Dear Parents,
It’s hard to believe that there is only one more week of school for the 2020 calendar year. As a reminder, Superintendent Julie Schmidt sent an email to all District 96 families on the evening of December 9th with COVID-19 metric monitoring details. Her next communication will be on December 16th.
Bob Hanrahan, Principal
NEW *Winter Party 2020*
Winter parties will occur in classrooms on Friday, December 18th. The themes will be designated to celebrate the winter season. If you prefer that your child not participate in this activity, please email the classroom teacher.
NEW *Calendar Reminders*
This is a friendly reminder that this upcoming:
- Tuesday, 12/15, is an Early Release. Elementary students will end their school day an hour early at 2:00 pm.
- Wednesday, 12/16 is one of our newly designated asynchronous learning days. Students will partake in synchronous instruction until 12:45. At 12:45, asynchronous instruction will begin. Please see upcoming communication from your child’s classroom teacher for the Digital Citizenship assignment that will be worked on during this time. Please note that students will not be penalized for not completing or submitting this work.
NEW *INFO REGARDING PREORDERING FREE MEALS*
Preorder Free Meals for Pick-Up During Winter Break
Free meals may be preordered for pick-up during Winter Break.
NOTE: Preorders must be in by 10 AM on THURSDAY for pick-up in the week ahead.
- Preorder by 10 AM on THURSDAY, Dec. 17, to pick up meals (meal packs for 5 days) on Mon., Dec. 21.
- Preorder by 10 AM on THURSDAY, Dec. 24, to pick up meals (meal packs for 5 days) on Mon., Dec. 28.
Preordering Free Meals in 2021
IMPORTANT: The last day to preorder free meals for the week ahead is changing. You’ll need to preorder by 10 AM on Thursdays, rather than Fridays.
To preorder meals for the first week after Winter Break (Jan. 4–8)
Preorder by 10 AM on THURSDAY, Dec. 31, to pick up meals on Mon., Jan. 4 (meal packs for 3 days) and Thurs., Jan. 7 (meal packs for 2 days).
The first step is for families to create an account online and add each child receiving meals to the account. Please see this webpage for details and brief instructional videos of the account set-up and preordering process.
Please direct questions to the public information coordinator: [email protected]
NEW *PTO Blog*
PTO Blog: This is always linked in my blog post below.
NEW *Specials Materials*
Click the link here to learn what materials are needed for specials classes (Physical Education, Exploration lab, Music, Art) next week.
REPEATING *Monthly Asynchronous Wednesdays*
Once per month, beginning in December, students will participate in asynchronous activities for a portion of their school day. The dates for each of these asynchronous Wednesdays are identified below. You will notice that each date is identified as either AM or PM. If for example, AM is indicated, this means that students will participate in the asynchronous activities during the morning or AM portion of the school day and then transition to their regularly scheduled school day in the afternoon or PM. Specific times are indicated below with each identified date. Teachers will communicate with students to be sure that they understand the expectations for each of these days.
These monthly asynchronous days were created to give students the opportunity to participate in topics that will enhance our current curricular content, and so that teachers have time to collaborate and plan with each other to determine the best way to approach future instruction.
Asynchronous Wednesdays will take place on the following dates.
- December 16: PM Asynchronous
- January 13: AM Asynchronous
- February 24: PM Asynchronous
- March 17: AM Asynchronous
- April 21: PM Asynchronous
SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE FIRST ASYNCHRONOUS WEDNESDAY: DECEMBER 16th
The asynchronous portion of the day will take place in the afternoon or PM portion of the school day for all. The asynchronous focus for this day is digital citizenship. Students will be engaging in a variety of Digital Citizenship See specifics below for each grade.
Kindergarten
AM Kindergarten: Students will engage in instruction with their teacher as they typically would in the morning from 8:30-11:00. The afternoon optional specials will not take place on this day.
PM Kindergarten: Students will have the option to engage in their regular morning specials (PE and music) as they normally would from 8:30-11:00. In the afternoon, from 12:30-3:00 students will participate in the asynchronous activities shared with them on SeeSaw. Teachers will not be available for live instruction for the PM students as the asynchronous activities were created for students to work through without teacher support. We recognize that these independent activities may require substantial parent guidance for kindergarteners, so please participate in the activities provided at the level that is comfortable for you and your child.
1st-5th Grade
Students will engage in instruction as they typically would until 12:45pm. At 12:45pm, the asynchronous portion of the day will begin and continue through the end of the school day. Students in grades 1-2 will access the asynchronous work in SeeSaw and students in grades 3-5 will access the asynchronous work in Schoology. Teachers will communicate with students to be sure that they understand the expectations and communicate where they should access the asynchronous work for each of these days. While we prefer that the asynchronous work is completed during this designated time, timing can be adjusted based on what works best for your family as long as the work is completed before the next school day begins.
REPEATING *ComEd Bill Payment Assistance Options*
ComEd has provided bill payment assistance options for families experiencing financial hardship. Please find info HERE.
REPEATING *Updated COVID-19 Metrics*
This link contains UPDATED COVID-19 METRICS information via a “dashboard” that helps to maintain transparency and open communication around the 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 *Tech Hub*
KCSD96 Family Technology Hub! The District 96 Family Technology Hub is designed to guide families through technology tools related to Enhanced Remote Learning. On this site you can find links to the recordings and the corresponding Slides decks for the parent/family informational sessions from last week. You can also find tutorials on how to use ZOOM, Schoology, Seesaw, Clever, Notability, and other iPad essential tools for student learning. Additionally, there is a link to email the technology support desk. Please save or bookmark this site. It will be updated with tools, resources, and tutorials through remote learning to better support your family.
Please email [email protected] with any tech-related support needed.