Hunter Headlines

Greetings Hunter Families,

Welcome back to the 2020-2021 school year! The Hunter staff is bustling around prepping and carefully planning for the return of our students. When we began the process of planning the reopening of the district this fall, we knew the only thing that was certain was CHANGE and a need for flexibility. With that in mind, I am sharing with you many plans and processes for fall, that may change and require twists and turns, as we move forward. Please take time to carefully read through this letter as it contains important information to start our school year!

Due to the Pandemic, many things do have to be altered in our school environment as we had to follow the Wayne County Health Department Guidelines, CDC Guidelines, and the Governor’s Return to School Roadmap as we planned for our Return to School Plan. These documents highlighted the need to minimize contact so our classes will be primarily staying in only their class/cohort all day. Our special teachers for Art, Music, Gym and STEM will be coming into the classroom for those lessons. If weather permitting, the Gym class may be outside but will not be able to interact with other students if they are on recess.

We have the opportunity to make a great year for our students and that is what we plan to do! We will be ready to make changes at a moments notice and we ask for your continued partnership in that.

My Best,

Jenna Mullins

Hunter Elementary

Principal

We know your students are excited to find out who their classroom teacher will be for this school year. On Tuesday, September 1st, you will get an email from your child's teacher. The email will contain specific information about your child's classroom and grade level. Be on the look out for that email on Tuesday September 1st.

Arrival and dismissal will look quite different this year, as we work to create a safe and distanced approach to both. We are planning a staggered arrival and dismissal. The plan outlined below is our first attempt at this. With many new procedures and protocols set to be implemented. Please be ready for additional changes in the first days and weeks of school, if necessary.

One of our biggest changes this year is that parents will NOT be allowed to exit their cars at arrival and dismissal.

As always, we need our families to follow the processes in order for them to work for our students. While we understand it will take a few days for students and families to become confident with their child's entry and dismissal location, we need parents to stay in their cars. At dismissal we will walk students to the front of the building to enter your vehicles. At arrival students will walk to their entrance independently.

The purpose of this process is to create a pick-up line, therefore there is no need for any vehicle, picking up a student, to park. Please stay in the pick-up line, and do not arrive before your youngest child's dimissal time. We will dismiss siblings at the youngest students dismissal time.

Arrival:

Students can arrive and enter Hunter Elementary at 8:43 AM. Students may not arrive prior to 8:43 AM, to ensure a safe parking lot, social distancing and available staff supervision. Students can arrive at school from 8:43 AM to 9:10 AM. No students should exit their vehicle or wait by their entrance prior to 8:43.

We need students to arrive throughout the arrival band to create a staggered entry for students. Essentially, we do not want all our students to arrive at 8:43 AM or at 9:10 AM.

Once the year is up and running we believe families will find their sweet spot for arrival.

We will not mark students tardy until after 9:10 AM. Students will enter through their designated door (below). All students must enter the building independently. Students should have their mask on prior to exiting the vehicle. Anyone who exits a vehicle must be wearing a mask. Again, the purpose of this extended arrival time is to stagger arrival to maintain social distancing.

Any student arriving after 9:10 AM must enter through the main entrance at the front of the building.

We will share video during our virtual Back-2-School Night that shows every classroom and grade level entry and exit door.

Dismissal:

At the end of the school day, students will exit from the same door they used at arrival. Our teachers (whose classrooms do not face the front parking lot) will walk students to the front of the building at dismissal. All students will enter their vehicle along the front of the building. All students enter their vehicle along the front of the building. This is to ensure we do not have students walking in the parking lot. It is imperative that families do not arrive prior to their dismissal time. If families are arriving early, this process will not work. Additional we will have one lane coned off along the building to ensure our students are safe as they walk to the front of the building, this will create a pick-up line.

Dismissal Times (by grade level) for FULL DAYS:

Young 5's: 3:15 pm

Kindergarten: 3:25 pm

First Grade: 3:35 pm

Second Grade: 3:40 pm

Third Grade: 3:45 pm

Fourth: 3:48 pm

Fifth: 3:48 pm

Dismissal Times (by grade level) for HALF-DAYS:

Young 5's: 11:25 am

Kindergarten: 11:35 am

First Grade: 11:45 am

Second Grade: 11:50 am

Third Grade: 11:55 am

Fourth Grade: 12:00 pm

Fifth Grade: 12:00 pm

In an effort to help children get more comfortable with wearing masks for an extended period of time, it may be beneficial for them to practice this skill for 30 minutes at a time (or more) before school begins. They could try wearing their mask in the car, while watching tv, while playing on an iPad, when reading a book with an adult, or any other time. While practicing wearing a mask, students should ensure their mouth and nose are completely covered. This additional practice will help them be more comfortable when school begins and help create a safer environment for all. Our students and staff will be able to remove their masks if they are eating, drinking or participating in a specific lesson that the teacher will direct the child to remove their mask for. Please practice with your child to increase their tolerance level and duration of wearing their mask.

We do suggest your child keep an extra mask, or two, in their bookbag in case their primary mask becomes dirty. If a child needs an extra mask for any reasons and a student doesn’t have one, the school will provide one.

Any student that has a medical note written by a Doctor that states they can not medically tolerate a face mask due to a medical condition, MUST meet with the principal and Nursing Services Liaison (NSL) prior to the start of school. Any student who shows up on the first day of school or at the bus stop with a medical note, will be sent home or not allowed to ride the bus until a meeting is set up with the principal, NSL and parent. Students who can not medically tolerate a face mask will be required to wear a face shield.

On Thursday September 3rd, families will recieve an email containing all the links to our virtual meet the teacher night. The email will be sent out just before 6:00 pm. If you are not able to watch the videos with your child at that time, they will be recorded and you can watch at a different time.

If your child needs medication to be administered at school or requires a medical plan, please call Mrs. Clark, our school secretary at (734) 379-6390 and set up an appointment with her no later than Thursday, Sept. 3. We want to make sure we are ready on the very first day of school, September 8. In your call with her she will reference paperwork that needs to be completed by your child’s physician. Hunter’s nursing services documents can be found AT THIS LINK .

All families should use the checklist attached below EVERYDAY before sending their child(ren) to school. If you answer "YES" to any of the screening questions your child must stay home from school.

PLEASE always call our school office and report if your child is ill. Our secretary may ask you about specific symptoms that your child is displaying. Should your child and/or another family member that lives in your house receive a positive Covid19 Test, PLEASE NOTIFY THE SCHOOL IMMEDIATELY!

Next week, I will share a video example of a parent administering the screening tool to their child.

As we work in partnership to keep our school family healthy and safe, it will be imperative that when the school calls, you answer and be prepared to pick your child up in a timely manner should they have symptoms of being ill. If you can not pick up your child, please create a contingency plan that can be utilized immediately. PLEASE make sure all contact numbers are active and all emergency contacts are up to date, too.

ParentConnect is the web application connected to our Student Information System. It will allow you to review current, up-to-the-minute information about your student including their emergency contact information.

Emergency contact information has always been vitally important and it continues to be. More communication than ever will be coming home via email opposed to paper copies.

When you need to update your contact information the web address for the ParentConnection site is:

https://zangleweb.resa.net/Gibraltar/ParentConnect

If you encounter technical difficulties using your account, please send email to:

parentconnect@gibdist.net

ALL visitors/parents must call and make an appointment to come into the building. Everyone has to wear a mask in the building at all times. In an effort to limit visitors in our building, parents/guardians may request a phone meeting with staff or a Zoom call.

If a parent or guardian needs to drop off a lunch or a forgotten device or something else to their child, you will be buzzed into the foyer area ONLY and place the item in the grade designated container. A building staff member will deliver that item to your child’s classroom.

If you are packing your child's lunch, please make sure they can open all the items on their own. This would be a great thing to practice at home. Capri Sun drinks and Go-Gurt often give our younger students trouble.

All meals ordered through our Food Service Department, will be delivered to the classrooms. All students will be eating in their classrooms for both meals. We highly encourage families to pack lunches for students that have items that students are able to open independently. The more that students can do independently the less likely they will need assistance from someone else.

Generally, many options for breakfast and lunch will be cold. This may include items like bagels, poptarts, and pre-packaged muffins for breakfast or sandwich, and pre-packaged salads for lunch.

We highly encourage families to put money in students accounts through Parent Connect. If you have to send money into school it must be in an envelope labeled with the amount enclosed and your child's name.

The students riding a bus will be given a card with their bus seat number on it the first day they ride. Students may NOT change seats unless the driver directs the student to move to another seat. Siblings will be seated together. Once at school the first day, that seat assignment card will be attached to your child’s backpack for future reference. Students will be loaded onto the bus based on their particular bus stop. For example, the first stop in the AM, those students will be seated in the back of the bus, the next stop those students will move towards the back and fill the next available seats. On the way home, the bus will be loaded in reverse order. At the bus stops, please wear your masks and have your child(ren) standing approximately 6 feet apart from other families. As the students enter the bus they MUST have on their mask, they will get hand sanitizer and move directly to their assigned seat. Students are NOT allowed to remove their masks, use loud voices or touch other students.

In the past, when the weather is nice many students and families stay after school to play on the playground. This year, we ask that all families go home after school. We are asking this to ensure that we are able to keep our parking lot staggered and maintain social distancing.

If families would like to go home and have an after-school snack and come back to play, we welcome you!

Email: mullinsj@gibdist.net
Website: https://www.gibdist.net/hunter-elementary
Location: 21320 Roche Road, Brownstown Charter Township, MI, USA
Phone: (734)379-6390
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenna.mullins.5621
Twitter: @mullinsjennaj