Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Weekly Blog 4/29

Dear Wines Families,

As always, I hope this message finds you and your family healthy and I continue to extend my sincere thank you to those of you on the front lines in our health systems and others who are essential workers at this time. I have a few important updates today:

Feedback on Forward Learning
Thank you to everyone who has completed the survey regarding the new online/distance forward learning platforms. Whether you filled the survey out or not, we know well that this experience is new for everyone—including our teachers. Overall, it appears that the amount of work assigned is appropriate for a large majority of our students. However, there is also data to suggest that it is too much work for some and data that tells us that it is not enough. We also know that circumstances in your homes change daily. To that end, I want to make sure I touch on a few things. First, please know that EVERYONE in our school and in our state is missing part of the school year. This means we will all be in the same boat when school resumes. So please do not overly concern yourselves with your child’s progress as we will certainly need to examine our curriculum and scope and sequence of learning at all grade levels next year. And as always, we will use our formative assessments of each individual student to support their independent progress. The current work is designed to keep our kids as engaged as possible knowing that this format is not optimal and families have different opportunities to access the content.

If your child is feeling that the work is too much at any given time, please allow them the freedom to take a breath and not stress over the work. Simply do what you can. If your child is seeking more opportunities, please note that in addition to the work assigned by teachers, students have access to Lexia, Dreambox, and in some classes Moby Max. These platforms are individualized to each student. Also, independent reading is critical each day. And don’t forget the various special area activities that are available. I also want to point out that the intention of the forward learning plan is not to replicate an entire seven-hour school day. This is simply not possible at this time. 

If your child has an Individualized Education Plan, your child’s case manager will be reaching out to you this week to help create a Good Faith Continuity of Learning Plan that will serve to help individualize the work for your child based on their individual needs. We will also begin holding remote IEP meetings as well.

Finally, I also know that everyone is craving more face to face connection. Please note that our teachers are also at home. Many have young children and other family obligations throughout the day. In addition, they are extremely busy planning each week’s work and in many cases filming online lessons for the following week. They are also taking part in professional development to support their ongoing growth using the online platforms. In my meetings with teachers, it is clear that they are as busy or even busier now as they were when we were in school. We also cannot provide synchronous learning opportunities as this creates severe inequities for those who cannot participate. Our teachers are holding twice weekly office hours to give more personal attention and most teachers are also hosting regular informal live meetings. I encourage you to have your child participate in the live meetings when possible and know that our staff is continually working together to meet the complex student needs within the limitations of the current format.

Report Cards
To follow up on last week’s message about report cards. Just before the closure announcement, we adjusted the report card distribution date due to snow days. Our teachers needed this time to complete the end of term assessments needed to accurately record student progress.  When the closure announcement was made, our teachers were in the process of completing those assessments. While many of these assessments were complete on March 13th, some were not and this has resulted in some missing information that would normally be included in the March report card. 

Here is what you can expect:
  • Elementary term 2 report cards will be issued electronically on May 10th with clear instructions to our families for how to access, view, and print if desired. 
  • Some areas of the report card will be blank due to missing assessment data caused by the abrupt closure of school. 
  • Given that information may be missing, progress may not be shown in some areas.  
  • Remember that during the closure no formal grades or assessments are being given and teachers are providing feedback to students throughout the closure based on assignments received. Therefore, no report card for Term 3 will be issued.

We are preparing now for a very different summer and fall, one that includes many opportunities to address the learning needs of our students. Stay tuned for more information about summer options coming soon.

Community Resource for Essential Workers
A member of the Wines community wanted to alert our essential workers of no cost wellness consults for essential workers. See the link below.

AAPS Parent Support Groups
Our AAPS school psychologists will be offering weekly parent support groups via Google Meet/Hangouts to support the unique needs of our Ann Arbor Public School parents during the school closure. Parents can pre-register to attend a support group. Below is a flyer with more information and a link to register.





















That’s all for this week. Stay safe and healthy. We are all in this together!!

David

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Weekly Blog 4/22

Dear Wines Families,

It is hard to believe that we are in our sixth week away from Wines. While at some level I am getting used to the new routine of being home and working from home, I also find myself missing the day to day bustle of our school more with each passing day. With this week’s note, I’m asking for some information from you. Our teachers and staff are working incredibly hard to provide online content to our kids and as this is new for everyone, getting some feedback will help us as we move forward. In addition, while much of our focus is on these next 8 weeks or so, we are also looking ahead to next year and planning for the time when we are finally able to be back together at our school.

So, below are two links. The first is to a survey regarding your family’s experience thus far with online content. It should just take a couple minutes and can help us understand how things are going across our households. The second is our annual parent input survey to help us make class placement decisions for next year. I will be meeting with teachers beginning next week to create our class rosters for next fall. If you would like to provide input, please fill out the form. As always, we do not accept requests for students to be placed with a specific teacher, so please avoid such requests.



March Report Cards
I know many families are anxious to see your child’s March report card. The rapid closure of our schools and the subsequent cancellation of the school year has made getting the information out to you nearly impossible as we don’t have access to the reports. Our school district is quickly adopting a digital platform to get report cards to families. We hope this will be available around the beginning of May. I will share more information and directions for access as they become available.

Need Technology?
I want to repeat the technology request information from last week. The school district is still able to provide technology for those in need.

Each week our Technology Department will be offering device deployment opportunities to our students/families through the remainder of the school year. If your family is in need of devices or WiFi options, the most efficient way to receive one is to fill out an online form.
Forms are found on this district web page:  https://www.a2schools.org/remotelearning
Technology Request Form - for a device (iPad or Chromebook)
Free & Low-Cost Home Internet Options - and form for Mobile Hotspot Request. You can also call 997-1222 or email:  family_techsupport@aaps.k12.mi.us

Need Financial Support?
Our community has stepped up on a big way to support our fellow families experiencing financial distress at this time. If I have not been in contact with you and your family would benefit from financial support, please feel free to email me directly or call/text me (I sent my cell phone contact info in today's email). We will be providing support to families as long as we have the resources to do so.

That’s all for this week. I am available at almost all times of day if you have any questions or concerns.

David

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Weekly Blog 4/15

Dear Wines Families,

I hope this message finds you healthy and staying safe. I know that many in our community are on the front lines working in our health systems or are part of the essential workforce in some way. On behalf of our entire community, we thank you for all of your efforts during this challenging time. Here is the news for the week:

Forward Learning
As you know, this week we began our new phase of forward learning. I’ve been extremely pleased with the efforts of our staff to put the plan into action quite quickly and I’m hearing from teachers that our kids have responded well. This is dramatic change for everyone and in many ways, this week is like the first week of school all over again. Everyone is learning new routines, new expectations, and new learning formats. The goal is NOT to add to everyone’s stress. So please, take this one day, one activity at a time. Our teachers will continue to share a week-long plan at the beginning of each week. This plan is meant to give a larger picture of the content and also allows families to approach the work at their own pace based on your own needs and schedules. Teachers are also posting simpler daily schedule suggestions as well.

Technology Needs?
Each week our Technology Department will be offering device deployment opportunities to our students/families through the remainder of the school year. If your family is in need of devices or WiFi options, the most efficient way to receive one is to fill out an online form.
Forms are found on this district web page:  https://www.a2schools.org/remotelearning
Technology Request Form - for a device (iPad or Chromebook)
You can also call 997-1222 or email:  family_techsupport@aaps.k12.mi.us

Supporting our Families
The response we received from our community to provide financial support to Wines families during this time has been tremendous. THANK YOU! The need in our community is also great. Based on the number of families we are helping and the amount we have collected, we should be able to provide direct support through around mid-May. So for now, we are in very good shape to continue to provide assistance. With that said, the need may last longer and the number of families who would benefit from this support may grow. If you would like to donate, go to https://wines-elementary-school-pto.square.site/shop/covid/7. 100% of your donation will go to supporting Wines families during the COVID-19 outbreak.

THE CLINIC IS OPEN (from our Nurse, Mary Delis)
Dear Wines Students, Families, and Staff:
As we begin our new online learning, I wanted to let you know that the clinic will still be “open.” I am aware that by now you probably know where to get information about protecting yourself from the COVID-19 virus (see below) and other resources. However, there are so many other health related questions that you may have, and I wanted to encourage you to feel free to reach out to me, just as you would have when we shared physical space. I miss contact with all of you! I hope you will continue to feel that my “virtual” door is always open, even if you would just like to say hello, or share a thought or story. 

I can be reached via text, phone call, or email during normal school hours, M - F, and you can leave me a message after hours. If I don’t pick up right away, please leave a message, and I will get back to you as soon as possible. 
734-476-6875

I look forward to hearing from you!
Wishing you all good health.
Nurse Mary 

That is all for this week. Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns you may have.

David



Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Weekly Blog 4/8

Dear Wines Families,
I again sincerely hope this message finds you healthy and settling into this new reality of ours. With the warmer weather, Trish and I have taken a number of walks in our neighborhood and it has been great to see many of our Wines kids and families.

I don't have a long message today, but I do want to give everyone a quick preview of the weeks ahead. Beginning next week, forward instruction will take place in our school district. Students will receive new content in Math, Language Arts, Science, Socials Studies, and in the special area classes. Teachers, curriculum leaders, and district and building administrators have been working tirelessly over the past two weeks or so to establish a district-wide plan and common approach to what distance learning will look like over the next 9 or 10 weeks. Today I am meeting with our staff (virtually) to go over the plan and over the next two days I will be meeting with each grade level team and our specials team to plan instruction. While school will certainly look different, this is also a great opportunity for creativity and innovation and while I would much rather be in school, I am excited about what is coming.

Please look for a more comprehensive email from me tomorrow that outlines more specifically what you and your children can expect moving forward. For now, stay healthy, stay positive, and enjoy some sunshine today!
David