Audubon Updates - Return to Learn

Dear Audubon Families,

As we prepare for our next shift in learning for 2020, I wanted to take a moment and share with you what that is going to look like. Since we will now have students attending school both in-person and online it will create some shifts in the way we teach. Our staff will be balancing both forms of instruction each day. In an effort to do that and make sure that one group of students is not receiving access to lesser educational opportunities we will continue to use Schoology and Seesaw with all our students along with live teaching and some video lessons. You may ask, what will this look like and how will we make it work?

There may be parts of the day where students that are online will use WebEx to join their teacher and other classmates in the classroom. This may be for our morning meeting, some whole group lessons or interventions. There will also be times that all students, online and in-person, watch a "flipped" lesson where it has been pre-recorded by the teacher or another video is used to give instruction to everyone while the teacher is then meeting with students while others are practicing their new skills.

• Are students attending online going to need to stay on thier camera for 6.5 hours? No, that is not good for them and does not present a good learning option for elementary students.
• Will students attending in-person continue using their technology to do work and submit assignments? Yes, Schoology and Seesaw are going to continue to be our primary tools to deliver information along with collect student work.

Are there going to be challenges as we move forward? Absolutely. Change does not occur if we do not have challenges along the way. What I ask is that we all work together as we go so that we can meet those challenges, overcome them and move forward to provide the opportunities that we can for our kids. We are ready for this next challenge and appreciate your support along the way.

Please let me know if there is anything that I can do to support you and your families!

Wishing you health and wellness!

Aaron Ford

Principal

Audubon Elementary

The 2020-2021 Updated Return to Learn plan with specifics about in-person learning is available by clicking the link below. It also includes our 2020-2021 Parent Information Handbook. In the plan there is a SAMPLE of what a day may look like for in-person instruction along with online instruction. Teachers will be sending updated schedules for online and in-person instruction.

Click here to access the full Return to Learn Plan with Parent Handbook

The plan can also be found on our Audubon website by clicking on the Parent Resources Tab.

There are many aspects that are part of our return to school process this year. Our district has created some guidance documents that we feel are important for you to see and review. The four documents below are the four main documents that we will use when assessing a student or staff member to determine if they would need to stay home or go home, and what criteria would have to be met to return to school.

El Paso County Health Guidance Document

What Happens if a Student or Staff Member Appears Ill After Arrival

Returning to School Guidance for Students or Staff After Illness

School/District Mask Guidance

If after viewing these documents you still have questions please feel free to call the school at speak with Mrs. Bots, our school nurse, and/or Mr. Ford.

The week of September 21st will be our return to in-person learning for the 2020-2021 school year. During the week we will have a staggered roll-out:

• Monday, September 21 - Kindergarten
• Tuesday, September 22 - 1st Grade with Kindergarten
• Wednesday, September 23 - 2nd Grade with 1st and Kindergarten
• Thursday, September 24 - 3rd Grade with 2nd, 1st and Kindergarten
• Friday, September 25 - All Students

Each of the days will be full days, 8:00 - 2:30 and transportation will be provided for those students who qualify for district transportation. When students arrive for their first day we ask that they go meet on the playground outside of classrooms on the east side (west side for 1st grade) of the school. Teachers will then take students to their classroom door for the start of school and an optional parent Q&A will be offered for parents.

If you are a family that is planning to return to in-person learning either now or maybe down the line, we have some thoughts for you as you make you plans. Students will need to bring their supplies to school with them and the supplies can then be left here. All of the supplies that were passed out in mid-August should be brought back when we return. This includes all of the text books that we checked out as well. We will help students "check-in" their books that we sent home.

If your child is in 3rd-5th grade, the Chromebook that was checked out will continue to be checked out for the remainder of the year. This is something that should go to and from school daily. Students in kindergarten - 2nd grade returning for in-person learning will check in their laptop (if you checked one out). All of our new iPads should be arriving soon and those will then be checked out to those students.

As we prepare to come back to in-person learning there are a few things that we are going to ask for every child to bring with them to support their safety and learning:

• A pair of headphones or earbuds (labeled). These will be kept at school and used with our iPad or Chromebook devices.
• A water bottle. We will allow students to fill up water bottles but will discourage the use of shared water fountains.
• Some type of pencil box/bag that they can put personal supplies in. We will not be sharing supplies and having a place that they can put their own supplies in will be important.

You can find our original supply list for the year by clicking here. Any of the supplies on the right hand side would be great additions if possible for students to bring (except the $6.00 fee for planners - no longer needed). If you are not able to do this we will be able to supplement and help here at the school so this is not a deal breaker.

If you have any special considerations please reach out to Mr. Ford at aaron.ford@d11.org or to our School Counselor at cayla.fitzgerald@d11.org. Either would be happy to support you.

Over the course of any school year, communication between the school and families is extremely important for the success of our students. To help streamline our communication process this year we have chosen only a couple of opportunities for two way communication. We will use email, Class Dojo and phone calls as our primary ways to communicate with families. Information may also be posted on our school website, Facebook, or Twitter as a followup to communication. To make sure you receive all our communication you will want to make sure you have a current email addresses in our system along with having signed up for Class Dojo.

As we prepare to have students both in-person and online we feel that it is important to share what our communication expectations are moving forward. Class Dojo is a great two-way communication tool to allow staff and families to quickly connect. However, we would ask and remind both staff and families that we do not always have the ability to read or respond to Dojo messages during the day. If you need to get a message to your child's teacher or your child, the best way to do that is still via telephone. Please call our office at 719-328-2600 to connect quickly and get a message to where it needs to get to.

We are also trying to practice balance with home, school, and work. In an effort to do this we are asking that we all respect each other's time. As a school, we are going to do our best to not reach out to families after a certain time so that you can focus on your family and the needs you have at home. Likewise, we are asking for your understanding that our staff also has their personal needs and will need to unplug after a certain point each afternoon to care for their families. If you send an email, Dojo message, or call after 3:30, you may not get a response until the following day. We are committed to responding to all parents within 24-48 business hours. You are always welcome to send a message, ask questions or pass along information at any time and we will respond when we are back at work.

We appreciate your support as we work to make sure our families and staff each have the time they need to practice work-school-home balance.

If you are ever needing technology support during our remote learning time, or even when we get back to in-person, you can reach out to Mr. Watson. His contact information is:

• Phone: 719-328-2624
• Email: robert.watson@d11.org
• Tech Support Link - Click Here

Mr. Watson is ready and willing to support in any way that he can.

Email: aaron.ford@d11.org
Website: www.d11.org/audubon
Location: 2400 East Van Buren Street, Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Phone: 719-328-2600
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudubonElementary
Twitter: @Audubon_D11