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CONSTRUCTION & SCHOOL PLANNING UPDATE
Dear Families,
The construction team has finished hanging all of the sheetrock on the first and second floors except for the boys and girls bathrooms. Interior painting and painting the exterior siding will begin next week which is really exciting!
FALL OPENING UPDATE
Governor Cooper said that he will make an announcement this coming week about how we can open schools in the fall. We are continuing to plan for all 3 scenarios. We will share our Plans for A, B, & C via email on July 21 and I will host a Zoom meeting for all families on July 23 to explain the plans. We will have the chat feature enabled so that parents can ask questions via the chat box and our team will answer questions. The Zoom link with time and details will be shared in next Sunday’s newsletter and will be posted on our website.
We are hoping that we can begin school with at least Plan B (50% capacity-hybrid model of in person & remote learning). This correlates with what the majority of families and staff say they prefer too. If the Governor chooses Plan B for reopening schools, the schedule that most favor, provides the most consistency, and seems to be the best for young children is a Monday/Tuesday schedule for one group (half the class) and a Thursday/Friday for the other group (the other half of the class) with Wednesday as a deep cleaning day in between the two groups. Also, if the Governor allows schools to have face-to-face instruction, we know that some families will not feel comfortable sending their children to school. Therefore, we will send out a form that families can commit to a remote only option on July 30.
Genesis Athletics, our Before & After School Care provider, is actively planning how to ensure parents feel supported and students are learning during possible remote learning. The reality is many parents are or will have to physically return to work. In order to alleviate the pressures and stress that come with finding reliable and safe childcare as well as finding the time to support their online learning, Genesis Athletics in collaboration with Alamance Community School is proposing an off-campus program to support you.
The goal of the program would be to provide safe and reliable childcare, as well as providing a space and time for students to complete their school work. The program will be called Virtual Learning Camp and offered 5 days a week. The days that students are not on campus for school, this would be an alternative to a babysitter or large childcare facility. The Camps would have a structured schedule with a designated times students would get on their personal devices and complete their assigned school work for the day with the support of a staff member and possibly other classmates. Genesis Athletics is conducting a survey to see how many families would be interested in this service. Here is the link to the survey: Genesis Athletics Virtual Learning Camp Survey
If you haven’t completed the ACS Family Technology Survey, please do so. This survey is providing us with important information regarding your technology resources and needs for potential remote/virtual learning.
As a charter school, we have the advantage and the ability to operate in a smaller, safer, more controlled environment. Right now, the safety, both physical and emotional, and the instruction for our ACS students and staff are my top priorities!
VIRTUAL MORNING MEETINGS & TEAM CHATS
I hope that many of you have signed up to attend our additional virtual “Morning” Meetings. Right now, the staff I have hired are on their summer break and are not officially working for ACS. I am very grateful - that even though they aren’t being paid for all this work, they are doing it because they genuinely care about our students! Stay tuned for more information about our Team “chats” - where you will meet members of the grade level, EC, specials, and administrative teams during the week of July 27th.
REGISTRATION UPDATE
Make sure you have started the Registration Process if your child has been offered a position. Also, tell your friends and family that they can still apply to attend ACS for the 2020-2021 school year. Here is the link to apply: ACS Application
Best,
Leslie Paynter, M.Ed.
Managing Director
ACS FAMILY SURVEY LINKS
SCHOOLMINT & REGISTRATION
If you have questions about your SchoolMint account or questions about uploading records,etc., please email Jen Adler at jennifera+acs@chartersuccesspartners.com or call 919-479-1442 extension 707.
Jen manages our SchoolMint account and is able to assist with your questions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
If you have been offered a spot for your child to attend, I strongly encourage you to accept the offer and begin the registration process ASAP.
Also, make sure that you are contacting your child’s doctor and school offices to access their records for the registration process. If your child’s doctor’s appointment isn’t until the summer, upload all the other documents and in that spot, upload a picture of the doctor appointment date.
As long as status is "Registration in Progress," you will not lose your spot. We understand that it is still difficult to get certain documents and appointments and that many students will not receive a final report card until mid-June.
MY FAVORITE ARTICLES FOR THE WEEK:
This week, I wanted to highlight how important Responsive Classroom, the first six weeks of school, and creating our classroom and school climate will be this year whether we are doing face-to-face or remote instruction. Because the majority of our students have not been in a classroom setting since March, teachers and parents may have unrealistic academic expectations for their students. All of us will want to make up for these lost months of academics. However, we must remember that our students have had huge losses socially and emotionally too. It will be tempting for teachers and parents to try and bypass or “short change” the time we spend at the beginning of the year learning the rules and routines and creating a respectful and kind classroom climate and culture. Now more than ever, it is critical that we ensure everyone can learn and that the classroom, in person and remote, operates safely and efficiently. We must remember that as a new school, all of us, teachers, staff, students and families, are unfamiliar to each other. During the first several weeks of school, we will begin to learn about each other’s strengths, needs, hopes, and dreams. This Edutopia article, Fostering a Strong Community in a Virtual Classroom, and an interview with Roxann Kriete, co-author of The First Six Weeks of School, explains why it is important to build our classroom and school community and why we practice the Responsive Classroom approach.
BEFORE & AFTER CARE
The Before and After School information provided by Genesis Athletics is on our website at: Before & After School Care. There is a Registration Form that you can complete. If you have any questions,
or if you would like more information, please contact Evelyn Kreiley at
evelyn.kreiley@gmail.com or at 585-738-7360
Be sure to tell your friends and family that they can still apply to attend ACS for the 2020-2021 school year. Here is the link to apply: ACS Application
CALL FOR EXTRA LEGOs, BLOCKS, BUILDING TOYS & BOOKS
If you are doing “spring cleaning”, we would love to have any extra Puzzles, LEGOS, blocks, and building materials for our LEGO/Engineering class and classrooms. Also, if you have children’s books (all levels) that you are no longer using, please set those aside for us too!
ADDITIONAL ONLINE RESOURCES
HOW TO TALK TO CHILDREN ABOUT COVID-19
The National Association of School Psychologists has developed this resource for parents regarding how to talk to children about COVID-19. National Association of School Psychologists
LARRY FERLAZZO - NY TIMES BLOGGER - TEACHING K-12 ONLINE RESOURCES
HIGH QUALITY FREE WEBSITES & APPS - High Quality Educational Resources and Apps
FREE BOOSTERTHON RESOURCES - Boosterthon Access Code: AtHome Boosterthon on Facebook
GUIDANCE FROM NCDHHS on SCHOOL REOPENING SAFETY - StrongSchoolsNC Public Health Toolkit (K-12)
NC Kids - NC Kids is a digital library with online books available in ebook, video, and audio formats. The library collection ranges from beginning reader to young adult. You can also access these books on the go with the Libby App from NC Kids. A library card is required in order to borrow books from this digital library.
STORYLINE - Storyline, streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.
Don’t forget to check our website and Facebook page for previous messages & more school information! www.alamancecommunityschool.net and