staff Lounge regularly I kindly ask that you keep the spaces clean. In the gym this means putting everything away that you took out to use and make sure students are cleaning up any mess they’ve made (as well as take personal items). Please take an extra moment before leaving these spaces to be sure they are clean. In the kitchen, please clean your own dishes as well as food scraps in the sink, and give the tables a wipe down. Thanks.

8) Three absences this week:
*Sara will be gone on Monday, Amanda is covering both classes.
*Brad will be gone all week and there is a sub covering his duties.
*As I noted last week I will be gone on Wednesday and Thursday. Patti has Skip on speed dial if there is anything that needs his support.

9) Community Time precautions: I realize I should have initially taken a more proactive role here, but in reflection here are important guidelines that must be followed:
*No sharing of the microphone-you can have a narrator (or two since we have two mics)
*3 feet of distancing applies to actors/hosts at all times
*We can sing if the kids are 6 feet apart. If not, let’s have the hosts sing (6 feet apart) and the audience hum along (and point in the case of the bday song). Alternately, on Friday, with only two classes in the gym, we were able to space the kids 6 feet apart and sing.
*After Message of the Day, excuse the group class by class. We need to keep the exit calm and properly spaced.

10) Bike/Walk to School is May 5 and I’m planning on organizing something. Stay tuned for details, and please offer up ideas!

11) Korey will be away from town May 3-14. This means no art on May 5 and 7 as well as on May 12 and 14. A great time to do some of your own art projects or other things you’ve been wanting to do!

Last, but certainly not least, I want to bring back our mantra: Take Care of Yourself, Take Care of Each other, Take Care of this Place. Please take some time this week to re-introduce (or introduce) this to your students and talk about what each means in the context of our life here at Amity. I sincerely believe this framework encompasses all that we believe in and all that we want to do. Some visual reminders, which students can obviously help create, would be great to see in the classrooms and hallways!

Upcoming:
April 16: NO School
April 21: Staff Meeting, 2pm
April 22/23: Grade 5 hosts Community Time
May 5: Bike/Walk to School

Here’s to another GREAT week ahead, and a three day weekend awaiting you at the end!
Andy