Lowell Lantern

Hello Lowell Families,

We understand that this transition to all virtual learning leads to a lot of questions about how to best support your student as they connect to their classrooms virtually from home. We have tried to include lots of information in this newsletter to address many of the frequently asked questions. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher or our school front office if we can be of any assistance.

Schedule:

• Monday the 23rd and Tuesday the 24th are eLearning Days (students will use their iPad to login to Canvas to access their assignments.
• Wednesday the 25th - Friday the 27th is Thanksgiving Break (No School).
• Monday the 30th is when Virtual Instruction Begins.

A few important points to rremember:

• If your student has already been virtual, they will not have any changes to their daily schedules.
• If your student is transitioning from in person to virtual, they will have four times throughout the day that they will need to meet with their teacher on zoom.
• All students transitioning from in person to virtual will have their first zoom session beginning at 8:15am Monday - Friday. Teachers are sending home more detailed schedules with students that outline what their day will look like.
• If you need support with your device because it is not working or has been damaged, you can visit the helpdesk at Moorhead Community Resource Center at 8400 E. 10th Street in the back of the building from 10:00am - 2:00pm Monday through Friday.

• To request a T-Mobile hotspot for your student please completely fill out this form. Once your request is processed the hotspot will be delivered to your student's home school where you may pick it up.
• See below in this newsletter for information on Food Distribution, YMCA Child Care, and more parent/family resources.

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything! Thank you for your support of Lowell! Take care! Be safe!

Mrs. Griffin

Students brought home a Wifi Hotspot Request Form today. If needed, please scan the QR code to complete this request (or send the completed form back to school). Once completed, Hotspots will be available to pickup at school. We will contact you when pick-up is available.

Please visit the district website to learn more about our Transition to Virtual . This webpage will continue to be updated with new and important information so make sure to check back frequently.

Based on the guidance provided by the Marion County Public Health Department and the challenges presented due to COVID-19, all MSD Warren Township schools will begin VIRTUAL instruction on Monday, November 23, 2020. Our students will remain VIRTUAL until Friday, January 15, 2021, with a tentative return to our current models on Tuesday, January 19.

Monday, November 23, and Tuesday, November 24 will be eLearning days or asynchronous days, meaning students will have more flexibility in completing their school work. Teachers will be available from 9:00am - 12:00pm for support and communication. Monday, November 30 will begin our VIRTUAL learning or synchronous learning, meaning students will follow their given schedule.

Click Here to check out the updated District Parent Resource webpage to learn more about the digital tools we use in our schools.

Thank you to all of our wonderful students, parents, teachers, and staff that helped make our Scholastic Book Fair a big success! We had sales just over $4000.00!! The profit from your purchases will help our Media Center buy new books and other resources for our school library.

We also want to send a big thanks to Sue Ellen Vawter, our media clerk, for organizing and running the book fair! In addition the following staff members deserve a special thank you for helping to make the book fair such a huge success: Gloria Hickman, Jan Engler, Stacey Struewing, Katie Sheets, Noelia Gonzalez, Barb Drummond, Jenny Horton, Andrea Casillas, & Lisa Smith. It couldn't have happened without each of them!!

This November, the Warren Arts and Education Foundation along with Anthem have worked together to encourage our Warren Township K-4 Students to stay active through a month-long "Dance for Health" challenge. Check out Lowell's dance video below.

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1ZGCZYh_UGlhonGy0jJg9-v79-zUoe-ew

Now Located at Moorhead Community Resource Center

8400 East Tenth Street, Indianapolis

Our Lowell PTA provides so much support for students, families, and staff. Please consider joining the PTA! It does not mean you must volunteer for events; however, joining the PTA allows you to advocate for your child and others.

For every membership bought, you will receive a discount card that provides great deals to businesses on the eastside. So your membership could be free with the great deals you get.

Please click on this link to become a member.

https://indiana-congress-of-parents-and-teachers.square.site/

Mrs. Hand, our school counselor, is available to support all of our Lowell students. A student may be referred to the school counselor by a parent/guardian, staff member or the student may refer themselves.

If you are interested in counseling services for your child, please click on the link below and complete the referral form for Mrs. Hand. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhMbp6BSh7ti1I6Nc6ar3-LjYr-cqbFUzhxIesLZmRXiqa3w/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0

Mrs. Hand has also created her own website where families can access information and resources. Please visit her website at the link below.

https://sites.google.com/warren.k12.in.us/lowell-school-counselor/home

Here is the Updated Lunch Menu from Chartwell's. Students will get a choice of a hot or cold entree each day.

Please read the important information below about virtual learning.

• The VLA will not be affected by the Mayor’s recent announcement. More information will be shared soon about the adjusted transition request window.

• Currently 1st graders in the VLA will be able to pick up their 1.3 reading book the week of November 30th from their home school.

• MidTerm Grades will be available after 4PM on Nov. 20th.

• Please ensure your student is logging into Canvas consistently.

• Pages are updated (at least) weekly. As the township uses Canvas more consistently, it allows access to a common tool which works to increase clarity and engagement while reducing frustration.

• If your student does not have all of the books needed for class, please call your homeschool to arrange a pickup time.

New Black/Gold Schedule

Quarter 2 Virtual Instructional Calendar K-6

Beginning Monday, October 26th the Moorhead technology help desk will move to door 11 at the rear of the building located near the playground. Please drive through the gate on the west side of the building and, after parking, enter door 11 for assistance. The Technology team will keep the same hours for the help desk: Monday through Friday (except holidays) from 11am to 1pm.

If you are having tech issues, please contact the help desk:

• Tech Site: https://www.warren.k12.in.us/o/msd-of-warren-township/page/parent-tech-info

• Tech Ticket: https://www.warren.k12.in.us/o/msd-of-warren-township/page/parent-tech-info

Virtual Student Materials Pick-up for quarter 2 was on Thursday, October 22nd.

If we missed you, please call the front office at 317-532-3900 to make arrangements for pick up.

Due to low participation with our Friday food outreach, we will no longer be offering a Friday distribution. Our outreach will continue to be on Tuesdays from 8:00am-9:30am and from 4:30pm-6:00pm.

In order to ensure students are given opportunities to engage in art, music and physical education activities consistently, we are simplifying our K-4 VLA Related Arts’ plan for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year. Here are the details:

• Students will have weekly opportunities to engage in various K-4 Related Arts activities.

• These activities can be accessed through Canvas from their teacher’s page.

• These activities are now considered diverse enrichment activities that families can use as additional engagement opportunities.

• With these adjustments, students will not be asked to submit completed activities and therefore will not receive feedback or grades in K-4 Related Arts for the 2020-2021 school year.

Moorhead Community Resource Center (MCRC) is now open and ready to provide services and supports to our Warren Family! We are so excited to have this fabulous center in Warren Township and look forward to serving our Warren Families! Please see the flyers below for more information about MCRC.

Did you know that Amazon donates money to approved charities and the Lowell PTA was just approved as a charity?

If you use Amazon or have an Amazon Prime Account, money may be donated to Lowell with NO extra charge to you. The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases.

Please see the flyers below for easy ways to donate to Lowell. Share with your friends and family!

Thank you for taking time each morning to screen your child before coming to school each day. Please continue to do so. Below are symptoms impacting consideration for exclusion from school:

● A fever of 100.0° F or greater

● Chills

● Cough

● Muscle or body aches

● Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

● Headache

● Sore throat

● Congestion or runny nose

● Fatigue

● New loss of taste or smell

● Nausea or vomiting

● Diarrhea

Students and employees should be excluded from school if they test positive for COVID-19 or exhibit two or more of the symptoms of COVID-19 that are not otherwise explained based on ISDH / MCPHD guidance. If in doubt, please don't hesitate to call school at 317-532-3900 for some guidance. We appreciate your support in doing this important screening step each day before sending students to school.

You may download our 20-21 Reopening Plan on our S.A.F.E. Reopening Webpage.

https://www.warren.k12.in.us/o/msd-of-warren-township/page/20-21-s-a-f-e-reopening

Our car rider line has changed locations! The car rider drop-off and pick-up line is now on the SOUTH SIDE (Raymond Street) of the building. DO NOT ENTER OFF OF HUNTER ROAD. All car riders will enter the line off of Raymond Street. There is a circular drive that cars will follow around to the sidewalk. Pull your car to the end of the sidewalk, place your car in park, and wait for staff to signal that students may be released from cars. DO NOT RELEASE STUDENTS UNTIL STAFF IS OUTSIDE AND INDICATES THAT STUDENTS MAY BE RELEASED FROM VEHICLE. WE WILL BEGIN TO RELEASE STUDENTS AT 7:55AM. STUDENTS MUST WEAR A FACE COVERING WHEN EXITING THE VEHICLE. PARENTS ARE TO REMAIN IN CARS AT ALL TIMES AND CANNOT EXIT THE VEHICLE TO WALK STUDENTS INTO THE BUILDING.

Students will only be released on the sidewalk side/passenger side of the vehicle. Please make sure your child is sitting on that side of your vehicle. When the sidewalk is cleared of students, cars will be released by staff to exit back out onto Raymond Street. PLEASE DO NOT MOVE YOUR CAR UNTIL STAFF INDICATES IT IS SAFE TO MOVE. DO NOT GET OUT OF THE CAR RIDER LINE TO MANUVEUR YOUR CAR AROUND OTHER CARS. STAY IN LINE AND FOLLOW THE CAR IN FRONT OF YOU SO WE CAN EXIT SAFELY. When the next row of cars are lined up along the sidewalk and are stopped and in park, staff will release the next group of students into the building.

OUR PRIORITY IS TO KEEP STUDENTS AND STAFF SAFE! PLEASE MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW THESE PROCEDURES AND TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS OF THE LOWELL STAFF. WE APPRECIATE YOUR COOPERATION.

Please make sure your child has backpack/supplies ready and that good-byes are said before it's time to exit the car. We will not have time to retrieve items or have prolonged good-byes in the morning. We appreciate your help with this!!

Review the map below to see the entry/exit location and the path for the car rider line. We appreciate your patience as we all learn this new system.

Please remember that our Lowell Campus is a smoke-free campus. There is no smoking allowed anywhere on Lowell grounds. This includes smoking in your cars while on the Lowell Campus. Please refrain from smoking on school grounds if you are picking your child up or dropping your child off at school. We appreciate your support with this policy!

The renovation at Lowell is going strong!! We are excited to see the progress!

Click on the link below to access the 2020-2021 Student Success Handbook.

Student Success Handbook 2020-2021

Contact Us

Kim Griffin -- Principal

kgriffin@warren.k12.in.us

Tasha Reedus -- Dean

nreedus@warren.k12.in.us

Website: lowell.warren.k12.in.us
Location: 2150 South Hunter Road, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone: 317-532-3900
Facebook: facebook.com/LOWELLLEOPARDS
Twitter: @LowellElementa1