July 30, 2020

Dear Hopkins Public Schools Families:

On July 21, 2020, You were sent a communication outlining the district’s intended plan for returning to school next month. You were asked to make a selection on the instructional model you would like for your child(ren) for the first trimester. With over 1,000 responses so far, the results indicate that approximately 90% of our students would like to return to face-to-face instruction. We thank you for your overwhelming support for our schools. However, these numbers will not allow for the proper social distancing that would allow us to keep our students, staff and community safe during this pandemic.

In the previous communication we indicated that we may need to modify our plans if this were the case. See the excerpt from the July 21 communication below.

If the number of students selecting the remote instruction model does not allow for a significant reduction in class sizes to create optimal social distancing for in-person instruction, we will likely need to make modifications to this plan.

Based on guidelines received from the Allegan County Health Department (attached) this week regarding the need to social distance, we have determined that the best course of action for our district is to implement an A/B Cohort schedule for the first trimester. This plan will divide our students into two cohorts with members of the same household being in the same cohort. These cohorts will be determined next week.

Below are some of the main reasons this recommendation was made by the steering committee.

1. This will allow the greatest number of students to experience face-to-face instruction in the safest way possible according to the Health Department and the CDC.

2. The students who are face-to-face will experience a much more "normal" day of instruction as more movement is possible while maintaining the recommended spacing.

3. In the case of positive or pending COVID tests, students who are six feet away are much less likely to have to experience quarantine and time off of school according to the Health Department guidelines.

Below is a summary of how the plan looks:

• A-L will attend In-Person Instruction on Monday and Thursday with Remote Learning on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
• M-Z will attend In-Person Instruction on Tuesday and Friday with Remote Learning on Monday Wednesday and Thursday.

The A-L and M-Z cohort is a close approximation of how the students will be grouped. Adjustments may be needed to balance cohorts. If you need individual considerations (such as children with different last names), you will need to contact the building principal using this form.

Remote and virtual learning options remain available.

• Grades K-5 - A/B Cohort or 100% virtual with the Virtual Academy of Allegan County (VAAC)

• Grades 6-12 - A/B Cohort or 100% Hopkins Remote or the Virtual Academy of Allegan County (VAAC)

The VAAC will be having a webinar this evening (July 30) at 7:00 p.m. Here is the link: https://bit.ly/3jVxGgs.

We realize that you initially made a decision based on a four-day, in-person learning model being available. Therefore, if you need to make a change, please access the following form. If you do not fill out the form again, we will assume your decision has not changed.

This decision was made with safety at the forefront. We are committed to offering the safest possible learning environment to our students, staff and community. This pandemic has been a fluid situation that has presented us with many changes. We hope that by the second trimester we will be back to our traditional teaching and learning environment, but we recognize that the recommendations from the CDC and our local health department may require ongoing changes to our plan.

Although times have changed, our commitment to our students and community has not. Our staff is missing our kids and are looking forward to welcoming them back. We will continue to keep our students physically and emotionally safe while delivering a quality education. Our teachers, administrators and support staff are dedicated to adapting to the new look of public education.

COVID-19 Return to School Toolkit_07292020.pdf

August 7, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

I hope this newsletter finds you and your family well. I wanted to give more information about the return to the Middle School in just a few short weeks. Before I dive into the details, I’d like to say thank you for your patience, willingness to complete surveys, input you have shared with our return to school committee, and the overall feelings of support we have received throughout the process of determining how our students will return to school. I am once again reminded how amazing our Hopkins community really is. Thank you.

Now for some details. Below you will find information on the A/B schedule, safety precautions we will use in the building, and details on orientation.

A/B Schedule

We are in the process of splitting the roster of all students into an A group and a B group. A days will meet on Mondays and Thursdays. B days will meet on Tuesdays and Fridays. Wednesdays will be remote learning days for all students. We are going to try and split using last names of A-L for A days and M-Z for B days. We understand there may be schedule change requests for your individual circumstances. If you need consideration for an A/B day switch please fill out the following form: Click Here.

We hope to have a roster of all A/B students e-mailed out to all parents and students by Friday, August 14th. Please be checking your e-mail.

Within those A/B days, students will receive their schedules after the Virtual Orientation is complete (more details on this under the Orientation section below).

The key to successful hybrid teaching and learning will be through a new and improved Google Classroom experience our teachers are developing. According to feedback from surveys, there was a need for increased consistency, communication, and raising expectations. To address these concerns, we will be using a common weekly lesson plan format at the elementary and secondary level. Teachers will use this as a roadmap for the week. It will be posted to their Google Classrooms every Monday morning. Please use this as a guide on what lessons/quizzes/tests your students will have throughout the week. Please understand that this is just a roadmap and may not be exactly where the students end up. Each day, our teachers will be assessing student progress and may need to spend an extra day or two on a standard which would push back the weekly plans. To help account for this, we will utilize a feature in google classroom that automatically generates an e-mail sent to the parent with all the news and assignments posted by the teacher. Parents may decide to have a daily or a weekly recap e-mail sent to them from Google Classroom. Finally, unlike last spring, all assignments will count for a grade this year. This is regardless of being face-to-face or remote.

Safety Precautions

Moving to an A/B schedule drastically changed how we are able to distance and move students around the Middle School. Here is list of some of the safety precautions that will be followed when students are in the building:

• Students will maintain a distance of 6 ft apart in every classroom.

• Masks will be worn by all students and staff throughout the day. The exceptions are during scheduled Mask Breaks and Lunch.

• Students will be cohorted throughout the day. This means all those in first hour will move to second hour together. The only exception will be lunch and exploratory classes.

• Tables and chairs will be cleaned between every class and during Mask Breaks by custodial staff.

• Hand Sanitizer stations will be installed in every classroom.

• No lockers will be used during phase 4. This will reduce the amount of opportunities students may come closer than 6 ft apart throughout the day.

• Grade levels will have staggered release times between classes and at the end of the day to reduce the amount of students in hallways at one time.

• Lunch procedures have been developed including mandatory hand washing, social distancing, and eliminating shared food bar opportunities.

Our district is currently developing the return to school preparedness plans that must be approved by the Hopkins Board of Education and the AAESA. Once approved, we will release the plans which include a complete list of all changes that will take place during each of the phases our state may be in.

A complete list of all the changes in policies and procedures will be made available during the virtual orientation later this month. Details can be found in the next section.

Orientation

I will be mailing home letters to all Middle School families during the week of 8/11. In this letter you will find directions for accessing our online orientation. This orientation will be in lieu of a face-to-face meeting. The link to the orientation will be made available on 8/19. I am asking that parents and students sit down together and go through the entire orientation. There will be spots for digital signatures acknowledging our policies and procedures. These digital signatures will take the place of many of our physical forms used in past orientations. The only form we will need returned is an updated demographic form that will be included in the physical mailing next week.

Here are some things to consider about orientation:

• The online orientation will take approximately one hour to complete

• Students must complete the orientation before their first day of school

• Students who complete the orientation will have their Chromebook ready for them on their first day of class

• Students who fail to complete orientation will be asked to leave class and hear the information from me on their first day of school

• Virtual students will still need to complete the online orientation

• Once completed, student class schedules will be released on 8/24 by logging into PowerSchool

Summary

Thank you for taking the time to read this entire communication. To summarize, here are the next steps:

1. HMS staff will divide students into A/B schedules

2. This A/B schedule will be released Friday, August 14

3. Orientation will be online this year

4. Orientation letters will go out during the week of 8/11 and the link to the orientation will be active beginning 8/19.

5. Student schedules will be released on PowerSchool on 8/24

6. The first A day of school will be 8/27

7. The first B day of school will be 8/28

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me by emailing scotstoc@hpsvikings.org.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,

Scott Stockwell

HMS Principal

The senior Grad Night committee is selling Viking masks as our first fundraiser of the year. Please see the information below....

Hopkins Vikings....wear your mask with Viking pride and style while supporting our senior Grad Night 2021. High quality face masks and gaiters! They come in two colors and adult and kid sizes. Pick up will be arranged before school starts.

Online ordering ends August 9. Use the following link to order:

hopkinsvikingsmask.itemorder.com

Greetings from the sixth grade team!

Welcome to Hopkins Middle School. We wish the times and circumstances were different, but we still look forward to meeting and working with you.

Regrettably, a few sixth grade traditions are going to change. First, there will be no sixth grade camp this year. We have decided that, for the safety of all those involved, it is not possible to attend camp. Also, we will not be implementing our checkbook system or taking any group field trips. With that being said, we would like to assure students and parents that the sixth grade team is committed to making the 2020-2021 school year a memorable one for incoming sixth graders.

At this point in time, many of the school year details are still being worked out. Please know that our team is working collaboratively to plan curriculum and activities that will benefit our students’ academic and social/emotional growth. Please stay tuned to the Hopkins Middle School newsletter for more information and communication from the sixth grade team.

Enjoy the remainder of your summer break. Please stay safe and healthy!

Sixth Grade Team

Greetings runners and parents,

I have missed you guys and am very excited to get back to Viking Running! I hope summer has allowed you to break away from some of the stress that we experienced this past spring. As we approach the start of the school year and the Cross Country season, there will certainly be new challenges and opportunities that we face. I am hopeful that we will find this season to be a rewarding one!

Many of you have been participating in summer activities and sports that benefit your cardio conditioning. Keep it up! If you have not, now would be a great time to begin the gradual process of building this endurance.

There will be much more information in the coming weeks before the official start. If you know of anyone interested in running, please pass along my email address. tjryns@hpsvikings.org You guys have been great recruiters in the past. Let's continue to build the team and our success!

We are going to get the season started on Tuesday, August 25.

We will not run the first day. However, from 3:30 to 4:30 we will meet at the soccer field to take care of necessary paperwork.

This season will be like no other. We will have our first "real" practice on Weds. Aug 26th from 5:00-6:30.The most important thing now is to help me get all athletes signed up that want to play.

If you are interested in playing, please send a message to me at josebarr@hpsvikings.org.

I can also answer some questions as to how practices and games may be different this year. However, I won't have clear answers on all things because the MHSAA are still refining their guidelines.

Thanks, and I look forward to another successful year.

Mr. Barry

Due to our unconventional school year, I am not removing 8th grade parent e-mail addresses from our mailing list. If you find that this Newsletter is no longer beneficial to you, please feel free to unsubscribe. You won't hurt my feelings, I promise. However, if you're like me and feel the need to receive All the Information, then continue to hang out with us for awhile.

If you are currently not on our mailing list and would like to be, please complete the form below.

Thank you,

Mrs. Caulder

Email: stepcaul@hpsvikings.org
Website: hpsvikings.org
Location: 215 Clark Street, Hopkins, MI, USA
Phone: (269) 793-7407
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HopkinsMiddleSchool/
Twitter: @hpsmiddleschool

ATTENDANCE

Please call the Middle School office at (269) 793-7407 within 24 hours of your students' absence. You may leave a message on our voicemail system day or night. When reporting illness, please inform the secretary of the type of symptoms your child is experiencing (fever, sore throat, ect.). If your child is absent 2 days or more, you may request homework. If your student is absent only 1 day, homework may be picked up from their teachers the following day. You may also email absences to jennhitc@hpsvikings.org.

PHONE CALLS

Telephones in the office are to be used for illness and emergencies only.

IMMUNIZATIONS

Please report all immunizations that your child has had so we are able to keep our school records up to date. All new students and all 6th graders must be completely up to date on all immunizations. Contact the HMS office if you have any questions.

MEDICATION

ALL medications needing to be dispensed to students must be supplied from home. The school does not provide any type of medication. All prescription medication must be provided in a pharmacy labeled bottle. Tylenol/Aspirin must be brought to the office in an unopened bottle. All students requiring any type of medication must have a medication form completed by their parents and on file in the office.

CHANGES in Phone Numbers, Home Address & E-Mail

Please inform the office any time there are changes in your address or phone numbers. We need to have this information so we can update our records and successfully contact you if needed.

The Hopkins Public School District Board of Education complies with all federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, sex, marital status, height, weight, or disability in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies: Mr. Gary Wood Superintendent of Schools, Hopkins Public Schools, 400 Clark Street, Hopkins, MI 49328 Phone 269-793-7261.