Week of September 27th

At this point we are hitting the halfway mark for the first nine weeks. While we no longer print progress reports, you can access your child's grades by logging in to backpack. If you need help setting up a backpack account, please visit our school website for directions.

If your child is struggling academically or emotionally we have many resources available to provide the appropriate support. You can reach out to the academic teacher if concerns are confined to one class. If you are worried that your child is struggling in multiple classes or with social emotional challenges please contact the grade level guidance counselor and/or administrator. We know that this is a difficult time for many students and we want to ensure that we are meeting their needs.

COUNSELORS:

6th Grade: Fran Sinkler fsinkler@greenville.k12.sc.us

7th Grade: Veronica Roberts vroberts@greenville.k12.sc.us

8th Grade: Morgan Swartz mswartz@greenville.k12.sc.us

Virtual Students: Katie Bailey kabailey@greenville.k12.sc.us

While we are still adjusting to the hybrid schedule, we are postponing Marvelous Mondays a little longer. Once we are settled back in to a more consistent schedule, we will resume with MM. In the meantime, there will be other opportunities for students to the earn the ability to dress down. We will of course announce those in advance so make sure that you listen to our weekly phone blast and read through the newsletters

We are excited to announce that PTSA will be kicking off our one and only fundraiser of the year on October 12! This fundraiser is 100% TOUCHLESS and Beck will receive 40% of the profits. We use the proceeds from this fundraiser to fund many projects throughout the school and we are hoping that all students will participate.

Students will be able to provide family and friends with links to 2 different catalogs that offer a variety of products. Orders will be placed directly through the online link and shipped directly to the customer.

Please be on the lookout for information to come home on October 12.

We are excited to announce that we will have school pictures on November 11 & 12 for ALL Beck students. Students who attend brick and mortar school will have their picture taken during the day. Students who are in the Virtual Program can come to the school between 3:45-4:45 to have their picture taken.

November 11- Virtual students with last names A-L

November 12- Virtual students with last name M-Z

Information about picture orders will be sent home soon.

SPECIAL EDUCATION SELF-CONTAINED phasing in 4 day a week in-person instruction over next 2 weeks

• Week of September 28 – Students will attend on Monday or Tuesday based on their assigned color group.
• Beginning Wednesday, self-contained special education students will all attend Wednesday and Thursday.

• Week of October 5, all self contained special education students will attend four days, Monday through Thursday, until further notice.
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Note: Because teachers will continue to support self-contained virtual program students on Fridays, students will remain on four day a week in-person instruction with eLearning on Fridays.

GCS will be administering the PSAT to 8th grade students who have signed up on Wednesday, October 14, and Thursday, October 29. Guidance will send additional information soon but we do ask parents to not schedule any appointments in the morning as we will not be able to pull students from the testing environment.

The Human Resource Operations Department will host a job fair on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 at Wade Hampton High School, 100 Pine Knoll Drive, Greenville, SC from 5-7 pm. This job fair will focus on hiring bus drivers, bus aides, custodians and food service operators for the 2020-21 school year. Hiring managers will be on hand to speak with and answer questions from interested applicants.

We know that there have been many questions about how eLearning is working this year and how to best support students. I have included an explanation of how eLearning works on Monday-Thursdays and on Fridays. Please read through the information and use the graphics to help guide you and your child.

MONDAYS-THURSDAYS

On Mondays-Thursdays students will engage in elearning on the days they are not in school. Teachers are conducting in person lessons on those days but they also post lessons to their Google Classrooms for students to complete at home. Students do not have set times that they must log in however, they must log in each day to be marked present. Teachers have office hours each day to provide support to students who are at home completing eLearning. The office hours are posted on their webpage and on the document below.

FRIDAYS

On Fridays, teachers will host live Google Meet sessions for each class. Students are not required to log into these classes but it is highly encouraged. Each live session lasts 20 minutes but students may have work to complete after the live session ends.

Teachers are covering new content every day with students whether they are at home completing eLearning or in the building for their 2 days of in person attendance.

Chromebook Repairs – Face to Face/E-Learning Students

On days that students physically attend school, students may turn in their Chromebook for repair at the media center and receive a loaner device as long as one is available. Once repaired, the Chromebook will be returned to the school and must then be returned to the student.

On days when students participate in E-learning, students may call (864) 355-4357 for assistance with minor issues. If the Chromebook is not functioning properly, students should bring Chromebooks to the nearest career center (Mon-Thu, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM) for repair and to receive a loaner device. Once repaired, Chromebooks will be returned to the student’s home school and must be returned to the student in exchange for the loaner Chromebook.

Chromebook Repairs – Virtual Students

Virtual students may call (864) 355-4357 for assistance with minor issues. They may also bring Chromebooks to the nearest career center (Mon-Thu, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM) for repair and to receive a loaner device. Once repaired, Chromebooks will be returned to the student’s home school. The school staff will then contact the student to notify them that the Chromebook is available for pickup.

ETS loaner Chromebooks returned from students should be held at the home school until further notice from ETS.

This guidance is intended to help parents know when to exclude students who have symptoms or have a diagnosis of COVID-19 from school and when these individuals can return to school.

Please contact your school to report COVID concerns. They will use the latest DHEC guidelines to determine if and for how long your student must be excluded from school.

Students and staff with symptoms of COVID-19 should be excluded from school if they have any one of the following with or without fever:

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing -or-
• Loss of taste or smell -or-
• New or worsening cough

A goal of Greenville County Schools is to provide parents/ guardians with information to help make decisions regarding the sexual health & responsibility education of your child.

Complete details of the district’s age appropriate, abstinence-based sexual health & responsibility education curriculum can be found in the school’s main office.

If you do not want your child to participate in the sexual health & responsibility education class or a specific portion of the class, you must bring the signed exemption form to the school in person. By School Board Policy and SC Comprehensive Health Education Law, students who exempt sexual health & responsibility education will be required to complete other health-related self-study lessons.

Parent Preview Dates: September 1 - October 2

Lesson Dates: October 12 - 26, 2020

School Contact: Debbie Sanders, Phone: 864-355-1492, Email: dsanders@greenville.k12.sc.us

Breakfast and lunch is now FREE for all students. Currently, students are eating lunch in their classrooms. Due to this, we ask parents to preload money onto students accounts from home using My School Bucks if they would like them to have it for additional items.

The lunch menu is more limited and this week they will be serving Cheeseburgers on Monday and Tuesday and Grilled Cheese Wednesday and Thursday.

Water fountains have been turned off but our water refilling stations are open. PLEASE REMIND YOUR STUDENT TO BRING THEIR WATER BOTTLE TO SCHOOL EVERYDAY. ESPECIALLY IF THEY HAVE PE.

When we are on attendance plans 1 or 2, students are eligible to order meals to go for the days that they are not in school. If you would like to order these meals, orders must be submitted by Wednesday at 7:00pm the week prior. All To Go Meals will be provided free of charge for all students.

Parents,

Yearbooks are currently on sale and can be ordered by clicking on the link below. Remember to purchase your yearbook early before the price increase!

If you have an 8th grade student, don't miss this opportunity to purchase a personalized ad. Click the link below to sign in and design your own ad!

Our award-winning PTSA is a vital part of our school community. They engage in many projects throughout the year that support our students and teachers. Through teacher grants and technology projects, our PTSA has funded many projects and initiatives throughout our school.

Our PTSA sends out informative newsletters every month and I encourage all parents to sign up. I also encourage you to join PTSA by clicking on the link below.

Beck Business Partners (Business supporters contributing $500 or more)

Allstate Johnstone Agency
Carolina Turf & Greenery
The Crigler Group
Dan Ryan Builders
Gilbert Dental Group
Greenville Pediatric Dentistry
Matt Nocks, Realtor
Mavin Construction
Northbridge Wealth Management
Palmetto Family Orthodontics
Prodoh
Reynolds Investment Management
Spalding Decon Greenville
Strossner's
Turner Insurance

Beck Backers (parents contributing $50 or more)

Janelle Thomas
Dawn Ridge
Mark & Jessica Payne
Angela Lineberry
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Brooke Cremmins
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Rob & Nancy Lewis
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If you would like to become a Beck Business Partner or a Beck Backer, please read and complete the form located by clicking HERE.