White Oaks Weekly - August 16, 2020

From the Principal

Dear White Oaks Families,

On the eve of our first week of school, I feel a mix of nostalgia for what Fall “used” to feel like and an excitement for what is ahead. In this new adventure, I would like to invite you all to join me in setting forward with the mindset of “We Can Do This!”. We can help our children have all the “good feels” about the coming school year and let them know how eager their teachers are to meet them and teach them. We can help them transition into the routines of the school year and teachers, staff, and I will help support you in this. 

As experts in the developmental needs of elementary school students, we want to stress the importance of taking time to build relationships with our students. We are stretching and preparing for a marathon, not a sprint, and in order to set our students up for success, we need to take these next few weeks to make sure students feel comfortable and confident so they can do their best learning. All the interactions our teachers will have with students once the school year starts are forms of informal assessment. Our educators will be taking anecdotal notes and observing the needs of each of their students so they can develop a plan to best meet their needs, both academically and social/emotionally.

Below is the schedule of events for this coming week to get you and your child(ren) set up for success.

Monday, 8/17: 

• Chromebook Pickup: I have emailed those of you who have filled out the Chromebook Request Form with your scheduled pick-up window. 
• Elementary School Town Hall @ 6:15 pm: With this ever-changing landscape of COVID-19, we know one thing for sure...our commitment to providing excellence in education for every child within a supportive and caring environment is our shared priority. In response to the One Question Survey we sent earlier (thank you for responding), we have prepared a P-3 Schools FAQ that addresses most of your wonderings at this time. In addition, we would like to invite all P-3 Elementary families to a Town Hall meeting scheduled for August 17th from 6:15-7:00 PM.* We have provided a Zoom Link for the meeting as well as a YouTube Live streaming link to allow all four school communities to attend at once. The Zoom meeting is limited to the first 300 participants so please connect through YouTube if needed: Zoom Meeting Link and YouTube Live Link

Tuesday, 8/18:

• Chromebook Pickup: I have emailed those of you who have filled out the Chromebook Request Form with your scheduled pick-up window. 
• Parent Ed Night - Digital Platforms @ 7:30pm: Come learn the basics of how to set up the most commonly used platforms for distance learning. Seesaw and Clever will become household names (if they aren’t already) and tonight you will learn how to set up the platforms on your devices as well as tips and tricks for ease of use for you and your students. Zoom Meeting Link

Wednesday, 8/19: 

• First Day of School! Meet and Greets/Materials Pickups Begin: Your teacher will be reaching out to you soon to schedule your in-person Meet and Greet! Here, your child will be able to say hello to their teacher and pick up essential materials to get the year started. Our PTA has set up a special spot by the marquee on Fairmont for you to stop by and take a First Week of School Picture when you come for your Meet and Greet! 
• Teachers will be sharing their class schedules with you as well and for the first three days of school, you can expect community-building activities to be scheduled via Zoom, but regular class schedules will begin on Monday, 8/24 as teachers will be balancing their time with passing out materials and meeting students face to face.

Thursday, 8/20 - Friday, 8/21: Meet and Greets/Materials Pickups Continue

I would like to leave you with a post a friend of mine shared with me. We have an opportunity here to make something really special out of a situation that is nothing close to ideal and I have so much faith in us as a community and I KNOW we can do this! 

Back to school this year is ideal for NO ONE.
Not for teachers.
Not for parents.
Hybrid is not ideal.
Virtual is not ideal.
Face-to-face in the midst of a pandemic is not ideal.
For every kid who is anxious to get back to the classroom, there is another who has anxiety about returning.
For every parent who wonders,
“How am I going to manage this?”
There is a teacher wondering,
“How am I going to manage this?”
Often, a person wears both titles.
For every kindergarten parent who is sad that this is how their child will begin their education, there is a parent of a senior who is bummed that this is how their child will end theirs.
For every person angry about their child having to wear a mask, there is a person who is petrified their immune-compromised family member will get ill.
Life has thrown us a huge curveball.
A plot twist if you will.
It will not be easy.
We will be challenged.
We will get frustrated.
I hope we rise to the occasion.
I hope we help one another.
We will all need help.
I hope we treat each other with grace.
We will all need grace.
I hope we realize that at the end of the day, our kids need us to be the light.
Set the tone.
See the good.
Take a really unfortunate situation and do our best to make it okay.
For them.
For us.
- Stephanie Krause

Sincerely,