Easley Weekly Update

Hello Easley families,

I hope everyone had a great weekend and was able to enjoy the beautiful fall weather.

Onsite COVID Testing at Easley

As you know onsite COVID testing will begin this week. I want to share some important information regarding our new COVID-19 Surveillance Testing system to educate you on the importance of this program and hopefully encourage many more of you to register your students.

This week, working with MAKO Medical, Durham Public Schools will begin COVID-19 Surveillance testing across the entire district. Surveillance testing is a quick and consistent way to check asymptomatic populations for COVID-19. To learn more about how surveillance testing works, CLICK HERE or use this link: https://www.dpsnc.net/Page/5978. This new system will allow our school to know if a student who is not showing any symptoms is positive and allow us to be proactive in isolating the student and quarantining any necessary close contact students or staff.

A second significant benefit to this program is that all registered students have access to an onsite COVID-19 diagnostic test should they begin to show symptoms during the school day. This will allow parents who have to pick up their sick child from school to have their student tested before leaving. If the test is negative and the student is no longer symptomatic, the student can return to school. This can be a major time saver for families, mean less time students are out of the classroom, and will give our school the ability to contact trace faster and more effectively.

The test itself is very simple and safe. The PCR test, or polymerase chain reaction test, is NOT those scary long nasal swabs some of us had to experience during the early days of the pandemic. These new tests are the equivalent of rubbing a cotton swab around the edges of your nose. Simple, quick, painless, and effective.

This is a great opportunity for our school. I encourage you to consider registering your child for this program. To register, CLICK HERE or visit https://www.dpsnc.net/Page/6005. Find our school on the list and click the registration link below it. Families with siblings at other schools, please remember that you MUST fill out a separate link that corresponds to the school that each student attends. Families with difficulty accessing the Internet can pick up and return a paper registration form here at our school.

For families with additional questions, I encourage you to visit the Frequently Asked Questions page on the DPS website. CLICK HERE or visit https://www.dpsnc.net/Page/5978 and scroll to the bottom of the page.

November 12 - NO SCHOOL Mental Health Awareness Day

Last week the school board voted to make Friday, November 12th a Metal Health Awareness Day. There will be no school for students that day. Thursday, November 11th is the Veteran's Day holiday so that will not be a four day weekend.

Parent's of African American Children (PAAC) Meeting

Our first PAAC meeting of the school year will be on Wednesday, October 27th at 5:30 PM via Zoom. The Zoom link will be in the email version of this message. Moving forward the meetings will be the last Wednesday of the month at 5:30 PM. Lauren Ettson is charing PAAC this year and will be reaching out to parents of African American students via email and phone calls with more information about upcoming events and opportunities.

Easley Math-querade

Our annual Easley Math-querade, a family math night, will be Thursday, October 28th from 6:00-7:00 PM via Zoom. Each grade level will be holding fun family math games. Students are invited to wear their favorite costumes. Zoom links will be sent out by classroom teachers via Bloomz.

Kings and Queens Affinity Groups

Many factors contribute to the wide range of challenges that students of color face while they are in school. As they learn to navigate the various parts of their lives and begin to form their identities, having a safe and nurturing space will become integral to their academic, emotional, mental and personal development. Understanding the impact of historical and current societal and cultural perspectives and approaches to addressing inequitable systems is necessary to improving the experiences of and supporting students of color in and out of schools. This year Easley will participate in the We Are Queens, We Are King programs at our school. Interest forms will be sent home this week with additional information. Please reach out to Mrs. Boggan, Mr. Bugajski, or Mrs. Hauser if you have any questions.

We Are Kings Flyer

We Are Queens Flyer

PTA News: Update/Membership

To purchase PTA memberships or make a donation, please visit: https://easleypta.memberhub.com/store

Easley Spirit Wear

Spirit wear Store. Get all your Easley gear here. The current monthly promotion is free shipping on orders over $60.

Duke Concessions

Duke Football Concessions have been a big fundraiser for Easley in recent years and we are partnering with them again this year. Typically, we bring in about $10,000 for the season. Sara Harrell is the PTA chair/ stand manager for this fundraiser. The time commitment for most games is approximately 6 hours. Game times that have been announced are listed with times. Times TBA will be posted as soon as possible. It's it usually am mix of parents and staff who work the games and it really is a pretty fun time and a great way to connect with other parents and staff members. If you are interested in working a game, you can sign-up HERE.