Isanti Middle School

2020-21 Back to School - Parent News

Welcome to the 2020-21 School Year!

Dear IMS Families,

Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year. Although this year may bring some different challenges, we are excited to have students and staff back in the building. The last 6 months have been very different for us all but the hardest part is not seeing and interacting with your children on a daily basis. They are the reason we are all here and the purpose of our work.

WE ARE BLUEJACKETS, and WE DO IT TOGETHER!

Even with all the uncertainty surrounding us, we are very excited to kickoff the 20-21 school year! As we plan to Return to Learn and reopen IMS, please be aware we have placed student and staff safety at the forefront. Therefore, some of our traditional practices have been altered in order to keep your student as safe as possible during the school day.The KEY message we've been sharing with staff every time we communicate with them:

School this year will NOT look like it has in the past.

Last week, the district sent out the Return to Learn Plan. As a transitional plan, Isanti Middle School will start the first two weeks in a transitional HYBRID MODEL. This will give us nine days to practice new procedures with half our students attending school every other day. Generally, the students / families are split by alphabet, last names beginning A-K are in Cohort A, and last names L-Z are in Cohort B. Families with siblings having different last names will be in Cohort A.

As part of the Return to Learn plan, C-I Schools is offering two different paths for families this year.

Traditional: (In-Person Model) + (Hybrid Model) + (Distance Learning) We will transition between the three models as our local situation changes. We will be coordinating closely with county officials and the Department of Education (MDE) and Department of Health (MDH) as Covid cases change over time.
C-I Schools Online: This option is available for all families. We are asking parents who consider this option to commit to this option for a minimum of a trimester. One benefit to this option is it might provide more consistency for families because it wouldn't require moving from model to model as the situation changes. If you are interested in the C-I Schools Online program we ask that you complete the enrollment form by Friday, August 21st.

Classroom Cohorts - A New Challenge/Opportunity

As we have prepared to start the new year, it became quite clear we needed to re-imagine our day and our schedule in a way that put student and staff safety at the forefront of every decision we make. With that in mind, the decision was made to use a Classroom Cohort model at the middle school level. This model essentially means that we will place students at each grade into groups of students which will remain the same during the majority of the school day. In some respects it is similar to the traditional elementary homeroom model where students stay together all day.

There are two pieces to this model to focus on. First, students will stay in the same classroom for their core instructional periods with teachers rotating from classroom to classroom. In general, the change is that most teachers will now move to the students rather than the students moving to the teacher. Second, there will be some classes at each grade-level where the students will move to the class. Examples of this are Phy-Ed, Band, Choir, Art, etc.

This model provide some clear advantages with regard to student safety. However, there are some significant challenges are keeping in mind as we build our plan. Middle school students are social beings and they need a certain amount of movement to keep them focused throughout the school day. As a result, we are building a schedule to address both of these needs. This has led us to pretty much create a whole new schedule for this year.

As you can tell, in addition to creating an entirely new schedule, we need to alter many of our traditional practices to ensure we are keeping your child as safe as possible! Our foundational belief at the middle school level is to offer students as many learning opportunities as we can! We felt the safest route to educate students when we're in-person is by using this Cohort model. This model also ensures that we can flow between, in-person, hybrid and distance learning models throughout the school year.

As you are aware, things continue to change daily. In order to be prepared, we are currently planning as if we are in-person. However, please note that local and state level decisions may have an impact on what educational model we are in.

These are challenging and emotional times for all of us! What we used to call “normal” has been flipped upside down. I encourage you to stay positive and remember these are short term changes until the day comes when we can get back to what we deem as “normal.”

Here to serve,

Randy Pauly, Principal

Isanti Middle School

IMS Start and End Times

C-I Schools has made the decision this year, based upon Department of Education (MDE) and Department of Health (MDH) guidance, to transition away from the transportation HUB and Spoke model of busing we have had for the past several years. While very efficient, the hub model proved very problematic when trying to plan for school during the Covid-19 era. It isn't feasible to have 2000 students at each of the two hubs moving between 25 buses two times per day. The transportation department has developed a new system that, while it still will have some things to work out, will keep students on one bus in the morning and the afternoon. One side-effect of this new system is an adjustment in the building days, the start and end times for each building have been altered to show this change.

IMS School Start Time: 8:25 AM
IMS School End Time: 3:15 PM

Please note that with the changes in transportation, and the expectation that many more parents will choose to transport their students, we will be sharing more specific information regarding drop-off and pick-up routines and procedures in the coming weeks.

WEB (Where Everybody Belongs)

We would like to inform you that the first day of school will look different this year in regards to the WEB/6th Grade Orientation Day. The first day of school WILL NOT be the transition day for our 6th grade students. That being said, we assure you that WEB is still going to be a part of our school AND a part of our 6th graders transition. We are developing a new plan that will help all of our 6th graders with their transition to Isanti Middle School. Thank you for your flexibility!

First Two Weeks - Transition Hybrid

During the first 2 weeks of school, we will be using a 9-day Hybrid schedule at all schools to give us time to practice routines and schedules. Half of our students will attend school every other day. Students will generally be divided by alphabet. Students with last names beginning with A-K are in Group A and students with last names that begin with L-Z are in Group B. Siblings with different last names will be in Group A.

Things to consider as we get ready to be back in school.

School Supply Lists: You can find links to the supply lists for each school in the district.

Chromebook Distribution: All students will receive their Chromebooks during the first week of school. We will send additional information regarding Chromebook User Agreements in future communications.

Mask Requirement in Schools:

Governor Walz directed that masks or face coverings must be worn throughout Minnesota in all indoor public spaces. This new rule includes school buildings and indoor facilities. This will apply to all staff and students (kindergarten and older), beginning Saturday, July 25.

According to the Governor’s executive order, masks may be removed while students are actively participating in sports, physical education or other indoor exercise where the level of exertion makes it difficult to wear a face covering. Athletic activities within our schools will continue to follow Minnesota’s guidance for youth or adults in sports.

Wear a Face Covering to Protect Others

Wear a face covering that covers your nose and mouth to help protect others in case you’re infected with COVID-19 but don’t have symptoms
Wear a face covering in public settings when around people who don’t live in your household, especially when it may be difficult for you to stay six feet apart
Wear a face covering correctly for maximum protection
Don’t put the face covering around your neck or up on your forehead
Don’t touch the face covering, and, if you do, wash your hands or use hand sanitizer to disinfect

Upcoming Dates:

September 2: IMS Virtual Open House - More information to come
September 7: Labor Day (Buildings Closed)
September 8: First Day of School - Hybrid Model
September 21: All Students in-person at IMS
September 25: No School (Professional Development Day)

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