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, 5^th 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 25^th.

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 28^th 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

• Technology Request Form
• Mobile Hotspot Request Form
• We handle device troubleshooting and repair too!

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

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

• Technology Request Form
• Mobile Hotspot Request Form
• We handle device troubleshooting and repair too!

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

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.

https://mari.umich.edu/news/mari-offering-mental-health-consultations-for-essential-workers 

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

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.

ONLINE LEARNING FEEDBACK FORM

PARENT INPUT FOR CLASS PLACEMENT

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

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)

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

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. 

delism@aaps.k12.mi.us

734-476-6875

I look forward to hearing from you!

Wishing you all good health.

Nurse Mary 

https://www.a2schools.org/COVID-19

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

David

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

Weekly Blog 3/25

Dear Wines Families,

I first want to reach out and express my sincere hope that this message finds everyone in good health. The DeYoung’s are healthy and hunkered down at home. My wife and I have turned our dining room into a shared home office as working from home is new for both of us and so we don’t have any kind of home office. I’ve seen a few social media posts about couples learning a lot about their spouses now that they are working together. One post I saw had a wife say about her husband, “who would have thought he was a ‘let’s circle back to that’ kind of person.” There is a bit of that happening in our house as well! Here is the news as we know it today:

Joe Reilly Facebook Live Event Today at 4:00 PM

Our friend Joe Reilly who works with our 4^th graders each year is hosting a free children’s concert on Facebook today at 4:00. If you don’t know Joe’s work, he is an accomplished singer/songwriter with a focus on children’s music. Each year he works with our 4^th graders and helps each classroom write, perform, and record an original song. For more information about today’s event, go to https://www.facebook.com/events/246456059729127/

Can We Help??

These are, obviously, extraordinary times in our community. With work stoppages for nearly all of us, this means disruption in income for many of our families. If you are in immediate need of financial assistance, food, etc. please click on the link below so we can have a sense of the needs in our community. I will work with our PTO to support everyone as best as we can. Your survey information is private only to me.  

Can We Help Survey?

Can You Help?

If you are in a position to help support families financially or in other ways, we need you! Please fill out the form below to help us identify you. Your responses are private only to me. The survey does not ask for any donation today. I will follow up later with how you can best provide support.

We Can Help Survey

School Closure Extension

As you know, there is now a statewide shelter in place directive in Michigan until at least April 13. This means that our school closure will last at least that long. Please continue to read emails, etc. from our school district for any additional information. I will certainly send out this information as well.

Teacher Communication

Our teachers have been remarkable in communicating with families and students. I have been very impressed with how quickly this has taken place. As teachers have shared, for now the activities being sent are optional. The goal is to stay connected and provide opportunities for kids. This should not add pressure to your kids or your family.

Spring Break

Next week is Spring Break and we are asking all of our teachers and staff to disconnect next week and focus on their families. Teachers will be back online beginning April 6.

Food Distribution

Please click on the link below with information about food distribution around our community.

https://www.a2schools.org/Page/15641

News from Ms. Wahl

Ms. Wahl is working on revising her website. In the meantime, I will be sharing info from PE for her. Below is her message for this week.

Hi Wines Wildcats!

I miss all of you!  Remember staying active is very important.  Everyday try to get outside and ride your bike, run, walk, shoot baskets, jump rope and play. You can always do the PE daily warm up just run laps outside around the house (not in the house). Wahl's Walkers can earn 30 miles walking, biking or running.  Create your own log for your miles.

Here are a couple websites to try: 

GoNoodle    https://gonoodle.com

Cap'N Pete's Power PE.   https://tinyurl.com/HomePEActivity

Feel free to let me know how you are staying active wahl@aaps.k12.mi.us

TTFN-Miss Wahl

That is all for this week. Try to get out and enjoy the sunshine today. I am available daily via email with any questions and concerns you may have.  

David