• DUE Tuesday, Dec. 22! - For those who didn't get their child's yearbook photo taken, send a photo to Kati Bernard
• LAST DAY! Ava's Angels Cold Weather Gear Collections
  

Monday, Dec. 21

• VirtualEd 1st-5th (Mon. Specials)
• In-Person - Specials Day 4
• Ava's Angels Cold Weather Gear Collection Window
• TODAY ONLY! VirtualEd Pick-up for Winter Party Supplies
  

Tuesday, Dec. 22

• VirtualEd 1st-5th (Tues. Specials)

• In-Person - Specials Day 1

• DUE TODAY- For those who didn't get their child's yearbook photo taken, send a photo to Kati Bernard

• LAST DAY! Ava's Angels Cold Weather Gear Collections

• Winter Class Parties

Wednesday, Dec. 23 - Friday, Jan. 1

• No School - WINTER BREAK

Monday, Jan. 4

• School Resumes

Do you recognize any of these goods? If so, please encourage your child to head to the Lost and Found to pick them up!

If your child didn't have your yearbook picture taken and you want to be in the yearbook, send Kati Bernard @ katilee@hotmail.com a picture (shoulders up) so they can be included. Try to have a plain, non-busy background. This must be done by holiday break - Tuesday, Dec 22.

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We will need help from all our families this year to obtain pictures. We will have VirtualEd students included, so we will definitely have to rely on photos from home to ensure we have some great shots of all!

There are 3 ways you could share your photos:

• For the yearbook only…

• Download the Balfour app - Code: 128074

• Email to our Yearbook Chair Kati Bernard @ katilee@hotmail.com

• For any purpose, upload to this Google Folder

Please specify your child’s teacher’s name on the photo!

*** UPDATED ***

Material pick-ups will occur every other week on Wednesdays…

• (Monday) December 21 - Party supply pick-up day! (No 7:30-8:00 AM pick-up available)

• January 6 - This has changed from a date for all to a date ONLY for students whose teacher needs them to pick-up. Your teachers will communicate with you on this!

• January 13 - This will be the first date items can be distributed to students who are new to your class or new to VirtualED. Because of this, at SPE we should plan on teachers being present in the flesh for the class's 1-hour window, so you can meet your new students! This could also be used as a supply return date for those who will no longer be in your class.

Your teachers may be available to hand out supplies at these times below. Otherwise, you are welcome to pick-up contactless at the times shown in the following paragraph ....

• 10:00-11:00 AM - Mr. Bartel's 3rd grade class

• 11:00 AM-12:00 PM - Ms. George's 5th grade class + Mrs. Samuelson's 1st grade class

• 1:00-2:00 PM - Mrs. Palmer's 4th grade class + Mrs. Kurimsky's 2nd grade class

• You are welcome to a complete a contactless pick-up of your supplies during any of the following time windows, though your teacher will not be available during these times:

• 7:30-8:00 AM

• 9:00 AM-2:45 PM

• 4:00-4:30 PM

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Second Semester Pick-up Dates

February 3

February 24

March 24

• This is a month from last pick up date because of Spring Break.

April 14

May 5

May 26

• This is the week before the last week of school, but it could allow for pick up for yearbooks or summer school materials.

We would love to have our VirtualEd students better represented on the daily announcements! In order to do so, we are asking all interested VirtualEd families to video themselves reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and upload the video here so we can include it in the announcements.

Attention all Readers!

Chat n Chew is an optional reading program sponsored by PTO! This is a book club offered

to all SPE students in first through fifth grades once a month in February, March, and April. Due to visitor limitations, our student responses may look different from previous years.

Three titles have been selected for each grade level to read at home. Through generous funding of the PTO and Mrs. Norton's involvement, approximately 10 copies of each book will be available for check out from the school library on a first-come, first-serve basis, or they may be borrowed from the Johnson County public libraries. Electronic copies and paper/hardback copies can be purchased at various stores or at Amazon; most are below $6.99. Participation is free!

In order to gauge the interest in Chat n Chew this year, please complete this brief survey so that our committee can plan accordingly!

If you have any questions, please feel to contact Erika Showalter at erika.showalter@gmail.com!

Give the gift of spirit this holiday season and get all of your shopping done with 1st Place Spiritwear! Now, throughout the month of December use the code HOLIDAY2020 for 10, 20 and even 30% off!!! The more you buy, the more you save! Shop all of the awesome designs featuring our school's name, the Patriot mascot and colors! Order before December 15th to ensure delivery by winter break!

Shop for your SPE gear here:

https://1stplacespiritwear.com/schools/KS/Overland+Park/Sunrise+Point+Elementary+School

We will be administering Winter MAP tests year to measure the current instructional levels of our students. This year’s Winter testing window is January 25th to February 12th, as we want students to test with their 2nd semester teachers. Families of VirtualEd 2nd graders (for the second semester) will receive more communication as the testing window nears.

Data obtained through this particular instance of MAP testing will measure student progress on specific standards and will provide us with information and insight that allow us to better support your student.

At the end of each quarter, courses in Canvas will conclude and will no longer be visible on the Canvas app and website. Courses for this year’s second quarter will conclude on January 14th. Report cards will be generated and families will be able to view second quarter grades on ParentVUE at the end of the day on January 25, 2021.

How do I view my child’s report card?

• Log in on ParentVue

• Select your elementary student’s name

• In the left navigation bar, choose REPORT CARD

If you have questions about Standards Based Grading as you view your child’s report card, please review the information found on the Elementary Report Card resource page.

Each new quarter, classroom teachers will publish their next quarter Canvas course. As courses are published, students and families will again be able to see current courses on the Canvas app and Canvas website. For Canvas parent resources, visit www.bluevalleyk12.org/canvas.

Instead of having a day off of school for inclement weather conditions this school year, school will continue in a virtual format on inclement weather days for all students. This model is intended to reduce the chances of having to extend the calendar for the 2020-2021 school year.

In-Person --> Teachers are preparing for a snow day schedule of learning with at least two live check-ins via Zoom and asynchronous work that can be done from home.

VirtualEd --> The schedule for VirtualEd classes will match those of in-person classes on these days when in-person learning is canceled, and, thus, the day will NOT match classes' regular daily schedules. All specials classes will be asynchronous.

Monday, Jan. 4

• VirtualEd 1st-5th (Mon. Specials)
• In-Person - Specials Day 2

Tuesday, Jan. 5

• VirtualEd 1st-5th (Tues. Specials)

• In-Person - Specials Day 3

Wednesday, Jan. 6

• VirtualEd 1st-5th (Wed. Specials)
• In-Person - Specials Day 4

Thursday, Jan. 7

• VirtualEd 1st-5th (Thurs. Specials)
• In-Person - Specials Day 1

Friday, Jan. 8

• VirtualEd 1st-5th (Fri. Specials)
• In-Person - Specials Day 2

A couple of weeks ago Mrs. Morrison used PE time to teach our in-person students how to use and play with the many new games that families donated to help us diversify our options at recess this year! We wanted students to know the game rules and expectations for care of the equipment before launching their use. Mrs. Morrison said all games were big hits with the students. This week, students were able to make use of the games at recess time! It has been a fun way to break up some of the monotony that comes with recess this year - staying in one zone of the playground and playing only with classmates. Thanks, again, to our generous family donors for making this possible!

Our families and teachers have done a great job getting kids in the routines of wearing their masks at school! Most all kids are consistent in those routines - they are so resilient!

Our current focus is to improve student mask-wearing in terms of...

• Fit (if the mask does not stay above the nose or needs frequent readjustments across the school day, it doesn't fit properly)
• Cleanliness (is wet or soiled)
• Ability to withstand physical activity, such as running during recess (often gaiters don't meet this criteria)

You may see your child come home with a different mask from the one they went to school in. If so, it is most likely that we have issued one at school because one of the 3 above factors were true. If you are wondering whether your child is struggling with the fit, cleanliness or recess withstandability of his or her mask, please contact your teacher to ask.

This current layer of attention to student masking is being made to help reduce the likelihood that students create unnecessary high-risk exposures for one another. This will help us keep both the spread and the quarantines away from school as low as possible, especially considering the climbing local case numbers.

With cold and flu season arriving and local COVID cases climbing, it is extra important for families to call Nurse Ayres at 913-239-7500 BEFORE sending your child to school if they are experiencing ANY of the symptoms shown in the image below.

A single symptom does NOT necessarily mean your child will need to miss school; however, double-checking before sending them may save others from being exposed and/or having to quarantine. This can make a BIG difference for ALL, including keeping teachers and students in school!

In an effort to keep our school community informed when we have a positive case, families can expect the following:

• Families will be contacted directly if through the contact tracing process conducted by the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment (JCDHE) and the district's health professionals' team:

1. your child was identified as a low-risk exposure of a student or staff member who tested positive for COVID-19.
2. your child was identified as a high-risk exposure/close contact of a student or staff member who tested positive for COVID-19.

• If your child’s proximity to or nature of the interaction with the positive individual did not indicate a low or high-risk exposure, then you will not be contacted.

If your child has to quarantine, you can expect the following...

• (If the exposure happened at school) to NOT know the exact details as to why or who else was involved

• This can be really frustrating, but the privacy is essential. It will require a high level of trust that the contact tracing process would have only resulted in a quarantine for your child if he/she were determined to be a close contact of the positive individual.

• For some school work and materials (including students’ school-issued device) to be made available

• Each grade-level team of teachers has made plans for how they will provide learning activities to your child in these circumstances.

• Please note that there are some limitations to what can be provided. We want to be transparent about that, so please be aware that we are unable to:

• Recreate all in-class learning experiences

• Live stream class sessions

• Contactless Material Pick-up:

• We will have a blue storage bin outside the front circle drive– labeled “Contactless Pick Up” where staff will place items (bagged and labeled: student name/teacher name/grade) for family pick up. Pick up times are below (only on days when school days are in session). We will not leave the bin outside while the school is closed.

• 7:30 - 8:00 AM

• 9:00 AM – 2:45 PM