Dear Loleta families and community!
It is finally that time when we will be welcoming back students to the school in the hybrid model. The teachers and staff have been planning and working diligently to get the school COVID safe to protect everyone and have a safe reentry back into in person learning. As you all know with our frequent phone calls, the opportunity to continue with 100% Distance learning is a choice as well. At present we are seeing 70% of our students wish to participate in the hybrid. At the beginning of the week our student support team will be stopping by to discuss contracts with those of you who wish to continue distance learning.
100% Distance Learning will not be the same as it has been since school has started.
These contracts will outline the continued commitment of a student to interact with their classes during morning class check in, participating in synchronous learning (tuning in for lessons as the teacher teaches and then using office hours online with the teachers for additional help) and turning in all required assignments. If a student does not participate in the active learning digital environment they will be asked to return to school to better their learning experience. On the other hand, we are also asking families to commit to whichever program they wish until the end of the first trimester. We can facilitate changes to class sizes at that time only; unless of course a student loses the privilege of Distance learning through non-participation.
The hybrid model will involve all the students being divided into two cohorts:Group 1 and Group 2. Group 1 will attend the school on Monday and Wednesdays and Group 2 will attend on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fridays will be an online catch up day with teachers available for extra attention.
The exception to this schedule is the first two days of school. Thursday October 22 will be the first day of in person class and Group 2 will be coming to the school. That Friday, October 23 will be an in-person day for Group 1. On Monday we will start the schedule above with Group 1 coming on Monday and Group 2 coming on Tuesday. The new SDC teacher Mrs. Hubner will reach out to her students to discuss schedules with them individually. TK- K will only have a Group 2 meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You will receive notice as to which group your student is in 2 ways: our student support team will reach out to you with your welcome back packet which will have this information and secondly, we will post the classes by california ID number at the school.
ASES has sent out their enrollment forms. They will only be able to have 20 students each day. Those 20 students will be from the opposite groups. This means, if your student is in Group 1 and meets on Monday and Wednesday, you can then sign up for LEAP on Tuesday, Thursdays and vice versa. Please reach out to Ms. Tiara Zahler for more information.
All staff emails are listed under staff on our new website at https://loletaschool.org
The LES reopening plan, the safety plan and the parent information packet (will be available early next week) will all be posted there. We are also sending home copies of this letter and the packets.
Students may not arrive at the school before 8:00 a.m. They will be health screened before they get on the bus and everyone will be health screened at the front of the school before entering school grounds. Anyone found on school grounds without the clearance sticker for the day will be asked to leave for safety reasons.
At 8:15, students will walk through the cafeteria to get a grab and go breakfast and move to their classes through specific doors. There will not be any recess before school. 1-2 and 3-4 students will enter through the back doors facing the black top. TK-K will enter through their gate that leads into their play yard. 5-6 will enter through the front door near the office. 7-8 will leave from the cafeteria to line up by the 7-8 room as indicated by the teacher.
Students will have specific recess times and have snack at that time provided by the school. They WILL NOT be having lunch at the school. We have arranged an early dismissal time at 12:30 for students to go home and eat the food that will be provided for them from the school. Food will be taken home on specific days of the week for all students who attend school. Distance learners will continue to receive the 5 day boxes as we have been delivering presently. More information about this will be provided on a separate sheet.
Strict safety guidelines have to be followed by all the community: staff, parents and students. All persons will be required to wear a mask. We will provide 2 cloth masks to each student and expect them to bring them home to be washed (soap and water in the sink is fine) and brought back to school the next day. Please feel free to use your own masks for the students. By this time I am sure everyone has their own private collections with their favorites! Students must help us with the health screen daily and allow us to take their temperatures. If a student has a fever of 100.4 or above they will be asked to remain at home. We will be sending out information on a new health screener you can access from your computer or phone to help with further health screenings. More will come about that later. If a student is sent home because of not complying with health requirements like the screenings, washing hands, wearing their mask or social distancing they will be put on Distance learning and family meeting will be held. By this time we are very confident that everyone knows all the rules we have to follow to keep everyone safe and hope this will not be a problem!
Our safety plan is posted to our website for more information about what we will be doing on a daily basis. As always should you have any questions please feel free to contact the office or me directly. My cell phone number is listed above and on every email I send.
We have missed having the students with us. After all we got into education to be with and serve our students. They are our joy and I know I can say for all our staff that we cannot wait to have our children back with us! It is going to be an awesome year! You all have been so brave and patient and we feel this will be our first step back to our “normal lives.”
In unity for our children,
Autumn