Weekly Blog 6/10

Dear Wines Families,

Well, believe it or not, we’ve reached the final week of school and my final “Wednesday Email” of the year (though there will be frequent communication this summer). This will certainly be a year we will all remember and I hope we all remember it fondly—at least as it relates to school. While the past 12 weeks or so will likely be what everyone remembers, I do hope we all take some time to reflect on the entirety of the school year and all that we have accomplished together. As I wrap up my 10^th year at Wines, I can say that I am as excited for the next year as I have ever been. Regardless of what school looks like in the fall, I’m humbled to be able to lead this amazing staff and be part of this incredible school community. Thank you!

School Access

I’ve been asked by a few families about the possibility of gaining access to school to pick up items and/or drop off items. Please look for a detailed message from me tomorrow or Friday regarding this possibility. In short, we will offer VERY limited access to families next Friday, June 19^th. At this time, families will have the opportunity to pick up essential items such as medication. All non-essential items will be made available later in August. Fifth grade families will have the opportunity to return instruments and library books at that time and families who are not returning to Wines will be able to drop off library books as well. However, returning families will be asked to hold on to any items until fall and leave all non-essential items at school. Again, look for more detailed information this week.

Auction Ends Friday at 8:00 PM

The live online auction of our classroom projects is still open until Friday at 8:00 PM. Below is a link if you are interested in bidding.

https://cbo.io/bidapp/index.php?slug=wines#

Enrollment for 2020-2021

This week—even as early as today—you will be receiving an email from backtoschool@a2schools.org with information about completing your enrollment for next fall. This is something we do every year. Your email will have a link to enroll that has your “snapcode” embedded. If you did this last year, nearly all of your information is pre-populated and it just takes a few minutes. It is crucial that everyone complete the enrollment. Please be on the lookout for the email.

AAPS COVID-19 Closure Survey

While our school buildings are closed due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic this spring, our educators have continued to serve students through virtual learning. You should have received a survey from K12 Insight via email that asks questions about your family's experience with district and school communication, technology access and resources, virtual learning, and community resources during this spring closure. Toward the end of the survey, questions about your preferences for the type of educational setting and supports you anticipate needing for next school year. Your responses are confidential. In case you missed the email from K12 Insight you can access the survey here. We invite you to explore the Ann Arbor Public Schools Reimagine Learning Framework 2020-2021 at https://www.a2schools.org/reimagine.

Well, that’s all for this week! Thank you again for a wonderful school year and please stay keep checking your inbox as this summer will likely have more communication than other summers!

David

Weekly Blog 6/3

Dear Wines Families,

It is hard to believe we are into June and heading toward the last week of school. Oddly, I don’t have a lot of updates today. Due to the lifting of the Stay at Home Order, we are working on plans at the district level to close down our school buildings. I know many of you have questions about claiming students’ personal belongings, picking up medication, as well as returning items to school such as library books, instruments, etc. I hope to have more clear updates to share over the next couple of days. In addition, the lifting of the order may allow us to modify our plans to wish our 5^th graders a fond farewell. Again, more information will be forthcoming as I receive guidance from district leadership.

Virtual Art Night

Thank you to all of our artists as well as Jane Lardo and Joel Wyse for organizing our virtual Art Night!  We have some amazing artists at our school! In today's email I sent a link to the slide show. I've not posted it on the blog to protect our students' privacy. 

That’s all for this week. Please be on the lookout for subsequent updates.

David

Some Thoughts on Current Events

Dear Wines Families,

After the events over the past number of days, I felt it necessary to quickly reach out to our community rather than wait until my weekly Wednesday message. Like many of you, I was struck by the horrific video of George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent protests and violence around our country. I have much in my mind and heart, but I’m struggling to put my thoughts and feelings into words today.

What I can do at this moment is to speak my truth. My truth is that I am a person who can only be described as having White Privilege. I was born into a white, middle/upper class, suburban, highly educated family and I have been able to enjoy the multitude of opportunities that are seemingly bestowed upon people like me. I’ve never been without, never been racially profiled, and never been scared to simply exist. Exist is an important word here. I spoke just today with an African American colleague who shared his experiences of “DWB” (driving while black) and SWB (shopping while black). Today he spoke much more broadly of EWB—Existing While Black. White privilege means I never need to worry about it being dangerous to simply exist.

Like you, I am a parent and I want to share what I have done with my two sons this week as they have had questions about what is happening. I have been explicit with them about their own white privilege. I’ve explained to the best of my ability what that means in a way a 12-year-old can understand. I am using this moment in history to teach my children about their privilege. Not so they can somehow wipe it away—they can’t. Instead, I want them to understand their privilege deeply in order to open their eyes, identify their biases, and become active ant-racists in their lives.

What does that mean for Wines? The pandemic makes this challenging in the short term. Usually during uncertain times at school, we are able to be around the kids, listen to their social conversations, get a sense of their questions/concerns/ideas, and allow for natural discussion to take shape in our classrooms. Our teachers are masterful at managing these class conversations. Not having the opportunity to simply be with students makes supporting them very difficult. I will say that I promise not to let this moment be just another moment that comes and goes. I will be working with staff to ensure that our community of learners are actively engaged in discussions of race and that our community goes beyond our yearly focus on being “kind” and begin helping our students to directly confront practices and actions that at best, marginalize, and at worst, contribute to the harm and destruction of minority populations. And we will confront those practices at a staff level as well.

Thank you.

David

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

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 25^th.

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.

https://sites.google.com/aaps.k12.mi.us/nurses-resources/school-nurse-care-corner

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!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evfOzPrzIu0

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

David

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