Weekly Update 1/12

 Dear Wines Families, 

It is so great to have the kids back at school this week! While we are again adjusting to a “new normal”, we are adjusting well and happy to be in school. With our new normal, I do have some important pieces of information today. 

Preparation for Return to Virtual

As I indicated last week, one of the realities of the current situation is that we need to be prepared to pivot to virtual instruction at any time. While we need to acknowledge this reality, I want to assure our community of a couple things. First, we are fortunate that thus far our staffing has not been significantly impacted by COVID related absences. Furthermore, we have permanent building substitutes in place to cover staff absences. My intention is to keep our school open unless there is a staffing situation that can’t be creatively solved and would lead to a detrimental educational experience or an unsafe situation. I’m hopeful we won’t find ourselves in such a situation.  

In order to be prepared for virtual, however, it is important that students are bringing their Chromebooks to and from school daily. Nearly all of our students are already doing this. If this is not currently a family habit, please help us in making this a daily part of school. 

Pick Up and Drop Off

As we now know, three of our four busses are not in service. The earliest we expect to return to normal bus service is Monday, Jan. 24. As we learned yesterday, this has resulted in a longer than expected pick up and drop off experience. The largest impact is during afternoon pick up. If this were a long-term challenge, we might consider examining the overall traffic pattern at school. However, for now we simply ask for everyone’s patience. We will continue to begin our Driveline dismissal at approximately 3:35 daily. This helps a little. Other than that, we simply ask that your Driveline number is prominently displayed and we ask that you help in supporting your children to get in or out of the car as efficiently as possible. Also, just a reminder that the main entrance to Wines (off Newport) is for grades 1-4. Young 5’s, Kindergarten, and 5th grade must enter at the Cooley entrance. Please use the entrance for the youngest sibling in the family. 

We also encourage carpooling if that is possible. If you are carpooling, please display the Driveline numbers for all the students you are picking up in the afternoon. Also, if you are in walking distance, please have your child walk home if that is something that works for your family. 

No School Monday, January 17th

Just a reminder that there is no school on Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. Unfortunately, due to our ongoing restrictions we will not host our annual assembly this year. Teachers of course will be honoring the legacy of Dr. King in their classrooms. One area of emphasis is the focus on the ongoing struggle in our country. I believe I shared this story last year, but again this year it is at the front of my mind. A parent came to me a couple years ago and shared that while she was in her child’s classroom, the class was discussing Dr. King and a student said something to the effect of “Dr. King ended racism”. While there is some beauty in the innocence of such a statement, it also indicates the importance that we actively work with our students to understand that while leaders such as Martin Luther King helped move our country in a more positive direction, racism in all of its forms are unfortunately still alive and well in our country and our world. We need our kids to not only understand this, but also understand the importance of them being actively anti-racist. 

Chess Competition Opportunity

The Michigan Chess Association will hold the annual K-5 (and K-3) team championships on Saturday, Feb. 5 at Cass HS in Detroit.  A team consists of four players from the same school.  If you are interested or for more information, please contact raygarrison@arborchess.com or text Mr. Garrison at 734-945-5951. 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. 

David

Weekly Update 12/15

 

Dear Wines Families, 

Here is the news for my last Wednesday message of 2021! 

Forsythe Closure Today

As many families know, Forsythe Middle School is closed today out of an abundance of caution following an incident yesterday. Understandably, there are questions about the potential impact for Wines due to our proximity. While I’m not able to share information about what occurred at Forsythe, the situation is isolated to Forsythe and while we are remaining vigilant with our daily security measures, we are not under an increased level of concern. 

Pajama Day Friday

Let’s send out 2021 with some…comfort. Friday is Pajama Day at Wines for everyone. I know a couple classrooms already have this planned and everyone else can join in the fun. 

Thank you! 

I’d like to thank our community one last time for all you support to make school happen this fall. Our kids continue to come to school each day excited to be in the building and we’ve had a wonderful first part of the year. Thanks to all of our families and a BIG thank you to our staff who continue to go above and beyond to provide a joyful school experience during trying times. I hope everyone has some time to rest and rejuvenate over the next couple of weeks and I look forward to 2022 together! 

David

Weekly Update 12/8

 Dear Wines Families, 

I have just a couple of announcements this week: 

Vaccine/Quarantine Update

We are fortunate that we continue to be only minimally impacted by COVID cases in our school. With that said, we do continue to have cases resulting, unfortunately, in the need to quarantine close contacts from school. Now that vaccines are available for those five and older and many of our students have begun the vaccine regimen, I’ve had a number of questions about what this means for future cases. Moving forward, when we have a reported positive COVID case, we will initiate our same case investigation as we always have and identify close contacts. We will contact families alerting them that their child is a close contact. We will then inquire about vaccine status. If a close contact can provide documentation of being two weeks past their second vaccine dose, then that student does NOT need to quarantine from school provided they do not have symptoms. This is an exciting development as we anticipate the need for fewer students to quarantine and, hopefully, fewer cases overall as more of ours students are vaccinated. 

Food Drive Ends Tomorrow

Our extended food drive will end tomorrow. The extra days have been helpful as our bins have begun to really fill up! If you would like to donate, tomorrow is the final opportunity. 

Reminder: Picture Re-Take Day Dec. 15

Picture Re-Takes are next Wednesday. If your child did not have their picture taken, they will have it taken Wednesday. You can order a package at https://inter-state.com/FlyerEntry/62321Z. If you would like a re-take, please bring in your previous package. All Wines student have their picture taken and all students receive a yearbook whether you order a package or not. 

Lost and Found

Our Lost and Found has been sorted and displayed for a number of days and kids have done a great job of locating missing items! We will display the remaining items until next Wednesday. After that, remaining items will be donated. Please encourage your child to look for any missing items. This is a good opportunity to remind families to please try to label all of your kids items so we can find the owner without needing the Lost and Found. 

Best, 

David

Weekly Update 12/1

Dear Wines Families, 

Unfortunately following yesterday’s events in Oxford, I write today with a heavy heart. These acts of school violence and tragedy are challenging to comprehend, let alone explain. For me personally, I learned last night that the incident had a direct impact on a student and family I know well. The daughter of one of my former teachers is a student at Oxford High School and was extremely close to the event. She is physically safe, fortunately, but as you might expect, she will now have this memory with her for the rest of her life. 

Please know that our staff is ready today to support students who have questions or worries. Our top priority each day is the physical and emotional safety of our students. Our message to our kids is that they are safe at Wines, but we will also reflect on the school safety drills we have had this year that help students understand the procedures and options we have in the very unlikely event that we have a dangerous situation in our schools. 

PTO Meeting Tomorrow Night

7:00-8:30pm. Zoom information was shared in today's email. 

Picture Re-Take Day Dec. 8

Wednesday, Dec. 8th is Picture Re-Take Day. If your child was absent on the original day please go to https://inter-state.com/FlyerEntry/62321Z for information and ordering options. There is also information coming home in today’s Wednesday Folder. For those students who would like to get their picture retaken and bought a package, they MUST bring their package to school that day for exchange. 

Food Drive

Our Food Drive has been extended to this Friday. There are bins located at all Wines entrances. 

PTO Donation Letter

In today’s Wednesday Folder, please look for a letter from our PTO that includes great information and updates from this fall as well as an opportunity to make a direct donation to the PTO. Please find a moment to read the note. 

As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

David

Weekly Update 11/17

Dear Wines Families, 

Just a couple of news and notes today. 

Early Release Today: Dismissal at 1:18. 

Food Drive

The Wines PTO is collecting food to donate to Food Gatherers! Food Gatherers distributes food through more than 170 partners and programs in Washtenaw County. Bins will be at the Wines entrance doors starting tomorrow through Thanksgiving break. Please send nonperishable food items and help support our community! 

Report Cards

Report Cards will be sent digitally next Tuesday. You will receive two separate emails from me. One will include your child’s report card and one will include NWEA assessment results. Young 5’s students do not take NWEA so you will receive just one email. The documents will be password protected and directions for your password will be included in the note. 

Thanksgiving Recess

There will be no school next Wednesday-Friday for Thanksgiving. 

David

 

Weekly Update 11/10

 

Dear Wines Families, 

We have a number of important notes today:

Early Pick-Ups

With the exciting news of vaccine availability for our students, we have had a large number of students being picked up during the school day for vaccination appointments this week. We most certainly encourage our kids to get the vaccine and we understand there are often other reasons for kids to leave school early as well. With that said, please remember that this is a large school and Robin is generally in the office alone so we need your help. Please inform us as soon as possible that you need to pick your child up early. While informing the teacher is a nice courtesy, due to the nature of their jobs, teachers do not regularly check email during the school day. Therefore, early pick up information must come to the office. You can call the office at (734) 994-1973 or email Robin Moore at moorero@aaps.k12.mi.us. We check voicemail throughout the day so feel free to leave a message if there is not an answer. The earlier we have the information, the easier it is to have your child ready for you. When you arrive to school, please ring the buzzer outside and we will bring your child to you. 

As I indicated earlier in the year, the end of the day is exceedingly busy. As a result, we simply cannot pull students from class after 3:15. Please make arrangements to have your child picked up before 3:15. 

We greatly appreciate your help as we partner with you to help get kids vaccinated and support you for other times when you need to pick your children up before the end of the day. We anticipate that over the next month or more as kids receive their first and then second vaccines that we will continue to have a high number of early pick-ups so your help is greatly appreciated. 

Missing Enrollment Documents

Due to the extended school closure last year and the restrictions for access to school this year, we have a number of student files that are missing pieces of enrollment paperwork. Beginning tomorrow, if your child has documents missing, you will receive an email that lists what documents we need. Next Tuesday, 11/16, from 4:00-6:00 we will be hosting a drive-up document drop off. We will meet you at your car and make any necessary copies of the missing documents. 

Notes from the Library

Wines students are voracious readers - hooray! That being said, many students have shared that they have overdue library books at home. Please help your student find their library books and return them to school. Books can be returned to the return bin at the entrance to the library at any time, even if it is not their library class day. Overdue notices will be sent home next week. Please email Rachel Goldberg (goldbergr@aaps.k12.mi.us) with any questions. 

Early Release Nov. 17

Our next Early Release Day is next Wednesday, Nov. 17. Dismissal is a 1:18 PM. 

David

Weekly Update 11/3

Dear Wines Families, 

I hope this finds you well. Here is all the news for this shortened week. 

A2 Virtual Village

Over the past trimester, I have had conversations with some families that expressed interest in exploring online instruction that is offered through the A2 Virtual Village. While we’d love to keep your child here at Wines, families have an opportunity to adjust their enrollment selection for the second trimester. As you consider your options, please note that enrollment in online programs is based on available space. More information about the online programs is available on the A2 Virtual Village website. You are welcome to email any questions that you may have to a2velementary@a2schools.org.

Click HERE to express your interest in enrolling your child in an online class by Wednesday, November 17, 2021. 

Great Idea Grants

There are only a few days left to get your Great Ideas Grant application in! Students, Staff, and Community Members are invited to apply. Students can propose grants for up to $200, grown-ups have a $750 limit. Past grants were made for playground equipment, classroom book sets, software, technology, art supplies, and even a bird bath. Think big or small!

Apply by November 5 at the link here: https://forms.gle/BqxBrUf2VYkETDVk8

Picnic Tables Assembled!

A big thanks to the Wines family members who came out Monday night to make quick work of putting together ten new picnic tables for the front courtyard, allowing students to eat outside more comfortably in the fresh air. And thank you to everyone who donated to the Runathon, making projects like this possible! Although the weather is getting cooler, we will continue to eat outside as long as the temperature is reasonable and the tables will allow us to stay outside longer into fall/winter. 

Crosswalk

I want to again send the message I sent last week about the crosswalk at the front of Wines. Please, students are not allowed to cross by themselves. They must be accompanied by an adult. Students who are by themselves must go around on the sidewalk past the gate. This is a long-standing safety measure at Wines. This is for the crosswalk at the very front of the building, not the crosswalk near the baseball field connecting to the sidewalk from Forsythe. 

David