Bethel Springs Elementary School

Dear Bethel Springs Families,

I hope that all of our students and families are staying healthy and managing as well as can be expected in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic. These are truly unique times. We will give our best effort to sustain student learning in an online platform, but please know that we would much rather be with our students. We miss the many joys that our daily interactions with them bring! I am especially missing our students, staff, and families as my time with everyone is winding down all too quickly. I remain hopeful that we will be back in school soon, and our Bethel Springs family will be together again under the same roof! In the meantime, Mrs. Allen, the BSES staff, and I will do our best to stay connected with our students and families, if only virtually! Please take care of yourselves! Look for the bright spots!

All the best!

Mr. Piasecki

This is linked in the communication from Dr. Bertrando, but I wanted to draw it to your attention.Teachers may, if they choose, use web conference programs like Zoom or Google Hangout to hold live sessions with their students. These live sessions would involve the teacher(s) of the given class and the students in that class only. Teachers would share the link with the students to join the video conference. Please note: If the teacher chooses to do this, he/she will record the conference and post it on Seesaw for students who could not attend the live conference for whatever reason. In order for your child to participate in these live sessions, you must opt in using the Google form linked below:

http://track.spe.schoolmessenger.com/f/a/9IbJUlnFUweY7JYoOY4F3w~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRgW7n0P0RjaHR0cHM6Ly9kb2NzLmdvb2dsZS5jb20vZm9ybXMvZC9lLzFGQUlwUUxTZlhOUFRjUzZiRmIwSGd4VUFGMUZ2NXRuWXBodWFDVzd6aVFBSXNaS1lxSUlzbjhBL3ZpZXdmb3JtVwdzY2hvb2xtQgoAAHSGel50J_CaUhhQaWFzZWNzQGdhcm5ldHZhbGxleS5vcmdYBAAAAAE~

The form will clarify your options. Please complete the form ASAP so that we can further organize our online learning efforts! Thank you!

This is taken directly from communications from Dr. Bertrando:

Q. If I have a technical problem or question, who should I contact?

1. For all technical problems or questions, click (HERE) to fill out the tech support form. A member of our tech team will contact you after you submit the form.

Please read this helpful communication (and linked information contained within it) if you have not already:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18Af1bsMkCHsaRYFxS8voKQZBZGVKVgZUzU8cDS7aTLU/edit?usp=sharing

If your child receives special education services, please click link below to review a letter from our special education directors:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b3KIGbLWH1YmfC-MOr73Pb5oeiefjx9Ivz-2zC-m9yM/edit?usp=sharing

We are excited to get the ball rolling with online learning! Our very dedicated and capable BSES teachers are busily preparing for instruction to start this Monday. Please be mindful that this is a new learning forum for most--kids, parents, teachers, and principals! We will work our way through it together with patience, kindness, and understanding toward all! We will find our groove in the new normal!

Once we begin online learning on Monday, our teachers will be available during regular school hours to communicate with parents through e-mail (use Gmail). Teachers will try to answer parent e-mails within 24 hours. We ask for your patience and understanding. Teachers' priority is the communication with their students about their learning, but we also want to help our parents through this process. Many of our teachers are parents and are navigating the online learning experience with their own children. They see that managing our children's learning at home, along with other work and family obligations, is a challenge! We will keep that in mind!

During the school day each of our grade level team of teachers will need time to collaborate and plan with one another. Each grade level has chosen a time to engage in this collaboration:

Grade 1 11:30-12:30

Grade 2 11:00-12:00

Grade 3 10:00-11:00

Grade 4 12:30-1:30

Grade 5 12;30-1:30

So, especially for your child's understanding, teachers may not be responding to questions or concerns at this time of day because they are trying to plan and organize instruction with their colleagues. They will respond as soon as they can when their collaboration time is finished.

All assignments issued by teachers, including our special area teachers (PE, Health, Art, Music, Library Skills, Developmental Guidance, Book Smarts) are required to be completed. Students will have extended time to complete assignments. For example, assignments issued for the week of 3/30 to 4/3 will be due by noon on Friday, April 10th.

Independent reading should be a part of every student's day. Below are minimum expectations for daily reading:

Grade 1: 20 minutes

Grade 2: 20 minutes

Grade 3: 20-30 minutes

Grade 4: 30 minutes

Grade 5: 30 minutes

If students finish assignments and you are looking for more learning resources, click link below:

https://www.garnetvalleycurriculum.com/instructional-resources

We will do our best to make sure that your children keep learning! While this situation is not anything that any of us expected or wanted, we will make the best of it, looking for the bright spots--time together with our loved ones, supporting each other as a school community, new learning that comes from meeting the challenges of a new situation, and pride in our own strength and resilience!

This information is contained in communication sent from Dr. Bertrando, but, again, we want to delineate it here for emphasis.

Attendance will be reported on a weekly basis. A student in grades K-5 will be considered present when a completed parental verification of attendance is received. The form will be emailed on a weekly basis to parents. For example, a form will be emailed to you on Monday, April 6th to confirm attendance for the week of March 30th to April 3rd. This verification form includes a space for you to indicate a reason for missed days of “school.”

Below is a link to the form for your review (do not complete at this time):

https://forms.gle/n7Tz4oDdoAtFehjc8

Again, the form will be emailed from Mr. Piasecki or Mrs. Allen each week. They, along with our secretary Mrs. Sheehan, will keep track of attendance. Thank you for your assistance!

https://sites.google.com/garnetvalley.org/gvsd-coronavirus/home

As we gain a better idea of when we might return to school, we will decide which events/programs will remain, be canceled, or be postponed. Stay tuned.

DINING FOR DOLLARS CANCELLED: We had to postpone our combo Dining for Dollars Night at California Tortilla and Sweet Frog scheduled for Thursday, March 26th. Please keep in mind that California Tortilla is still open for takeout, so please consider safely supporting this locally owned franchise.

IMPORTANT 2019-2020 YEARBOOK INFO FOR ALL STUDENTS AND PARENTS: In this time of uncertainty, we're not 100% sure how the yearbook, let alone the school year, will shake out. Each year we have worked to make the yearbook a true snapshot of what was happening at that time, and this year should be no different, regardless of the circumstances.

So let's forge ahead and capture this super weird time in the 2019-2020 Yearbook! It is likely that we will be missing some of our usual events, but YOU CAN HELP! Please take pictures of your kids working from home on their GVSD devices, practicing good social distancing by Facetiming with friends, staying active, and playing outside (outside pictures are the best!). Send your favorite and best pictures to bsesyearbook@gmail.com, and please email the same address with any questions.

CALLING ALL 5TH GRADE STUDENTS AND PARENTS: You may or may not have received this LETTER before school closed, but it is chock full of information about all things 5th Grade for the Yearbook and the Video including the following details with some changes based on the current sitch:

• Yearbook Cover Contest: All 5th graders are invited to enter the Yearbook Cover Contest to create the cover for the 2019-2020 BSES Yearbook. Two winners will be selected (front and back covers), and each will receive a free yearbook!! Check out all the deets in the Submission Form. (Please note that the deadline on the form is Friday, March 27th, but we just confirmed an extension with Barksdale to Friday, April 3rd!)

**HOW TO SUBMIT AN ENTRY: Since obviously sending the entries to school isn't going to work any time soon, you can choose between these two options:

1. Electronically: If you have access to a scanner, scan your child's submission as a jpg or pdf, and send it via email to bsesyearbook@gmail.com.

2. Hard Copy: No scanner, no problem! If you would like to submit a hard copy of your child's entry, please email bsesyearbook@gmail.com, and we will work out the logistics.

**NOTE: If your child already sent an entry to school, please email bsesyearbook@gmail.com with your information.

• 5th Grade Questionnaire: Looking for something for your 5th grader to do? Make sure your 5th grader has filled out their QUESTIONNAIRE for the yearbook!

• Baby/Group Picture Submissions: And then if YOU need something to do too, check out the BABY/GROUP PICTURE SUBMISSION FORM in order to complete these submissions to the yearbook. If you are unable to submit your photos electronically, please email bsesyearbook@gmail.com, and we'll work out the logistics.

This information and more can be found on the 5th Grade Events and Submissions Page of the BSES HSA Website.

UPCOMING DATES:

Thursday, March 26

CANCELLED-Dining for Dollars at California Tortilla, Sweet Frog

Monday, March 30

Online Learning Begins!

For the most up to date information, check out the BSES HSA Website!

Follow us on social media:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bseshsa/

Instagram - @bethel_springs_hsa

Twitter - @bseshsa1

The Parent Portal on our district website provides important information to help parents.navigate the GV school experience. Below is the link to the parent portal:

https://www.garnetvalleytechnology.com/parent-portal

For your convenient reference, the weekly announcements will be archived on the school website. Simply go the Bethel Springs page on the district website (garnetvalleyschools.com) and go to "Our School" and to the "Announcements" drop-down. Click on the particular weekly announcements you wish to view. Thanks!

"Learning and fun all in one."