Welcome Back!

We are excited to welcome our teachers back to the building on August 10th! We know, that your masks are just part of your superhero gear!

I know that this is a very unusual year, and we all have questions and concerns as we prepare to return. I will do my best to alleviate as many of those fears as possible, but remember that you are always welcome to email, call, or text me with any questions, and I will do my best to answer them.

Tony and his crew have been busy getting our building ready and completing an extra layer of cleaning. Please be sure to thank them for all their hard work.

Across the district, roughly 1/3 of the students in GCS have opted for the Virtual Program (VP). At Beck, 260 students are currently enrolled in the AP. As you may remember, our overall enrollment usually ranged from 910-940. Based on each schools' enrollment, teachers from each location have been reassigned to the VP. The assignment is for a year, and the district has said that they will do everything possible to place everyone back at their home-based school.

At Beck, we have 12 teachers who are slated to move to the VP. They will do most teaching from home, but may be coming into the school to provide some live lessons. For this reason, we will have 2-3 classrooms reserved for the teachers to share. The remainder of the vacated rooms will be used for storage.

Due to these changes in staffing, guidance and admin have needed to completely rebuild our master schedule, and each student will need to be hand-scheduled since Power Scheduler is no longer open. This is a tremendous undertaking and will have us working around the clock for the next 10-14 days.

Teachers remaining at Beck will have to be redistributed to meet student need. Guidance and admin are working on the rebuilding process today and tomorrow. I will be letting teachers know about their new assignments by the end of the day Tuesday. I will send an email, I but then I will also have time available if you would like to call and discuss any concerns you may have.

I know this is a scary time and many of you are experiencing heightened anxiety. We will work together to get through this, but please remember that GCS has an Employee Assistance Program if you feel that you are having a hard time coping. It is confidential.

At this time, this list below contains the names of teachers who will be working in the Virtual Program.

Shelly Summerson

Leia Patterson

Marti Bowles

Mark Hertko

Jessica Crocker

Ben Sinclair

Rob Sherrill

Mara Thomas

Kathy Kelly

Sherri Lee

Emily Strickland

Lagette Kennedy

While we will review COVID procedures in more detail during the first week, I wanted to provide some basic information about entering the building, staff interactions, and meeting guidelines.

1. Staff must have their temp checked and answer the COVID questions everyday. At this time, screenings will take place in the main office beginning at 7:30.
2. Staff must wear their masks when they enter the building and whenever they walk through the halls or when in any space where social distancing cannot be maintained.
3. No large group gathers will take place therefore whole group faculty meetings will be in a flipped format or information will be provided in smaller settings.
4. Small group meetings of 10 people may be held as long as distancing can be maintained.
5. No buffet style meals can be provided to staff.
6. Classrooms are being set up for 18 students.
7. All upholstered items must be removed from the classroom.
8. Additional personal furniture will need to be moved out of the room in order to allow for maximum social distancing.
9. Water fountains are closed; however, the water bottle filling station will be open for teachers and students.
10. If a teacher tests positive for COVID, feels that may have COVID, has been around a person who tested positive for COVID or has been told they must quarantine by a medical professional, they must alert Mrs. Meisten immediately.

1. Do you currently have any one (1) of the following:

• Fever (100.4 or greater)

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

• Loss of taste or smell

• New or worsening cough

AND/OR

Do you have any TWO (2) of the following symptoms:

• Sore throat

• Muscle or body aches

• Chills

• Fatigue

• Headache

• Congestion or runny nose

• Diarrhea

• Nausea or vomiting

2. Have you been diagnosed with COVID-19 within the past 14 days?

3. Are you living in the same household with someone who is currently recovering from COVID-19?

4. Have you been exposed (within 6 feet for greater than 15 minutes with or without a mask) to someone who tested positive to COVID-19 within the past 14 days?

We are still working on our teacher schedules for the week, keeping in mind that teachers will need as much time as possible in their classrooms, and we cannot have mass groupings.

I am laying out what we know so far, and we will update as more information becomes available.

August 10th:

All staff returns to the building and can pick up a Chi- Fil- A biscuit. Teachers should ask themselves the COVID questions prior to arrival and have their temperature taken each day. There will be stations set up outside the main office beginning at 7:30- If there are already many people in line, please return to your classroom and come back after 10 minutes.

Key Pick up in the cafeteria:

Last name A-H 9:30-10:00

Last name I-N 10:15-10:45

Last name O-Z 11:00-11:30

*Remember you must wear a mask and social distance.

We will not hold any faculty meetings this day as we know that teachers will be busy moving rooms and moving furniture. Remember personal items that cause clutter and take up space must come out. The custodians have been instructed to set the rooms for 18 students.

August 12:

Virtual CKH training for all teachers. Debbie Sanders is working on the groups for this and will send information shortly.

There will be more added to this schedule later.

We will schedule a flipped faculty meeting as well as grade level meetings- more information to come about that soon.