Dear Field Families,
What a first week of school! I would like to send a sincere thank you to all of our parents, students, and staff for their patience, flexibility, and grace amid this very different start of the year. The national Zoom partial-outage this week as well as the internet interruptions added layers of complexity to navigating this remote start to the school year that were not anticipated. That being said, our Field staff were so thrilled to begin working with and getting to know your children this week. We have missed our Falcons tremendously. I can not tell you how thankful I am to be a part of such a wonderful parent community. I wanted to send a special thank you to our Field PTA and our Field families for your kind messages for our staff and the treats throughout this week. It made a big difference and we appreciate your thoughtfulness so much. If you do not already, I encourage you to follow Field on social media. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @FieldD205
If you wouldn’t mind indulging me, I would like to take a minute to share my perspective as both an educator of over 20 years and as a parent for 13 with the goal of hopefully bringing some additional perspective to our challenges this year. As the school year begins each year, teachers and students begin the task of establishing routines, getting to know each other and rebuilding the necessary stamina to make it through the school day. This happens each and every year even when we are in person. This year, this process is even more complex as their time out of the structured routine of school has been quite a bit longer than the traditional summer. The transition back to school and the energy and focus necessary can feel like a tremendous lift for many if not most children whether remote or in person. This year however, you have a front row seat for this and please believe me when I share that as a staff, we know how difficult that is for parents. Compounding this, at the start of the year, we traditionally begin with a shorter week for our elementary kids, beginning with a 3 day week as we know they struggle a great deal with stamina and independence. This was not possible this year due to the shift in our calendar. This is similar to beginning a new exercise routine, the muscles are sore and worn at the end of the day. However, this is also time-limited and critical for the cultivation of this skill that will contribute to their school success as they continue to develop this stamina and independence. If my children are any indication, it has been a long week, but it has also been a productive one. Their learning muscles and emotions may be tired but activated. We have already seen an increase in independence, collaboration, and relationships and we will celebrate those victories. Our Field staff and myself have every faith in our kids. They are incredible kids and it is a tremendous gift and great responsibility to ensure the social and academic development of each one of them. Our staff are beginning to know your children and are working incredibly hard to be flexible and build relationships that will allow us to personalize learning for each of our students. Please know that we continue to work hard to get kids back in the building with the hybrid plan set to begin on September 8th for kindergarten students and the 14th for grades 1-5. I will be sharing more information related to this next week. I continue to ask for you to extend your patience, flexibility, and grace amid this start of the school year.
Masks - I wanted to address a question that a parent asked me this week related to staff members wearing masks. Our staff are expected to wear a mask in the building at all times unless they are alone in a space with the door closed. You may notice that staff members are either consistently or at times wearing their masks when on a ZOOM call with your children. As we have a great deal of staff members that utilize shared spaces and/or have individuals in and out of their rooms throughout the day, there will be times that staff members have their masks on.
I am sure you could anticipate that I am receiving quite a few parent emails and phone calls. This is understandable in such a different time and please know that I do welcome them. I can be reached most easily at hthomas@elmhurst205.org. I continue to do my best to respond to each message in a timely manner.
Sincerely,
Heidi Thomas
Field Elementary Principal
Important Information Shared Last Week -
Parent Technology Support - Please visit our D205 Remote Learning Resources and Tutorials for Parents. This will continually be updated to add more resources and is a place for you to watch quick tutorials if you want to familiarize yourself with the tools your child is using.
Standards Based Reporting - Students in grades K-5 will continue to learn in a standards-based system. This summer D205 developed a website for parents for parents to describe what proficiency means for all our standards. We hope you find this site helpful. If you have any questions about the standards or the parent guides, please contact your classroom teacher. If you have any questions regarding the content of the parent site, please contact Nikki Tammaru, Assistant Superintendent for Learning and Leadership, at ntammaru@elmhurst205.org.
Wednesdays Are Remote Learning Days - Wednesdays are remote learning days for students. Students will report on Wednesdays for remote learning as they would on the other days of the week. There are NO late arrival days for students until further notice.
Elmhurst Public Library Supports Remote Learning - Elmhurst Public Library is here to support your 2020-21 school year with resources and services. Since the building reopened in June, we want students and families to know that using the EPL looks a bit different now. The library still offers homework help, books, and databases, as well as enrichment opportunities with online events. However, the library now limits capacity and requires reservations for visits. The new grab-and-go service model does not accommodate group or long-term visits. For more information about the Elmhurst Public Library, visit elmlib.org.
Open D205 Field Parent Handbook - Here is a the Field parent handbook that will guide procedures for an in-person hybrid return. This handbook will continually be updated as we approach September 14, 2020. It will also be reviewed in detail during the Parent Orientation Video sent prior to an in-person hybrid return.
Required Health Forms - As we welcome your student at the beginning of the school year, we want to remind you of the health requirements for school attendance. Please see the letter (English; Spanish) which explains the requirements. These requirements apply to all students, even those who plan to remain remote. If your child has already had the required exam and vaccinations within the required time frames, please submit the physical exam and immunization record to our Field nurse, Dipika Patel, via email at dpatel@elmhurst205.org. We advise you to keep a copy of all paperwork you submit to the school. If your child still needs to get the exam and required vaccinations administered, please schedule the appointment with your child’s healthcare provider as quickly as possible in order to meet the deadline requirement. If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Patel.
- Field