Dear Field Families,
Field is excited to participate for the second year in One Book One School! Before Spring Break, we revealed the title of our new book to the students. This year we will be reading (drum roll, please)... The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes!! This is a fun, sweet story that looks at a common worry "am I smart enough?" This week the youngest child in the family will be receiving your copy of the book as well as the reading schedule. This will start next Monday, April 12th and go through May 7th. We ask that reading is done at home and we will do activities in class.
With our upcoming transition there is a great deal of important information to share so this letter is quite lengthy, I want to thank you in advance for reading through this information. Our staff has been busy preparing to welcome students back for full days of instruction beginning April 12. If your child is an in-person learner, the information below will help you prepare for full days of school, if your child is remote there is information about how their school day will run as well. As a reminder, families of elementary students (Grades K-5) who are currently enrolled in remote learning may change their selection to in-person learning for the remainder of the school year by contacting your child’s school by 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The office team will help you change your selection. If you do not wish to change your child's learning status, no additional action is needed.
Important Dates to Note in your Calendar:
April 9: School Picture Retakes
- Retake/Make up day for school pictures will be Friday, April 9th during school hours. Should you want your student to participate please have them return their original picture package on that day. Please call the office (630)834-5313 or email mdecarlo@elmhurst205.org with any questions.
April 12: Full days of instruction begin (8:15am-3:00pm, doors open at 8:00)
- One Book One School Launch (See information above)
April 14: Student Late Arrival (students arrive at 9:30am)
- This spring, we will have three student late arrivals in which students arrive at school at 9:30am and instruction begins at 9:45am. Dismissal remains at 3pm. Morning kindergarten will attend 9:45am-11:55am.
April 28: Student Late Arrival (students arrive at 9:30am)
May 12: Student Late Arrival (students arrive at 9:30am)
Full Day Return Information
We will be returning to our typical school hours beginning on April 12. This means that all students (remote and in-person) will attend school from 8:15 am-3:00pm (doors open at 8:00am) with an hour break for lunch and recess. The tardy bell rings each morning at 8:15am. Our arrival procedures will remain the same and dismissal will change to 3pm. Morning kindergarten will take place 8:15-11:05am. Students will return to having a full specials schedule: two half hours per week of PE and Music and an hour each per week of Library and Art. We will be using the last 7 weeks of in-person learning to add science back into our schedule and offer all students one unit of instruction for our new science resource, Mystery Science.
We will be following our pre-covid parent handbook for snack, lunch, etc. with the additional safety measures for distancing. You can find those Parent handbooks at the following links: English or Spanish. Please see the information below for specific information.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, the main office, or your child’s teacher.
Next Week’s Schedule
We will return for full days of school on Monday. Students will attend school from 8:15am-3:00pm (doors open at 8:00) with a one hour lunch break.
- Students will have 75 minutes of math, 150 minutes of reading and writing, 30 minutes of science, and 30-60 minutes of specials daily.
- Your child’s teacher will communicate your classroom’s detailed schedule.
- There is a late arrival on Wednesday, April 14 for elementary students. The doors will open at 9:30am with instruction beginning at 9:45am.
Morning Arrival
Our morning arrival procedures will remain the same as they have been. Students can begin entering the school building at 8:00am and instruction begins at 8:15am.
Daily Health Certification
You need to submit a daily health certification by 7:45am for each child in your family that attends Field. To do so, visit covid.elmhurst205.org and use your child’s ID number to log-in. The password is your child’s birthday in MM/DD/YYYY format. We recommend bookmarking this site on your smartphone and setting a daily reminder alarm. If students do not health certify, the office is notified, we will then contact you and your child will wait in a holding area until we can verify their health.
Our Field community has done a really nice job of this and we ask for your continued efforts to certify your child on time each morning.
Preparing for Lunch At School
Students will have thirty minutes for lunch with transition time built in and a thirty minute recess. Students will eat in the gym or multipurpose room and maintain six feet of distance at all times. Face coverings will be removed only when eating.
Children can bring lunch from home, go home for lunch, or order lunch from school.
- Bringing lunch to school:
- Students can bring a full lunch from home. We recommend you include foods for a balanced meal that you know your child enjoys. Please remember to send a napkin and a drink.
- Going home for lunch:
- A note/email from a parent is required for any students going home for lunch. Please send emails to your child’s classroom teacher and copy our school secretary Melissa DeCarlo on the email at mdecarlo@elmhurst205.org.
- Students will be dismissed from the main office at the start of their lunch hour. When returning, they should re-enter at the main office. Please be on time.
- Students may not return to the building until the end of their designated lunch hour. Students who return early from their home lunch are not permitted to join their class at recess.
- Lunch Times:
- Kindergarten: 11:05am-12:05pm
- On Late Arrival Days, 11:35-12:35
- First Grade: 10:35am-11:35am
- Second Grade:12:05pm-1:05pm
- Third Grade: 11:35am-12:35pm
- 4th Grade: 12:35pm-1:35pm
- 5th Grade: 11:05am-12:05pm
- Kindergarten: 11:05am-12:05pm
- Ordering lunch from school:
- All lunches are free for the rest of the year.
- We will not be providing or selling milk.
- During morning attendance, students will inform their teachers they want a Food Service Cold Lunch.
- During their lunch break, students will visit the designated area in the school that is holding the student lunches.
- Students simply take their lunch from the table. See food options below.
- If students do not order lunch in the morning, they should not take a lunch from the table.
- A Shelf Stable Lunch, similar to our school bag snacks, will be served the week of Monday, April 12 to Friday, April 16. Such Lunch Items could include: taco hummus, Baked Doritos, beef stick, diced pears, tortilla chips, salsa, cheese, grain snack, applesauce, roasted red pepper hummus, pretzels, sunflower seeds, craisins, grahams, juice box.
- Cold Lunch options will be available the week of April 19.
- 4/19: Lunchable with Turkey, cheese, crackers, elf cookie, juice
- 4/20: Yogurt, string cheese, peach cup, raisins, juice box
- 4/21: Sun butter sandwich, chips, applesauce, mini rice Krispie treat, juice box
- 4/22: Ham & cheese sandwich, string cheese, pear cup, animal crackers, juice box
- 4/23: Turkey & cheese sandwich, baked BBQ Chips, craisins, juice Box
Outdoor Snack and Recess
Each grade level will have a daily outdoor snack and short recess. Snack should be a plain fruit or vegetable moving forward. In the event that we need to eat indoors, we need snacks to be allergen friendly. Outdoor snack and recess takes place in the morning or afternoon depending on your child’s lunch time. Your child may want to keep a beach towel in their locker for use at outdoor snack time.
Leaving School for Appointments
We hope that you schedule appointments outside of school hours, but we know that is not always possible. Students will be permitted to leave school for appointments and return to school as they have in past years. Parents should notify the office and teacher when a child is leaving school for an appointment. A parent or family member must pick up and sign out the child from the main office. If your child returns to school, you must accompany them to the office and sign back in.
Continued Health and Safety Procedures
We will continue to follow our health and safety protocols. We will continue mask wearing, hand washing, and physical distancing as much as possible. In classrooms, students will maintain three feet of physical distance with six feet of distance at lunch and snack. All lunch tables will be sanitized in between uses and students do not share materials in classrooms.
When at recess, students will wear face coverings if they are walking, running, or playing. If they would like a break from wearing their face covering, they can go to a break area, sit or stand in one spot, and remove their face covering. Anytime face coverings are off, students will be required to be six feet apart.
Remote Student Schedule:
As I shared above, with the move to full day, all students (remote and in-person) will attend school from 8:15am-3:00pm (doors open for in person learners at 8:00am) with an hour break for lunch and recess. The schedule will look different for all students. There will be a 15 minute class break built-in in addition to the lunch break. With the extension of time in the day, there will also be more asynchronous time built into the schedule for remote learning. The amount of synchronous/asynchronous minutes may vary by day and by topic. Please see the breakdown below.
Lunch Break Schedule:
- Kindergarten: 11:05am-12:05pm
- On Late Arrival Days, 11:35-12:35
- First Grade: 10:35am-11:35am
- Second Grade:12:05pm-1:05pm
- Third Grade: 11:35am-12:35pm
- 4th Grade: 12:35pm-1:35pm
- 5th Grade: 11:05am-12:05pm
|
Elementary Instructional Minutes |
|
|
Subject |
Daily Minutes (Approximate Synchronous for Remote Learning) |
|
Acceleration |
30 (15-30) |
|
Literacy |
90 (45-90) |
|
Math |
75 (35-75) |
|
Sci/SS |
30 (15-30) |
|
Specials |
60 (30-60) |
|
Writing |
30 (15-30) |
Remote Learning Availability
In-person learners are not permitted to attend class remotely unless they are in quarantine due to COVID-19 illness or exposure or travel or are awaiting COVID-19 test results. In the event that your in-person learner must attend remotely due to quarantine, it may take 24 hours to gain access to a remote environment. If your child misses a day of instruction due to quarantine, your child’s teacher will make sure they get caught up on important learning and assignments.
Quarantine and “Close Contacts”
D205 follows the Illinois Department of Public Health’s definition of a “close contact” as well as quarantine protocols. We are required to contact trace when a student tests positive for COVID-19 and/or started symptoms within 48 hours of attending school in-person. With students attending school five days per week, our students are 3 feet (less than 6 feet) from each other in all classroom spaces. This means that when there is exposure at school, there will be students that are close contacts and required to quarantine. As a public organization, we are required to follow all guidelines provided by IDPH. We use our detailed school and classroom schedules as well as seating charts to contact trace and make sure we are identifying close and non-close contacts accurately.
We are excited to return to full days and look forward to continuing to partner with you in this unique year. Again, if you have any questions please feel free to reach out.
Sincerely,
Heidi Thomas
Field Elementary Principal
- Field