Dear Faculty,
We hope you have had time to reconnect with colleagues and get started on planning for the start of the school year. We all know meeting and planning for the start of school online is not easy; thank you for staying positive, asking thoughtful questions, trying something new, and being open to change.
Upcoming Week at a Glance:
Weekly Notes
Our weekly notes will be sent out via this blog every week. We will get this out to you Friday afternoon before the upcoming week. It is critical that you please take the time to read these as they contain important information items and reminders. If any of you have items you would like included, please let us know by Thursday afternoon at the latest, and send the blurb or information via email to Lynn, Dave, Hazel, and Padma.
Grade Team Leaders this year are
Early Years - Vigna C
KG - Angie
Gr 1 - Morgen
Gr 2 - Deepa
Gr 3 - Fletch
Gr 4 - Scott
Gr 5 - Rebecca
Specialists - Bindu
Supervision
Dave will supervise EY-Grade 2 HR and EAL teachers. He will also supervise all TAs.
Lynn will supervise Grades 3-5 HR and EAL teachers and all specialists.
Class Lists
Please double check your class lists for location updates (added on the extreme right column). A few notes were added Thursday night. Any updates that we receive about students from today on will be communicated to you individually by email.
Virtual Home Visits
Please record all virtual home visits when students are present. Feel free to pause the recording when you are only talking with parents. Your VHVs can also take the place of your 1:1 meetings with students the first two weeks. Scheduled 1:1s can start week 3.
Possible Questions to ask during the home visits.
Specialist Zoom links
Bindu collated all of the specialist links in one document for easy reference (thank you Bindu). Homeroom teachers, please include these links in your virtual classroom. Feel free to check the document again because some fun faculty bitmojis have been added for you to include in your virtual classroom:)
Making Your Schedule - Lunch/Break Time
As you start to build your individual schedules, grade levels will want to decide on a common time for lunch/break/recess so Linda and Michele can easily schedule a grade level virtual recess once a week.
First Week of School Attendance
Attendance should be easy to figure out this week since you have only a couple of synchronous sessions each day. We’ll get out a few more guidelines in next week’s faculty notes so there is consistency among HR teachers.
Zoom Update
Please be sure to keep Zoom up to date so you can access the latest features as well as address any potential security issues. Here is a link with instructions on updating Zoom. Also, check out the new Apps feature in Zoom where some of your favorite apps (e.g., Kahoot) can now be accessed directly in Zoom.
BrainPop Webinar
Do you use BrainPop with your students or would you like to start? Are you aware of all of the features of this engaging digital resource that supports all areas of the curriculum including Social Studies, SEL, Literacy, World Events, ELD, World Languages, Mathematics, Science, and more? Register now for an upcoming webinar that offers four tracks for educators to learn more about how to use this dynamic online resource. More information and registration information can be found here.
ES Yearbook Liaison
If you are interested in being the ES yearbook liaison this year, please let me know and I will connect you with Lakshmi and Nick. The liaison will be the person who communicates with the yearbook coordinators on behalf of the ES.
First Day Photos
Remember to commemorate the first day of school with a Zoom screenshot or two!
Have a wonderful weekend! Stay safe and be well.
Lynn and Dave
