D114 Daily Vitamin: April 23, 2020

Today's Updates:

Today's News

As you have likely seen, Governor Pritzker has announced that they "stay at home" order remains in place through May 30. Again--we knew it was coming, but it's another blow to our hopes for "normal". Take care of you and your family, and don't be surprised if our students and families have a hard time with this news, too.

New Choice Menus are Out!

We mailed out the next set of Choice Menus today--thanks to everyone who volunteered with the mail out and the creation of the menus!!! They're posted on the Remote Learning page and also attached to today's email.

NOTE--Sue and Paula went through the mail and pulled the April Scholastic News magazines for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. We mailed them home with the Choice Menus for the kids, so this is another resource you can choose to use if it makes sense.

Desk and Locker Pack Up

FYI, the amazing custodial staff at Lotus is going to begin the process of bagging up the contents of kids' desks and lockers. Not sure on a distribution plan yet, and we'll also figure out a plan for Stanton.

We'll also make a plan for you to have time at some point to close up classrooms. Not sure on that plan YET...but we'll figure it out and get back to you. Ideas on how to do this with social distancing and keeping a very small group of people on site at a time are welcome!!!

Family Survey

I shared out the Family Survey today and already have over 40 responses! I'll share the data with you as soon as we close the window, but a peek at some feedback so far is...

97.5% of our families report they are doing "well" or doing "ok--changes day to day".

50% report they aren't struggling with anything, 25% report they are struggling to stay organized, and 17.5% report they are struggling to complete work from school.

32.5% report they are working on eLearning and Choice Menus, 47.5% report they are only working on eLearning, and 1 person so far says they are only working on Choice Menus.

37.5% report that the work is "just right", and NO ONE has said it's too hard so far.

There's LOTS more in the comments that I haven't yet had time to go through, but I will when we close the survey.

My hope in sharing this--although it's just one day's worth of data--is to let you know:

YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!!!

What we are doing is helping our families, the work is meeting the kids' needs, and YOU ARE AWESOME!

If you are willing, I'd love to be able to see what's going on with eLearning. If you're willing, I'd really, really love to see:

*Examples of activities you're designing

*Student work samples

*What it looks like to be in your SeeSaw class

*What it's like to be in Google Meets with you and your students

THERE IS NO PRESSURE on this and the intent is just to see what's happening because I know it's amazing. If that feels creepy or you're not interested, it's totally fine!!!!

Thanks for considering! 💗

STUDENTS WITH ADDITIONAL TIME

COMING SOON! In next week's team meetings, the MTSS focus will be on identifying kids who need more support. We'll be pairing them with our paraprofessionals to connect, get help with work, and just have one more layer of support. More to come, but start thinking about names of kids who would benefit from some SWAT support!

Volunteer Opportunities--REPEAT

Now that we know we are closed for the rest of the year...

If you're willing to help with Grab and Go or Choice Menu Mailings, please add your name in this document.

If you'd like to do a read aloud to share with everyone, please add your name here.

This is open to EVERYONE, and I know the kids would love to see faces from both buildings, from the Kitchens, from the Buses...they miss you ALL!

This week's Spirit Days...

We'll start an A-Z countdown on Monday that will keep the spirit going!

Thank you, Amanda Lorenz! 💗

Reminders:

Grab and Go

We continue to distribute on Monday and Thursday mornings ONLY from 7:30-10:00 at Stanton. You can grab "3 for Me" and everything else you need but we also limit how many staff members need to come in and how often we are asking families to come to school. Social distancing is KEY to us getting back to normal!

Building Access

When you come into the buildings to get stuff, please be sure to turn off your lights and shut your door when leaving. Helps us save on energy. THANK YOU!

All superintendents have been asked by the Lake County Health Department to make sure the following are in place for all staff who come onsite:

No one can come to work who is sick and/or has a temperature at or above 100.4.
Staff must take their temperatures at home.
If you don't have a thermometer at home, let the administrator on site know and we'll take your temperature for you.
All staff should wear gloves when handling materials at Grab and Go that will be given to families.