Dear Families,

The health and wellness of your student is our top priority.

When we are notified that an individual within the building has tested positive for COVID-19 or one of the COVID-19 variants, we move quickly to identify any possible close contacts that may have occurred within the building.

If we identify your student as a close contact, we will contact you directly regarding the situation. If you are not notified directly, then it has been determined that your student has not had close contact with any individual who has tested positive for COVID-19 while at school and/or at a school-sponsored event based on the guidance provided by the Shawnee County Health Department.

As always, it is important for you to monitor your child’s health, any symptoms he or she may be experiencing, and to be aware of individuals your student may have been in contact with outside of school.

Do not bring your child to school, and contact your healthcare provider or the Shawnee County Health Department, if your child or anyone in your household begins exhibiting ONE or more of the following symptoms:

• Fever or chills;

• Cough;

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing;

• Fatigue;

• Muscle or body aches;

• Headache;

• New loss of taste or smell;Sore throat;

• Congestion or runny nose;

• Nausea or vomiting; and/or

• Diarrhea.

For information regarding COVID-19 testing, please visit the www.knowbeforeyougoks.com webpage where you can find a map of all community testing locations, including drive-through testing locations and information for scheduled appointments if needed.

If you have any questions regarding anything outlined above, please contact our office at 785.438.4340.

Thank you to the following community organizations for your extreme generosity and support of our McClure students and staff!

Student report cards have been uploaded to the student and parent portals. All students and guardians can access those items through "documents" on the left side of the student portal view.

If your student is in need of a winter coat, please take a moment to complete the Student Needs Assessment form. This form helps us to identify the needs our students have as resources become available.

During the month of January, we will be teaching students about the pillar of Fairness.

The color used to symbolize the pillar is orange. Fair people play by the rules, take turns and share, are open-minded and listen to others, don’t take advantage of others, and don’t blame others. Fair people treat all people equally and do not make rush judgements about people. Most people can identify an unfair situation but it is sometimes more difficult to determine a fair course of action. Fair people try to consider the facts with an open mind and then choose an appropriate response.

FAIRNESS: Play by the rules • Take turns and share • Be open-minded; listen to others • Don’t take advantage of others • Don’t blame others carelessly

Click HERE to read more information on how you can support character education at home. The linked resource comes from Character Counts and is titled, "A Family's Guide to Teaching Good Character K-5".'

Books about fairness to read and/or listen to with your child:

Fair is Fair

It’s Not Fair

Be Fair and Share!

It’s My Turn

Llama Llama Time to Share

The PTO has decided to do a fundraiser in partnership with Paper June. On Monday January 24th, the staff at Paper June will come to McClure to guide each grade level through a 30-45 minute art project. Students' individual designs will then be uploaded to a website which will allow family members to purchase items w/ their child's artwork on them. While most of the art supplies are washable, please send your student in clothes that you are comfortable with them getting messy just in case. The staff at paper June will be donating their personal time on their day off as well as providing the supplies at no cost!

Projects:

K-1: Bubble Painting

2-3: Watercolors and Salt

4-6: Pointillism

We hope you can join us for the January PTO meeting tonight, Jan. 31st at 6pm. The meeting will be held through this Zoom link. The Zoom link is also posted on our school website.

Zoom ID: 98594469620

Spring music program dates have been revised to allow the programs to be held outside.

Revised Music Program Dates:

K- May 5- 6:00

1- May 12- 6:00

2- April 28- 6:00

3- May 5- 7:00

4- May 12- 7:00

5-April 28- 7:00

Inclement Weather Makeup Date-May 19th

Click the link below to view students' winter songs performance.

Students are encouraged to wear their Chiefs gear on Tuesday Jan. 18th and all remaining Mondays during the Chiefs' season. Go Chiefs!

Arrival: Supervision of students during morning arrival begins at 8:10am (9am on Fridays). Dropping students off outside of school to wait unsupervised before 8:10 a.m. could present a safety risk. Parents are asked to supervise your children until 8:10 a.m.

Dismissal: Parents or guardians must enter the building to sign out their student if they will be leaving prior to 3:35pm; otherwise, parents and guardians must supply their student's dismissal number in order for the student to be dismissed. Students will not be dismissed unless they have been signed out through the office or their dismissal number has been entered.

With the temperatures dropping, we want to include a reminder about our recess policy found in the Student Handbook. The policy states:

"Students will not be going out for recess if one of the following conditions prevails: We are in a severe weather alert; It is raining; The chill index is below 20° or heat index is 95° or above. During cold weather, please make sure your child comes to school with a warm coat, hat, and gloves. Even if we stay inside, an emergency that would cause us to evacuate the building in cold weather would leave students who have come without a warm coat and are in danger of getting cold. In Topeka Public Schools, we believe that fresh air and exercise are good for the body and the mind. While students may not stay outside for an entire play period, if the wind chill index and temperature are within reason, students will go outside, if only to “run off a little excess energy.”

If for medical reasons, your child is restricted from this play, a note should be sent. If the restricted period is for more than one or two days, a note should be sent from the physician.

One of the most widely used resources in Discovery Education are their Activity Calendars. They have provided the following January activity calendars for K-8 students. Here are the links to the January calendars:

• K- 2 Activity Calendar: January 2022
• 3- 5 Activity Calendar: January 2022

Students can claim their lost and found items in the Hall of Hero's gym.

Student Transfers: The window for student transfer requests opened 1/1/22 and will run until 3/31/22. The link can be found here or on our TPS website.

Inclement Weather: Topeka Public Schools will NOT have remote learning on inclement weather days. We will observe "snow days." It is difficult to effectively get devices out to elementary students.

FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program: FCC has announced a permanent affordable connectivity program that will provide eligible families, who apply, a credit of up to $30 per month to cover the cost of Broadband services with various providers, including Cox. Eligible families include those who qualify for free & reduced school lunch, SNAP, WIC, or those with an income level at or below 200% of the federal poverty guideline for family size. Click here for information from Cox in either English or Spanish.

https://sites.google.com/tps501.org/covid19instructionalresources/parent-resources

Love McClure? Want to have the same schedule as your child? Apply for a paraprofessional position at McClure by clicking here. Share this application link with anyone you know who may be interested.

We are also hiring after school tutors to support our program on Tues., Wed., & Thurs. Interested in this position? Click here.

Topeka Public Schools is excited to host Virtual Transportation Thursdays! These weekly hiring events offer the public a chance to explore our transportation job openings one-on-one with a recruiter. We may have the perfect spot for you to make a difference in a child's day!

School bus drivers begin at $16-20 per hour, plus a signing bonus and the opportunity to receive Topeka Public Schools Premium Retention Pay.

Schedule a virtual interview by completing this short form. We look forward to seeing you!

Wednesday, Jan 5th

• Students Return to School/Start of 3rd Quarter

Monday, Jan. 17th

• No School-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Monday, Jan. 24th

• Paper June Art Projects

Tuesday, Jan. 25th

• Family Social-Emotional Learning Night

Monday, Jan. 31st

• PTO, 6pm

Email: cartzer@tps501.org
Website: https://mcclure.topekapublicschools.net/
Location: 2529 Southwest Chelsea Drive, Topeka, KS, USA
Phone: 785.438.4340
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TPS501McClure