Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Weekly Blog 5/27

Dear Wines Families,
Well, I guess it is fitting that even during these unusual times, summer seems to have arrived now that Memorial Day has passed. While I miss school daily, I don’t miss those few days a year when temperatures make it less than pleasant in our school. I have a number of important announcements and reminders today.

AAPS Reimagining
As we all know, school opening for next fall contains a lot of unknowns. Thus, we are engaged both at the district and building level in the process of planning and “reimagining” the school year for next year. We want to be flexible and provide instruction for students in multiple ways based on the situation and guidelines to maintain the health and safety of our students, staff, and families. These include a modified face to face approach, a blended learning approach, and complete remote learning. This planning will continue throughout the summer as the situation with COVID-19 changes. We will need family input in this process. Please look for a district communication soon with an outline of the current reimagine planning as well as a survey to gain your input on this critical process for our future.

Virtual Auction—Classroom Projects
As we all know, our annual auction was canceled this year. While the various items we had planned to auction off simply cannot be part of any auction at this time, the classroom art projects created by our amazing group of volunteers are available and are wonderful. Each year, these projects are a highlight of the auction as become keepsakes from the school year. In working with the PTO and our Auction Committee, we have initiated a virtual silent auction for just the classroom projects. We hope this allows these wonderful items to find permanent homes. For those interested in participating, the auction will open this Friday and will extend until the last day of school, June 12. Look for an email on Friday with more detailed information and directions for registering for the virtual auction.

Good News!
I know we are all looking for some good news during this period. Speaking of the auction, I’m pleased to say that our project to install new playground structure for the lower el playground is in process. Following our successful 2019 auction, a new playground was approved by our PTO. This project was a bit delayed last year, but we did receive final site approval in February. Of course, the project has again been delayed by the school closure. However, we are moving forward and we hope the installation will be completed for the fall. As with everything, COVID has caused construction delays, but we are hopeful to begin soon. Thank you for your patience and for your ongoing support that made this project a reality! A picture of the new structure can be found below.














Virtual Art Night Reminder
Last chance to submit projects for Virtual Art Night. Please email pictures of the projects to WinesArt2020@gmail.com.

All About Coronavirus for Kids and Families
The University of Michigan’s School of Public Health has created a video entitled, All about Coronavirus: A Video for Kids and Their Families. The video was created for children and their families to share what we know about the coronavirus and outline proven public health methods for personal and community protection.
Sharing basic scientific information with children can:
  • strengthen their resolve as they struggle with new, changing, and potentially scary realities,
  • inspire them to continue learning the facts about the epidemic,
  • encourage them to participate actively in helping slow the spread of the disease.

Please go to https://sph.umich.edu/kidscovidresources/ for more information and a link to the video.

That’s all for this week. Be well and continue to stay safe.

David





Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Weekly Blog 5/20

Dear Wines Families,
As always, I hope this message finds you healthy and managing through this unique time in our history. Recently Trish and I have been focusing on the “silver linings” we are finding during these challenging times. A silvering lining for us is the fact that we have been able to have a family dinner together every night. Plus, our boys are not only doing the dishes for every meal but also not complaining about it! We had a great silver lining last weekend. Saturday, I celebrated a birthday and usually we don’t make a big deal out of birthdays in our family. But having it fall on a Saturday and being home without all of our regular weekend activities, it became a birthday weekend! We even had a Zoom birthday party with friends from all over the country. During normal times, those folks would have likely sent me a text (or not) wishing me a happy birthday so we certainly had the silver lining of being with friends from all over—albeit virtually. While I know many of us are having significant struggles, I hope everyone can find at least something positive out of this experience. On to the news of the week:

Virtual Art Night
Thanks to Joel Wyse and parent Jane Lardo, Art Night will go on virtually. Mr. Wyse has posted information on his special area link in the Continuity of Learning Plan. There are project ideas that students can do using materials frequently found in the home. Students are encouraged to do any of these projects. Students may also use their artistic license and work on any kind of art project of their choice. In addition, students can use projects they have already completed this year and have at home. Once they have completed a project or chosen their project, they can take a picture and submit it to WinesArt2020@gmail.com. We hope to collect the projects the week of May 25th.

Nurse Care Corner
Our district nurses have developed a website with resources on COVID, health and wellness for students, families, and staff.  It also includes a google form for parents and families to contact their school nurse.  Below is a link to the site.

Memorial Day Monday
Monday is Memorial Day if you can believe that. Teachers will not be loading content on Monday for next week so it will change slightly the weekly and daily calendars.

I Am With You
Finally, I want to share a link to a very cute video that Robin Moore shared with our staff last week. It sends a great message to everyone in our community that we are all with each other and we care about each other even though we are currently separated. It put a smile on our faces and I hope it puts one on yours too. Please share with your children!

That’s all for this week. Be well and be safe!

David

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Weekly Blog 5/13

Dear Wines Families,
As we find ourselves in mid-May, I’m missing school more than ever. For me, May is the busiest month of the year as a principal. It is a time where we are in full swing with all of the end of the year items (concerts, field trips, M-STEP testing, teacher evaluation, classroom and school celebrations, 5th grade camp, Country Fair, and much more). It’s also a time of looking ahead to fall (Kindergarten Readiness Day, class placement, new enrollment, hiring of new staff, etc.). It is a time of sleepless nights and long days. But it is also a time of better weather, joy, and reflection on how much we’ve accomplished in a school year. I’m finding myself missing this crazy time dearly. While it is still busy and crazy in the “home office”, I miss the feeling of being at school each day. With that said, I’m also finding myself incredibly pleased with the work our kids are doing remotely, the outstanding work of our staff, and certainly the large role of our families in making this time as successful as possible.

Virtual Art Night
Thanks to Joel Wyse and parent Jane Lardo, Art Night will go on! Virtually. On Monday, on his special area link in the Continuity of Learning Plan, Mr. Wyse will post various projects that students can do using materials frequently found in the home. Students are encouraged to do any of these projects. Students may also use their artistic license and work on any kind of art project of their choice. In addition, students can use projects they have already completed this year and have at home. Once they have completed a project or chosen their project, they can take a picture and submit it to WinesArt2020@gmail.com. We hope to collect the projects the week of May 25th.

Report Cards
Everyone should have received an email yesterday with information about accessing your child’s report card from March. The password is the student’s birthdate. Please be sure to use the MM/DD/YYYY format for the birthdate including the slash marks.

Access to Wines
I know that many students have items at school that families would like to retrieve. With the current Stay at Home order, no one is allowed in the building. If and when the order is lifted or modified, I will be in touch about the possibility of access. Obviously, there are multiple variables to contend with here and much to plan in order to allow safe access. I will keep you posted. For now, we will wait until after May 28th or later.

Accessing Online Content
Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or me if you are having any challenges accessing the online content due to family circumstances, etc. Teachers can also help troubleshoot tech issues as well. Most, if not all, of your tech issues can be fixed by AAPS tech experts. If you have issues, please feel free to reach out. Information below:

Call 997-1222 or email:  family_techsupport@aaps.k12.mi.us

Do You Need Financial Support?
Our amazing community has provided financial support for families at this time. If I have not already been working with you and your family could use some immediate support, please feel free to email me directly or call me a (I provided my cell number in today's email). This support will be completely confidential.

That is all for now. As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

David

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Weekly Blog 5/6

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 don’t have many updates today as we seem to have found our “groove” with the new distance learning. Here are the updates:

Thank You!
I want to again thank all of the families and kids who sent in appreciation notes that we sent out yesterday in the special edition of the Wines Times. BIG thanks to Anu Huntley for putting the content together and making the 33 page slide show! I know our staff really appreciated the kind words.

Accessing Online Content
Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or me if you are having any challenges accessing the online content due to family circumstances, etc. Teachers can also help troubleshoot tech issues as well. Most, if not all, of your tech issues can be fixed by AAPS tech experts. If you have issues, please feel free to reach out. Information below:

Call 997-1222 or email:  family_techsupport@aaps.k12.mi.us

Do You Need Financial Support?
Our amazing community has provided financial support for families at this time. If I have not already been working with you and your family could use some immediate support, please feel free to email me directly or call me (my contact information was included in today's email). Support is completely confidential.

That is all for now. As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. Thanks for being on this journey with us!

David