Hamline Families,

Our Hamline team has worked hard this week! I am so proud to be a part of this community. We are ready to welcome K-2 students into the building tomorrow, February 1. Grades 3-5 will participate in distance learning with their teachers until their return on Tuesday, February 16. Our 4 VLS classes(grades K, 1, 2/3 and 4/5), all begin tomorrow as well.

Throughout this past week staff have reviewed plans. As we went through building expectations and procedures, we adjusted and added to our plans to ensure safety. We know that we will continue to adjust as needed.

Some of our school’s safety precautions:

• PPE(Personal Protective Equipment) provided for staff and students
• Masks are required at all times.
• We have disposable and cloth masks for all students. You can send your child with extra masks if you choose as we will encourage children to change their masks throughout the day.
• Students will have lanyards to use to hold masks so they are not lost when eating.
• PreK students are highly encouraged to wear masks, however not mandatory per MDH guidelines. We will do our best to support PreK students in wearing masks.
• Teaching hand washing repeatedly. Hand sanitizer will be used when hand washing is not possible.
• Maintaining in person classes at smaller class size, when possible, to better enable social distancing. All classroom furniture has been set up for 3 feet of social distancing between students.
• Schedules support low classroom passing in hallways and on playground areas.
• Students have a personal card to swipe lunch pins rather than inputting pins.
• For classes eating lunch in the cafeteria, there will be assigned spots that are distanced from each other.
• Tabletop dividers are on site for staff to use between themselves and students for times with distancing is not as available
• Hallways have direction arrows, marking six feet apart, and stairways are one way.
• An additional custodial team member joined our team to support increased spot disinfection during the day of high traffic areas.
• Electrostatic spraying every day outside of school hours to disinfect classrooms.
• There is a dedicated Isolation Room attached to the Health office for students that may exhibit Covid symptoms
• Additional air purifiers were added to some rooms where needed and we have increased filtration levels of all air handlers, we schedule air handlers to run extended hours to pre and post flush the buildings each day, and we’re increasing the amount of outside air the air handlers bring in when outdoor conditions allow.

We understand that their are mixed emotions for all of us, as we begin this new journey, but our promise to you is that we will welcome students back with open hearts. We can't wait to see their beautiful little faces, even if just half of it:)

We will be sending home some videos of your child's days this week so you can see what it looks like in action. We are sad that we can't welcome visitors into the building, but will do our best to keep you informed as to what is happening at school. If you have questions please reach out to your child's teacher or our school clerk, Karen Azen at 651-293-8715.

In Partnership,

Principal Kristin Reilly

Hamline Huskies-

As we start in-person learning this week for our PreK-2, we all have a wide variety of emotions on our new beginning. We are excited and anxious at the same time. We have missed seeing the smiling faces of our students as they enter the school. We have missed hearing our students sharing their stories.

Many of our regular routines are changing. Please take the time to go over some of the videos we have made to explain some of our new changes.

As always, please call, text or email me with any questions or concerns.

Email: jennifer.ewald@spps.org

Office: 651-744-6055

Google Voice: ‪(612) 315-0791‬

Parent Drop Off: 7:15-7:30

If you are planning on dropping off your child in the morning, our Parent Drop Off is through the parking lot on the Hubbard side of our building. (Front parking lot will be blocked by buses dropping off). A car line will form and as you pull up to the back doors off the parking lot, adults will be waiting to help your children out of the car and into school. Please do not get out of your cars, or leave your car in the car line as it creates a back up. Principal Reilly, and Ms. Lori our PreK Teaching Assistant, will be waiting outside to help kindergarteners and PreK students get to their classrooms for the first time. We know this is hard for parents and we promise to watch out for them like they are our own. If you are walking your children to school feel free to drop off on either side of the building outside of the doors. Ms. Kaltun and Mr. Eli will be waiting on the Englewood side of the building to greet kinders and PreK students as well.

Parent Pick Up: 1:55-2:15

We will begin dismissal at 1:50. Students who will be picked up will be brought to the cafeteria to wait for their parent or guardian. This allows us to maintain cohorts, as well as safe distancing. We will have two staff members outside and as you pull up they will walkie staff inside letting them know who to send out. We know this may take a bit more time, but we have to be sure to maintain safe distancing. Please remember to wait outside for your children if you are walking home with your children. Let a staff member know you are there and they will walkie inside.

If you need to drop off your child late:

• Drop your child off in the front of the school in the parking lot on Englewood.
• Your child will walk to the front door and press the buzzer to be let in.

• SPPS must reduce the number of adults visiting our buildings to help ensure the health and safety of our students and staff.
• Students must be dropped off outside school building entrances. Students cannot be escorted by family members to their classrooms or anywhere else inside the building. In addition, families will not be allowed to have lunch, observe a class, volunteer or engage in any other activities in school buildings.
• We understand this is disappointing for many of our students and families. We are implementing these changes to minimize risk and help ensure the health and safety of our students and staff.

We want to make sure that everyone feels protected while learning, working in or visiting Saint Paul Public Schools. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has directed that masks or face coverings must be worn throughout Minnesota in all indoor public spaces - including school buildings. This executive order applies to all visitors, staff and students (kindergarten and older). Pre-K students are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings if they can do so in accordance with CDC guidelines.

Watch this short video from members of the Hamline staff on wearing a mask.

• Students will bring iPads to school and back home everyday.
• Please charge the iPad every night.

Families returning to school should familiarize themselves with these guidelines, which are updated regularly and cover prevention strategies, health screening and monitoring, exclusion guidance, and the SPPS COVID-19 Reporting System.

Please click on the following link for COVID-19 Student and Family Guidelines

Families should conduct a health screening every morning before sending their student to school or the bus stop. School staff will also monitor for symptoms throughout the school day. If your child is exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms, do not send them to school. Report the absence to your child’s school and submit a report to the COVID-19 Reporting System the same day for next steps.

Please click on the following link for the Health Screening form

Students who become sick during the school day will be isolated (under supervision) until they can be picked up. It is important that sick students are picked up as soon as possible to limit the risk to other students and staff. Please make sure your contact information is up to date in Campus.

Doneta Johnston is our nurse and Joyce Boston is our assistant. Please watch the video to hear a message from Ms. Doneta and Ms. Joyce.

Meals for Students Learning In-Person

Free breakfast and lunch will be provided to all students during in-person learning. Menus are available at schoolcafe.com/spps.

Free Meal Kits to go:

Families can pick up free meal kits from school on Tuesdays from 9:30-10:30. Drive around through the parking lot, on Hubbard side of building, and a Nutrition Services staff member will be ready to hand you a meal kit. Families are asked to pre-register to pick up these kits (link coming soon).

For more information about how meals will be served and eaten when students return to school, visit spps.org/reopen.

• Students in grades PreK-5 will have lessons virtually beginning Feb.
• 3-5 students who chose in-person learning will return to school on February 16th

Please click on the following icons for more information.

"Our job is not to prepare students for something; Our job is to help students prepare themselves for anything."

As we build our inquiry-based learning model at Hamline, we have identified five competencies that we want every student leaving Hamline with: Collaborators, Communicators, Problem Solvers, Creators, and Self and Community Aware. We believe these are the characteristics needed to prepare students for the 21st century.

Should you consider Mental Health Therapy for your child?

Life has been turned upside down for everyone. The current life events that are happening should not be processed alone. Therapy can help children begin to process and make sense of their worlds with a Mental Health Professional.

Paying attention to the mental health of children can help reduce problems at home, school, and in social interactions with others.

If you would like more information about starting therapy services for your child please reach out to our School Social Worker, Lynnette Medcalf at Lynnette.medcalf@spps.org or School Counselor, Kaltun Abdikarani at Kaltunabdikarani@spps.org. You can also fill out the help form for families on the Hamline website, spps.org/hamline.

Thank you,

Sharice Zaccardi

Community School Mental Health Practitioner

The Midway Food & Empowerment Project aims to collect and distribute resources to our community on an ongoing basis.The speed at which multiple community partners came together to make this happen is nothing short of amazing. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that our community members receive the items they need to thrive

https://www.hamlinemidway.org/TheMidwayProject

Reminder to fill out the annual iUpdate student form at Campus Parent. It is important we have updated contact information so you will receive updates from the school. If you need any help with your login or password, email karen.azen@spps.org or leave a message at 651-744-4287.

Bridging Snelling Avenue, Hamline Elementary and Hamline University are one integrated campus. Each member of our community is both a teacher and a student, engaged in a journey of lifelong learning that provides a rich variety of resources to support this diverse education. Our partnership with Hamline University, the first of its kind in the nation, places more than 100 tutors and mentors in classrooms and provides students with access to the university campus on a continual basis. Hamline students see themselves in college students. As the saying goes, "College begins in kindergarten". We are two campuses, but one community in the heart of the Hamline Midway neighborhood.

Website: hamline.spps.org
Location: 1599 Englewood Ave, Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone: 651-293-8715
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hamlineelementaryschool
Twitter: @HamlineElem