McCool Academy Mission Update

August 16, 2020

Bell Schedule! Effective Monday!

Monday morning we will begin our first week with our Family Time Bell Schedule. This schedule will allow students to have time to check in with their 4th period teacher. Within our Family Time learners will have a trusted adult they can turn to in dealing with social or emotional needs, or for academic guidance. This staff member will support their “family member” by checking their grades, attending extracurricular events, and being the trusted adult on campus. Our students will also have other peers within their “families” they can reach out to if they are in need of peer support or advice.

We will serve breakfast daily from 8:00-8:17. Tomorrow will be the only day we we will begin breakfast at 8:10 A.M. due to our FIrst Day Count of students.

***Please bring a water bottle. All sinks will be shut off and covered!***

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What do I WEAR tomorrow?

All students attending McCool Academy will be in regular dress tomorrow. As a reminder our McCool Academy Blazers are for special occasions (announced), and presentations. Some parents/guardians have expressed that they missed the deadline for purchasing blazers. Please be sure to purchase your blazers as soon as possible. You may call Designs In Thread for more information at (806) 794-3875. Please click here here for our standardized dress announcement for McCool Academy.

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Virtual Learner Chromebook Issued Monday (Tomorrow afternoon)

We had a very successful chromebook exchange this past weekend. If you are a virtual learner and missed out, we will be providing you another opportunity to you all TOMORROW from 4:30 P.M. - 5:30 P.M. here on the NORTH side of the campus by the tennis courts - we will be located on the SOUTHEAST side of the parking lot. You, the PARENT/GUARDIAN, will need to bring your ID in order for us to verify parent/guardian contact. Anyone on the contact list is welcome to pick up the chromebook as long as they have an ID. If your child received a Chromebook last year they will NEED to bring their Chromebook back. We will be doing a chromebook exchange for our face-to-face learners here at the campus this week. Further information to come.

School Map and Schedule

Many families have requested a school map in regard to navigating about the campus. We have uploaded our school map on our McCool Academy Google Site (click here). All of our face-to-face learners will believe a school map on the back of their schedules PRIOR to entering the school.

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First Day Count

We wanted to inform all McCool Academy Families of our First Day Count. Knowing we will have a first day count we will have to document all students that are face-to-face and virtual. In order for us to have an accurate count AND for McCool Academy to not have to drop you from the campus we will need your kiddo here at McCool Academy if they are face-to-face OR on video virtually shown as present (as is within our McCool Academy Virtual Parent/Guardian Agreement). I cannot stress enough the importance of being here face-to-face or virtually this first week. Also please be advised that as a magnet campus, McCool Academy has 100% of their students as transfers. The transfer is based on student attendance and behavior. We want to ensure your child does in fact stay here at McCool Academy for the coming years but will also need your help that their attendance and behavior are on the right track beginning DAY ONE!

How do I connect with my teacher on monday if I am a virtual learner???

For our virtual learners we understand you will need a way to connect with your first period class teacher. By clicking on the following link here (or below) you will look for your teacher's name within the spreadsheet on the home page (seen in orange). You will then be directed to the teacher's home page and you will then find their Google Hangout link at the top of the page. Once you are there you are able to connect with the class. Please be sure you are in the correct CLASS PERIOD otherwise you will be marked absent. ALL VIRTUAL LEARNERS please test the link out before Monday

https://sites.google.com/lubbockisd.org/mccool-academy-open-house/home

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Counselors Corner - Schedule Changes

At the time we will not be making any schedule changes as our classes are at capacity. We want to ensure the health and safety for all of our Astronauts which is based upon their current schedules. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding at this time. We will announce when schedule changes are allowed.

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A word from the NURSE

Welcome back students and parents. This school year may look different but I am certain if we work together we can make it a great one! Here are just a few reminders and updates for the clinic.

· Please self-monitor students prior to coming to school each morning

· If student has a fever of 100.4 or greater student must stay home for until they are 24 hours fever free without taking medication.

· If your student takes medication in the morning prior to school please give that at home to help limit the amount of student in the clinic and limit their possible exposure to COVID.

· If you need to meet with me it will be required for you to make an appointment.

Please go to this LubbockISD website here and print out the Over the counter Medication Form. Print out this form mark each medication your student is allowed to have at school and sign at the bottom. Then please email the completed form back to me @ Tara.Roberson@Lubbockisd.org. If I do not have a form for your child I will NOT be allowed to administer over the counter medication if needed.

Virtual Learner Parent/Guardian Agreement Expectations

Please be sure to read the virtual learner expectations HERE. There have been many questions from our virtual learner families and we want to ensure our virtual learners are in the most safe and productive learning environment! We want all learners experiencing our STEAM and PBL belief!

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A word from PTA

Hello!

It’s time for another exciting school year to start and an important part of McCool Academy is our PTA.

McCool Academy’s PTA supports critical academic needs, is an active voice on decisions that impact your child’s health, safety and quality of education, and builds a stronger, more inclusive school community. We invite you to join and PTA For Your Child because increasing our membership, even by one, makes it possible to:

• Show Appreciation to our Teachers

• Have Family Social Events

• And so much more!

There is no wrong or right way to be involved – anything you can give, whether it’s time or money, will support your child’s potential. We invite you to join because we can do more together than apart. It only takes 5 minutes:

https://www.joinpta.org/

Sincerely,

Sarah Burcham

McCool Academy PTA-President

Aurelia Crider- Vice-President

Lisa Sawyer- Secretary

Nikki Pool- Treasurer

2020-2021

The information presented above is to help our McCool Academy community regarding face-to-face instruction as we near the start of the 2020-2021 school year. As you can see McCool Academy has an extensive safety plan in place to open our doors on August 17th and we will continue to explore ways to further increase our safety measures.

If you have any additional questions please feel free to click here. This link includes videos and Lubbock ISDs guidelines in regard to Covid-19.