The Big Cat Courier

With our first day of in-person classes for Cohort A yesterday and our first Remote Learning Wednesday in process right now, I speak for everyone at HBS when I say it is wonderful to have school back in session. It's been a long haul getting back to the good work of teaching and learning in the building but we are back! While it may look a little different than it has in the past, we are all excited about this new school year.

An iPad in the hands of every student here in Enfield is an incredible opportunity. While I agree that very little good has come out of the last six months, Enfield's 1:1 device initiative is a bright spot. As with any giant leap forward, there have been some challenges, specifically distribution and setup.

If you still need to pick up your child's iPad, families have a couple of different options.

1) You may set up an appointment to pick up the iPad during the school day by calling the main office. Miss Gina and Miss Sarah will be happy to assist you.

2) We will send your child's iPad home with them at the end of the day if you send in a completed Technology Loss/Damage Waiver with your child. We can only do so if the waiver is complete and submitted. The waiver is on the last page of the Technology Handbook, which can be found here: http://www.enfieldschools.org/tech_support/handbook2

If you are still having difficulty setting up your student's iPad and need help, please contact EdTechHelp@enfieldschools.org

As we start off the new school year, an important reminder to families is that student attendance will be taken for both in-person students and remote learning students. Participation in teachers' live lessons is a vital part of the learning day.

One very important exception is that we realize over the course of the next few days, everyone will be trying to iron out technical issues. Please let the office know if you are still experiencing technical issues and we will make sure your child is marked present.

There are some changes to the way students arrive at Henry Barnard. If a child is being dropped off, we will be using the doors in the back parking lot in between the library and gymnasium. Please remain in your car as you loop around the back lot to drop your child off at the doors.

Because students are disembarking buses differently this year, to maximize social distancing, the front doors to the school are being reserved to receive only bus students. All other students, will use the doors in the back parking lot between the library and gymnasium.

Similarly, to conform to social distancing guidelines, our dismissal procedures have changed from last year.

Students being picked up will be dismissed directly from the back door of your child's classroom. Your child's teacher has shared the door number and room number so that you can find the right door. Please be aware that the room number and door numbers don't necessarily match. Please remember to bring a picture ID on the first day and as well as your child's dismissal card on subsequent days (they will be sent home with your child on their first in-person day of classes).

In order to accommodate the unusually larger number of families picking students up at the end of the day, as well as the extended amount of time we expect our bus dismissal will take due to our new loading procedures, we have expanded the window for student pickups. Students can now be picked up starting at 3:00. This change is to help facilitate traffic flow on campus as well as out on Shaker Road.

Students taking the bus will continue to be dismissed through the front doors. Because buses need to be dismissed one at a time, the front doors are being reserved for bus students only. If a family has business with the main office during dismissal, we appreciate your patience as we complete the dismissal process. We will assist you as soon as possible.

Daycare vans and small buses are located in the back lot and side lot, respectively. Building staff are assigned to those locations to ensure students safely board the correct vehicle.

I reiterate that we all thank you in advance for your patience with all of this year's new procedures. As with arrival and dismissal, conducting business with the main office or with our nursing staff has also been adjusted to meet health and safety guidelines.

We ask that during arrival and dismissal, our families refrain from conducting any in-person business with the main office and our nursing staffing. We will be happy to help you once the students are safely in/out of the building.

If your child forgets something or you need to drop off paperwork, please call the main office from your phone and a staff member will meet you at the table at the front door to help you.

I had the opportunity to cover two classrooms at lunchtime yesterday. In both rooms, I was asked to help open students' food, which I was happy to help with. There was a lot of hand washing and sanitizing in between requests but we got the job done!

Staff members are more than happy to help students open lunch and snack items. However, to help minimize contact between staff members and your child's food, please try your best to send them with items they can open themselves.

As noted above, we expect that we may continue to experience technical speed bumps over the next few days. While everyone continues to iron them out, flexibility is going to be important with teachers' live lessons.

This morning, my second grader sat next to me during his classroom's live math lesson. The teacher did not realize that the students could not hear her and continued through the entire math lesson while the students and families at home tried to get her attention. Unfortunately, the teacher couldn't see the students because of the view selection she used while sharing her screen. We received an email shortly after the live lesson explaining what happened and that the lesson would be repeated tomorrow. I share this story to illustrate that we are all in the same boat!

Here is the link to last week's Q&A session that was sponsored by our partners at KITE. Thank you to all who were able to take the time to attend the meeting. Please keep in mind that changes to our procedures are ongoing. The farther away from the meeting we get, the more likely it is that there will be discrepancies between updated procedures and what was indicated in the meeting. In those circumstances, always go with the current update rather than the meeting itself. https://youtu.be/73wORuS1eYI

In a newsletter last spring, I asked that families with any questions or concerns contact the school directly so that we could work together to address them. Last spring was a very anxious time for everyone and there were so many changes that schools everywhere found that families were expressing concerns on Social Media rather than to the schools themselves.

Social Media is a very effective tool to stay in touch with friends and family and over the last several months it's been a godsend for that purpose. Unfortunately , what Social Media is terrible at is solving problems. If something school related ever comes up that you are unhappy with, don't understand, or otherwise need help with, please contact the school directly so we can help. Whether you reach out to your child's teacher, a specialist, an interventionist, our nursing staff, the front office, or any of the other people who work in the building, we are all here to help.

A large majority of staff in the building are parents ourselves and we understand the frustrations associated with hybrid/remote learning. Trying to balance work and home learning days is monumental, as are all of the safety-based changes to the daily running of the building. Your frustration is real and present AND we'd like to try to help any way we can.

Please know that as a school, we cannot respond to concerns expressed on Social Media platforms. While every school would love to, we cannot due to student confidentiality. As is typically the case in any Social Media post, there is more to the situation that we, unfortunately, cannot address in a public forum.

We ask that if you find an individual expressing some kind of question or concern regarding our school on Social Media, please refer them back to the school so that we can assist them in bringing the issue to a positive resolution. We are always here for our students and their families.

Email: jgraham@enfieldschools.org
Website: https://henry.sharpschool.com/
Location: 27 Shaker Road, Enfield, CT, USA
Phone: (860) 253-6540
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EnfieldPublicSschools/
Twitter: @EnfieldPS