Talbot County Public Schools

December 16: Board of Education Meeting

December 21-31: Winter Break

December 30: TCPS to announce learning model for the week of January 4th

Dear TCPS Community,

Regrettably, the County’s testing positivity rate has continued to climb and the new case rate per 100,000 population has nearly doubled over the last 7 days, as indicated in the chart below. Based on the guidelines provided by Maryland’s State Department of Education, Department of Health and Governor’s Office and after consulting with our Talbot County Health Officer, we will remain with our virtual learning model for the week of December 14.

With our winter break beginning on December 18, we will continue to monitor the health metrics and provide an update on Wednesday, December 30 regarding a decision for the week of January 4. Our hope is that things will improve such that we can return to small group instruction and/or our hybrid model then or soon thereafter. In the meantime, the Superintendents have asked for the Health Metrics to Guide School Reopening Discussions flow chart in the COVID-19 Guidance for Schools to be re-evaluated based on current data regarding the lack of transmission in schools.

I hope you all are able to enjoy the break, while still making safe decisions and following guidelines to protect yourself, your family and our community. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay hopeful and stay tuned for our December 30th update.

Kelly L. Griffith, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) is an annual call to action to inspire K-12 students to learn computer science, advocate for equity in computer science education, and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers, and partners to the field.

Below are photos and screenshots from Kristen Tilghman's AP Computer Science class where students are coding real-world programs and apps.

Students collaboratively code a dice game in Java. They all work on different sections of the code within the same program . When finished code is compiled and all runs smoothly as one.

TCPS is holding ZOOM Parent Technology Clinics throughout December. Join our Instructional Technology Team to learn ipad and FROG (the TCPS Learning Management System) basics.

iPad Basics

Chrome

Popup blocker

Filewave

Google apps sign in

12/17/20 -7PM, https://talbotschools.zoom.us/j/96968139597pwd=bHBIeis1SUJlZHczd3h1dEY3a2MvZz09

12/18/20 -12PM https://talbotschools.zoom.us/j/96889876450pwd=Ri9nOXdsZ3lwcEc4SzVaa0RRVm9Vdz09

Frog Basics

Log in

Assignment calendar

Notifications

Navigating to sites

12/15/20 -7PM, https://talbotschools.zoom.us/j/92722338594pwd=ZVZxNW1SWFpGRGFiTkRJeEFybU5Sdz09

12/16/20 -12PM https://talbotschools.zoom.us/j/96493630946pwd=L2tlamkxd1Frc2pGcFpYbW8yK2tpQT09

Given the potentially life-threatening implications, most attention is focused on the awareness of Covid-19’s physical symptoms and taking preventative measures. However, the silent mental health implications of Covid-19 that are affecting all ages, will have much greater and far-reaching impact well after the Covid-19 vaccination is received.

The measures recommended to decrease the transmission of Covid-19 include isolation and quarantine (extreme cases include-lock-downs). However these preventative measures can also have unintended consequences. The mandates of restrictive social movement and decreased social interactions, which are counter to the hallmarks of youth behavior and development, can have a significant impact both psychologically and emotionally. This impact can lead to higher levels of anxiety, loneliness, fear, depression, and uncertainty of the future, which can increase feelings of hopelessness.

As our community strives to reduce the spread of Covid-19 and to protect our most vulnerable populations, the mental health and emotional implications will not have a vaccination to provide a quick solution. Schools remain on the front lines and are well positioned to identify the social, emotional, and mental health needs of our youth. However, there’s no greater substitute for the role parent/guardians play in their child’s development and advocacy to access the necessary supports when needed. As a community, we can all work towards the early identification of mental health needs and to assist with reducing the national epidemic of youth suicide. Talbot County Public Schools has social workers on staff in addition to three mental health service providers for students and families should additional supports be needed.

The chief risk factor associated with suicide is the noticeable symptoms of depression. These may include feeling socially isolated, becoming withdrawn, loss of interest, increase in sleep, loss of energy, feeling hopeless, changes in appetite, feeling more sad than happy, changes in behavior (including irritableness or becoming more tearful), increase in risk taking behaviors (including experimentation with drugs/alcohol), and loss of previously enjoyed activities (this is not a complete list of symptoms).

If your child or family is struggling with any of the symptoms noted above, please do not hesitate to “Ask-4-Help” (Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program). Should you have questions or need more information, please call Dr. Rob Schmidt, Mental Health Coordinator for Talbot County Public Schools at 410-822-0330.

RESOURCES

1. If Urgent Crisis call 911/Urgent 24/7

2. 24/7 Mobile Crisis Response 1-888-407-8018

3. Eastern Shore Psychological Services 410-822-5007

4. Bridges Behavioral Health 410-758-8750

5. Peace of Mind 410-690-8181

6. Maryland Helpline Call 211 then press 1

7. National Suicide Hotline 1-800-273-8255

8. For All Seasons 410-822-1018

9. Sun Behavioral Health (DE) -24-hour Assistance: (302) 604 - 5606

Join the Education Foundation in making a difference in TCPS classrooms! Click the link below to view our Fall 2020 Teacher Grants. Please consider a donation to support our teachers and inspire our children. Our goal this holiday season is to fully fund these Grants!

Please review the Proposed 2021-22 TCPS Calendar linked below and fill out the survey to give us feedback. Your opinion matters! The Proposed Calendar was presented to the Board of Education at the November 18th meeting. Survey results will be shared with the Board at the December 16th meeting. Survey will close at 4 PM Monday, December 14th.

View Calendar

Leave Feedback

On Tuesday 12 -15, back by popular demand, Food Services will hand out a holiday meal with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans during evening meal pick-up at schools.

On Friday 12/18 they will hand out food for students to cover the 12 days school is closed. Many of the items will be bulk. There will be a whole pizza, 20 piece nugget meal, bags of apples, bags of oranges, bags of pears, pints of strawberries, bag of grapes, bag of romaine lettuce, pint of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, pack of hamburger buns, pack of English muffins with many other items along with gallons of milk.

Meal pick up is offered at all locations except Easton High School on Tuesdays and Fridays from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. for all children ages 2-18.

TCPS recognized the Tilghman Island Country Store for as the Tilgman Elementary Community partner of the month! Superintendent Kelly Griffith and TES Principal Kelly Murdoch delivered a gift basket from our culinary arts department and a personal thank you!

Tilghman Elementary chose The Tilghman Island Country Store as their Community Partner of the Month in gratitude for their continuous support of students and staff! In the Spring and Summer they provided free lunches for students. At the start of the year, they generously donated a huge snack/gift basket for our Back to School meeting. They are always willing to support TES and their generosity is greatly appreciated!

The Talbot County Women’s Club presented Easton Middle School with 60 backpacks filled with school supplies on Tuesday, December 1st as part of their annual Backpack Drive Campaign.

Special thanks to Patricia Early, retired TCPS Teacher and long-time club member for coordinating this project and to Staples, for their generous donation of school supplies to help fill the backpacks. We can't wait to have students back in our building using these wonderful gifts!

This link is now live for all TCPS students in grades PK-12 to access TCPS eResources at home! http://www.tcfl.org/eresources/ Follow the link to check out the login page for students and to see the links they can access. Each student has a unique login which is TCFL plus the first 5 digits of their lunch number. There will be more information to come from TCFL that will encourage and support students and families in utilizing the link and resources.

In addition to the digital student card, all students/families can use this login information to access the patron computers at both TCFL locations. Also, this digital student card provides every student 10 copies per day on the TCFL copiers!