The Cub Hub

Happy Monday Bear Creek Cubs,

Hard to believe it is already November. The holidays are now rapidly approaching and to say this has been the most unique year of our lives is probably the understatement of all understatements. While the year has provided many remarkable challenges it has also given us the opportunity to collectively build this amazing community.

AJ and I are really so thankful for the opportunity to work with your children and be a part of this thriving community. It is great to be a CUB.

AJ and David

Just click the icon for your child's grade level newsletter. These will be updated weekly.

If you have anyone in your family that has served (or is serving) in our Armed Forces and you feel comfortable having them recognized please send me (david.crissey@austinisd.org) their photo and a short blurb. We would love to have your family be a part of this.

We have 173 responses thus far - we need approximately 40 more. Please complete this survey if you have not already.

This is a very informal survey to help BCE make some decisions about instructional models - clearly this is not binding as we are not asking for identifiers other than grade level and teacher. THIS IS FOR REMOTE LEARNERS ONLY.

Although it is informal and not binding we really need 100% return rate :-)

If you have multiple children please do one survey for each child. Thank you!!!

https://forms.gle/Po86xejFV5hAhhdm6

Currently of the 173 responses we have 132 students stating they will return on or before Spring Break and 41 students that will remain remote learners for the remainder of the school year.

Remember if you want to switch from remote to face to face we need a notice of five school days.

Each week we will highlight a section of the Bear Creek Elementary Parent/Student Handbook. Today we will focus on our guiding principles and Responsive Classroom training.

Our Guiding Principles

We believe that each member is an essential piece of our school mosaic. At Bear Creek Elementary, every parent, staff member, and student is the beating heart of the community. We are ALL what’s right in the world, we are all valuable, and we are stronger -- together. In order to be successful in and out of school students need to learn and interact with a set of social and emotional competencies – connection, courage, empathy, integrity, and resilience. All members of our Bear Creek Elementary community must first feel a sense of belonging, significance, and competence.

This concept of “Maslow before Bloom” is essential to understand as one of our foundational elements here at Bear Creek Elementary.

If you would like to dig deeper please visit this resource

https://markersandminions.com/maslow-before-bloom-sel/#:~:text=Many%20of%20us%20have%20heard,consider%20whatever%20we%20are%20teaching.

Responsive Classrooms

Bear Creek Elementary is the only school in the Austin Independent School District to have all instructional staff members participate in the four-day Responsive Classroom Training. This philosophy underpins all of our actions as we strive to serve you and your students in the most effective and affective manner possibly. Everything that has been written above has elements of Responsive Classrooms. We also have three staff members (myself included) who have completed both the introduction and the advanced Responsive Classroom training and hope to further our involvement with Responsive Classrooms to eventually become trainers. Ask your child how their morning meeting went, as you observe our teachers interact with you and your children focus on their language and how they partner with you and your child.

Social and emotional skills such as positive self-talk, compassion, and conflict resolution are as important as our academic content. Teachers explicitly teach these skills and support students in gradually becoming more self-aware and better able to self-manage. Each classroom community is designed to be a safe space for students to develop SEL competencies that lead to stronger academic skills and support each student in becoming the best version of themselves.

How we teach is as important as what we teach. Academics include clear learning objectives, appropriate levels of challenge, and effective teacher questioning techniques. Teachers build student strengths and interests into learning experiences that are engaging and responsive to each unique classroom community. Through intentional classroom routines and high-quality teacher/peer feedback, students gradually assume greater responsibility and have ownership of their understanding.

A few reminders about arrival - overall things are going really well. Note that we open the doors at 730am and I do not see this changing for the foreseeable future. We do not have a lot of staff so this really needs to be a coordinated effort between all of us.

Remember we only use one lane for arrival.

How you can help:

1 – The “GREEN CHECK” is absolutely essential – we will pull you forward if you do not have one so we can keep the line moving. Just show it when we approach and then we can take temperatures and get going with our days.

2 – Have your kiddo ready to go, I know some are not morning kids but it really has a pretty big ripple effect if we have to manage several exchanges. Because only one lane is used everything is delayed by the amount of time it takes to make each drop-off. We will not use two lanes in the morning because there are too many moving parts and I will not sacrifice your child’s safety at any cost. DO NOT GET OUT THE CAR.

3 – Your car heater raises your child’s temp and in some cases to a point where we have to administer an oral temperature check or ask you to do a drive around the block.

4 – You may only drop off using our parent lane – We will not allow any drop-offs anywhere else on property – the reason is that it will turn into a free for all which is not acceptable or safe.

Being mindful of these things as they will expedite the process significantly while we remain safe.

Reminders

Pink - Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade students and their older siblings.

Pink cars use the outside lane (closest to the school.)

We start dismissing this line at 305pm

Green - Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade students.

Green cars use the inside lane (closest to the interior.)

We start dismissing this line at 310pm

Changes Coming

Why?

We are welcoming more and more students back every week so some changes are coming in an effort to keep cars off Escarpment and keep everyone safe.

What?

The first change has been implemented since Wednesday which is moving some pink tags into the green line at roughly 305pm. There are not enough green tags only to maintain a dedicated line - just watch for me and my flapping arms :-)

The second change started last Friday - once I sort all the cars I will be moving to the street to provide people heading south a person to help stop cars to make the entrance a safer place.

The third change is coming relatively soon - I will announced with plenty of time but we will start using our bus ramp for intermediate only pickup (grades 3,4, and 5.) We are not there yet but this will free up space and streamline things.

All grade levels will now be traveling to all special areas (art, music, and physical education.) In art will be provide our remote learners with a 15 minute asynchronous time at the end of each period to allow the in-person learners the chance to clear and clean their areas. Ms. O'Connell has done a tremendous job providing all our students with great feedback and she will continue to do so.

That was very big fun - thank you to everyone for playing by the rules - we have a staff contest that I will be rolling out on Facebook very soon. You will be our judges!!

If your child is ill with symptoms consistent (cough, sore throat, stomach issues, headaches, fatigue etc ...) with Covid-19 then the following protocols must be followed:

Students May Return After

10 days have passed since symptoms started, and improvement in overall

symptoms, and 24 hours have passed without fever and use of fever-reducing

medication

OR

Provide doctor’s note to campus health room staff stating that symptoms

are not COVID-19-related and student can return to school

OR

Provide a negative COVID-19 test

As an FYI the same holds true for staff members

AISD will continue to provide free breakfast and lunch until the end of the 2020 - 2021 school year.

Your child has the opportunity to eat breakfast every morning. If you are a car rider or a walker please arrive on time so they have time to eat. We close the cafeteria when the bell rings at 750am.

Listed below are is the meals that will be a part of the meal distribution. Please email bearcreek.cafeteria@austinisd.org if you would like your child to pick up a bag. These are for in-person learners only.

Saturday Breakfast: whole wheat toast, fruit, cinnamon toast crunch, milk

Saturday Lunch: bean and cheese burrito, roasted cauliflower, fruit, milk

Sunday Breakfast: whole wheat toast, fruit, rice Chex cereal, milk

Sunday Lunch: either a sun butter and jelly sandwich OR a turkey and cheese sandwich, veggie dippers, fruit, milk

If a parent/ guardian has students that are remote learners please follow the link below which indicates where you can find locations doing free seven-day curbside meal bags on Thursday afternoons. The student must be present in order to receive the curbside meals.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1LtYfb-nXaKQEy3m4f2hjOm9HXdpDKwjv&ll=30.303083212428305%2C-97.74698184999998&z=12

AISD will be providing local farm fresh boxes from the common market on a first come first serve basis. This week the boxes can be picked up Thursday at 10:30am-1:30pm at Galindo Elementary, Linder Elementary, Lively Middle school and Travis ECHS and from 3:30-5:30pm at Dawson Elementary. For these boxes the student must either be present of there must be documentation showing that the student they are picking up for are AISD student(s).

I am sharing (with permission) an email sent to me last week regarding our requests.

"I wanted to reach out and provide a status update. We’ve received a number of inquiries from the school community that we will be responding to. See detailed response below and allow me to summarize:

The full response below contains information on our process for establishing school zones and best practices for the conditions where they are established. To establish a school zone, an engineering study that includes pedestrian counts and observations of traffic operations near a school must be conducted. Therefore, it was necessary to wait until Bear Creek Elementary School was in session for ATD to evaluate operations and the appropriateness of a possible school zone. Based on our multiple observations near the Bear Creek Elementary and following best engineering practices, we will not install a school zone adjacent to the school or at the roundabout intersections at this time.

In addition to implementing improved signs and markings at the roundabouts as Amir mentioned previously, ATD is evaluating speeds and operations at the roundabouts to see if we can implement any geometric changes or other measures as initial steps to slow vehicle speeds and improve safety as current conditions do not support a school zone. We will monitor the effectiveness of our changes to then reevaluate whether a school zone would be appropriate.

I anticipate that improved signs and markings at the roundabouts will be implemented over the next couple weeks and any additional modifications will follow at a later date.

We’d be happy to discuss this further with you and/or attend an upcoming CAC meeting to answer questions.

Response regarding establishing a school zone with flashers, concerns about speed as well as signs and markings at roundabouts near the school

The Austin Transportation Department (ATD) is responsible for installation of signs and markings, including school zones, for traffic control within the limits of the City of Austin. To establish a school zone, ATD must conduct an engineering study that includes pedestrian counts and observations of traffic operations near the school. Therefore, it was necessary to wait until Bear Creek Elementary School was in session for ATD to evaluate operations and the appropriateness of a possible school zone. Based on our multiple observations near the school and following best engineering practices, we will not install a school zone adjacent to the school or at the roundabout intersections at this time.

Best practices include installing school zones at designated crosswalks that are actively used by pedestrians and are not controlled by a stop sign, traffic signal, or roundabout. Additionally, school zones should be kept at a minimum length to safely cover these uncontrolled crosswalks and not necessarily coincide with the entire frontage of the school. While these best practices might not be intuitive, research indicates they lead to the highest success of drivers complying with reduced speeds and yielding to pedestrians within a school zone. With safety as our primary goal, we strive to follow these best practices to ensure that any devices we install will be followed and respected by all street users.

However, we agree that crosswalk markings should be refreshed and signage for the roundabouts north and south of the school should be improved. School Ahead signs will be also be installed on Escarpment Boulevard. We are working with limited resources due to COVID-19 but will diligently perform this work as soon as possible.

We should also note that a roundabout is a type of intersection that by nature eliminates conflict points that are shown to significantly reduce high injury and fatal crashes. We are evaluating speeds and operations at the roundabouts to determine whether we can implement geometric changes or other measures as initial steps to slow vehicle speeds and improve safety as current conditions do not support a school zone. We will monitor the effectiveness of our changes to then reevaluate whether a school zone would be appropriate.

Response regarding existing sidewalk gap and crossing guards

The City of Austin Public Works Department is in the process of getting a General Permit for the missing section of sidewalk on the east side of Escarpment Boulevard south of the school. As soon as the permit is in place and we have a crew available, we will begin construction on the missing sidewalk segment. The closest intersections north and south of the school on Escarpment Boulevard (Trissino Drive and Bernia Drive) have roundabouts with complete pedestrian infrastructure (sidewalks, curb ramps, crosswalks). Additionally, the sidewalk has been completed along Escarpment Boulevard on the west side of Escarpment Boulevard between these two intersections; as is the sidewalk along the east side (with the exception of the segment noted above.)

With regard to additional school crossing guards, Safe Routes to School (SRTS) has been working to hire crossing guards for the last three (3) months. Michael Williams, SRTS Crossing Guard Supervisor, in that region has been posting flyers in local businesses, reaching out to contacts at surrounding schools. SRTS has posted notices on Next Door in the Bear Creek community to try and get applicants. SRTS would like to have two crossing guards for Bear Creek Elementary, one to cross at Bernia Drive at Escarpment and the other to cross at Trissino Drive at Escarpment Boulevard. In the meantime, SRTS has trained two (2) parent volunteers from Bear Creek Elementary to fill in until someone is officially hired."

Thanks,

Alison Mills, P.E.

South Area Transportation Engineer

Transportation Engineering Division

Austin Transportation Department

This year AISD students, online and in-person, are challenged to conquer 104.8 miles, little by little, day by day with the Marathon Kids Program. Kids can run, walk and play their way to completing marathons. Online PE classes, W.O.W (Working Out for Wellness) time with their classroom teacher and any kind of heart-pumping activities your child completes at home will count!

Please be looking for an email from noreply@marathonkids.org - Ms. Schultz will be sending this email Tuesday morning. The email is your invitation to create your parent account which will allow you to follow your child's progress and submit miles from home.

Helpful Resources:

Parent Instruction (Spanish)

how-to video

Student technology issues with a Chromebook or iPad please call the Student Help Desk at 512 414-4357.

We have some volunteer opportunities as the community is really stepping up - thank you :-)

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090F4FAAAD2FAAFD0-bear

Hello Bear Creek Families.

Through the link below you will find a list of resources and webinars that may be helpful to you as we continue to navigate through this school year, online learning, and the stressors from all our country and world are facing these days.

Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need some other resources based on your family needs.

RESOURCE LINK: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gUiu7xaI7JQhujKlI4-Z2kkYn0RjS8aRhPqL_QmXfPg/edit?usp=sharing

PTA Reflections-- Submissions due THIS FRIDAY 11/6

Reflections is a program of the National PTA that provides opportunities for recognition and access to the arts. Reflections is open to all students grade K-5th.

The theme for the 2020-2021 program year is "I Matter Because....". Students submit their completed works of art in one or all of the available arts categories: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, Visual Arts.

For more information and to enter, visit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rDqDscQyJ5imxVZE5HpiN5wQxd5EfDYp/view?usp=drivesdk

All entries dies by Midnight THIS FRIDAY 11/6

Is Thursday, November 19 and we have contracted with Lifetouch. More information to come.