Country Meadows Families,
We enjoyed another successful week with students, and we are eagerly awaiting the reinitiation of our hybrid learning model next week. We greatly appreciate the patience of our school community as we navigate this transition. I look forward to seeing some students back in person within the coming weeks and am excited to see our NEAT Bar technology back in action so that we can simultaneously and effectively meet the needs of our in person and remote learners. Please make sure to read this week’s blog for additional information, and we hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Warm Regards,
Meghan Bird - Principal
NEW *Upcoming Dates & In Person Learning Report Dates*
January 18th: No School - MLK Day
January 19th: No School - State Allocated Planning Day
January 20th: Virtual learning resumes for all students
January 21st: 1st/2nd Grade students with last names beginning with the letters M-Z who selected the in person hybrid learning option will begin to report to school.
January 25th: 1st-5th Grade students with last names beginning with the letters A-L who selected the in person hybrid learning option will begin to report to school
January 28th: 3rd-5th Grade students with last names beginning with the letters M-Z who selected the in person hybrid learning option will begin to report to school
NEW *In Person Learning Protocols*
Parents whose hybrid in-person students will be learning in person, please be sure to review the Revised IN-PERSON LEARNING PROTOCOLS for information about health and safety protocols and expectations for families and their students who will be learning in person in our schools.
NEW *Proactive Population Screening Info for Parents of Students Attending In Person*
Students learning in person will need to participate in proactive population screening, providing a saliva sample once per week on a designated schedule.
NEW *FREE MEAL PACK PICK-UP*
Free meal pick-up will continue on Mondays and Thursdays at the middle schools, from 11am to 2pm as we begin to transition back to a hybrid learning schedule. However, parents no longer need to pre-order these meals. If you would like to view the menu, you can find it on the district website, labeled as Remote Learning Menu. This menu will no longer appear on the Linq website.
*NEW* IN-PERSON LEARNING SCHOOL MEALS
If your child is returning to in-person learning and you would like to take advantage of school meals, which will also be free, please pre-order only for the days that your child is in-person, NOT for remote learning days. If your child will be in-person next week on Thursday and Friday (January 21st and 22nd), please place your order online, via the Linq website, by 6:00pm Tuesday, January 19th. For future weeks, please place your orders by 6:00pm Thursday for the upcoming week. SEE MORE INFO about the process to create your account and preorder in-person meals.
NEW *Approved Snack List*
The District has not revised the APPROVED SNACK LIST from the 19-20 school year. The items the list includes are free of the Top 8 allergens: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat.
This list includes the foods that are approved for students' Daily Snacks eaten in the classroom.
IMPORTANT: All items for Daily Snacks– with the exception of fruits and vegetables– MUST be prepackaged to allow staff to easily check that snacks meet the approved requirements.
NEW *Specials Transition Times*
As we return to in-person learning next week, please know that our specials teachers will be helping students transition to their next classes at school. This may cause a slight delay in the teacher opening up the Zoom classroom for our remote learners. We thank you for your patience during this brief time frame until the teacher can admit our remote learners to class.
NEW *Hybrid Lunch Procedures*
All safety, allergy, and social distancing guidelines will be adhered to while students eat lunch at Country Meadows. Students who are eating in the cafeteria will be assigned a seat and numbere to ensure students remain 6 ft apart at all times.
We have specific cleaning protocols and timeframes until table can be reused which will be adhered to as well. Students will engage in appropriate hand hygeine before eating lunch. Depending on grade level and specific teacher assignments some classes will be eating in their classrooms while others will be eating in the cafeteria to ensure students will allergies are not exposed to food in the classroom. If you have specific questions about where your child's class will be eating lunch please reach out to your child's teacher.
NEW *Arrival/Dismissal Procedures*
All students reporting in person will enter through the main school entrance. Once entering the building, students will approach one of our two scanning stations to ensure their self certification has been completed that morning. Our 1st/2nd graders will walk through one hallway to their classrooms while our 3rd/4th/5th graders will walk through another to limit the number of studnets in a hallway at all times. Breakfast is available for students who would like to eat at school in the morning, and socially distanced seating (similar to lunch) will be used. We will have staff outside to help guide students from both the buses and parent pick up into the building. All bus route information will be emailed next week.
NEW *Bus Route Times for In-Person Students*
All families who have students who have chosen the in-person and will be taking the bus, routing information will be emailed to parents from the District next week.
NEW *Specials Materials & Materials for Students Reporting In Person*
For students reporting for in person learning, please look for specific information from your child's classroom teacher regarding materials he or she will need to bring to class. Here is the updated Specials Materials List. Please reach out to your child's classroom teacher or specific specials teachers with any questions.
NEW *Commitment to Partnership*
We know that some surrounding districts or schools who began their in-person learning plan have had to revert to full remote for a period of time. In many situations, this has been due to positive cases about which families were not truthful with the school or with the health department regarding symptoms and the diagnosis or with those conducting the contact tracing process.
We are confident that the District 96 community will rise to the occasion and partner with us to ensure safety and success. Please think carefully about your commitment to our partnership before sending your kids to school.
NEW *Yearbook Photo Submission*
We would love to include pictures of your child learning alongside their pets in our yearbook this year! If you have any photos to share of your child(ren) participating in remote learning with a pet nearby, please follow the steps below!
Option 1: Download the HJ eShare app, enter the school code: CM2021 tag and upload your pictures
Option 2: Go to www.hjeshare.com, enter the school code: CM2021, tag and upload your pictures
Option 3: Go directly to http://www.hjeshare.com/eShare/?code=CM2021 tag and upload your pictures
NEW *PTO Blog*
Please take a moment to read the updated PTO blog this week.
REPEATING *PTO January Artistic Challenge*
Our incredible PTO is sponsoring another fun challenge this month! Please see this flyer for information regarding our January Artistic Contest! We can't wait to see the creativity our studnets use while creating their igloos/forts!
REPEATING *MAP STUDENT REPORTS FOR GRADES 3-8*
At approximately 3pm today, you will receive a message from Jeanne Spiller, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning with your Winter MAP Reports for your child(ren). Please contact Jeanne at [email protected] if you do not receive a report or if you have any questions
REPEATING *Preregister for 2021–22 Kindergarten Beginning Jan. 11*
Preregister incoming 2021–22 kindergartners beginning January 11 and no later than January 31 to receive a free T-shirt for your incoming student. SEE MORE INFO
REPEATING *Updated COVID-19 Metrics*
This UPDATED COVID-19 METRICS is the information “dashboard” that maintains transparent and open communication around COVID-19 metrics. As a user of the dashboard, the District has access to COVID-19 data as recommended by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium. We review this data daily, update the dashboard weekly, and consider this data in making many decisions.
REPEATING *Family Tradition Survey*
Last year, families filled out a form to share their family traditions with us. We shared those traditions in a daily slideshow for students and the kids absolutely loved reading about themselves and other students in the school. We would love for you to participate again this year!
Read more about how you can share your family traditions this year. It will show you a QR code and a link you can use to participate.