As always, thanks so much for all the support that you are giving our children and our school, whether your children are currently learning in-person in school or remotely from home. It certainly takes a village to be successful and we are so very grateful for the wonderfully supportive community we have here in Westbrook!
Here are a few helpful reminders to keep everyone safe and succeessful:
- As the winter weather grows colder, please send students in with lots of layers of winter clothing to keep them warm and comfortable. We will go outside every day for recess and additional mask breaks and students will need winter coats, hats, mittens/gloves, boots and even snow pants. We will go outside every day if the weather is 20 degrees F or above for recess and if it's a bit colder, we may not stay out for the entire recess but we will go out for mask breaks. If there's snow on the ground, we will play in the snow! We do have a supply of winter coats for those who may need one, but we do have a limited supply of hats, mittens, snowpants and boots. If anyone would like to send in outgrown items to share with others, we would graciously accept those! Instead of "sharing" these items on a daily basis, we will gift them to those in need.
- Please remember that student drop-off in the morning is from 8:15-8:30 am. If you arrive after 8:30 am, please come to the front circle and bring your child to the front door as school staff will not be in the parking lot/playground area to accept students since they're in classrooms with our students from 8:30 on.
- On especially cold or rainy days, we use a modified drop-off/pick-up procedure so that students don't have to walk a long distance across the playground. On those days, we will bring them in and out of the double doors in front of the school by preschool/kindergarten classrooms. We'll be outside to help direct parents where to drop-off/pick-up students, as always.
Our students continue to amaze us with how resilient they are in adjusting to our safety protocols, especially mask-wearing.
Here's a group of fourth-graders, pretty excited to go out and play in the snow!
- Please complete the Health Checklist/Temperature Check that is emailed to parents/guardians each morning. If your child is sick (experiencing any of the symptoms on that checklist), please keep them home and call the school to report the absence. If you have any questions/concerns, please call our school nurse, Kayla Johnson, RN, at 860-399-7925.
- In order to clear a child to return to school and to rule out Covid-19, most doctors will refer you for testing. Please remember that only PCR tests are accepted by our district, NOT rapid tests.
- While you are awaiting Covid test results, your child MUST stay home and quarantine.
- If your child has had an exposure to a Covid-positive individual, your child must stay home and quarantine and you must report this to school.
- If there is a Covid-positive individual in your household, your child may NOT come to school and the entire household must quarantine, per the Health Department and the CDC.
- Each case is unique and we will work with you and the Health Department to advise you on the length of quarantine, etc.
- Please refer to our district and school website for all the latest information from the CDC regarding safety/Covid regulations at: westbrookctschools.org
Our students are enjoying our new Climbing Wall!
Thanks so much to our amazing Daisy PTO for making this a reality at our school!
Remote Learning Guidelines
While parents/guardians have the opportunity to choose Remote Learning for their children at any time, there are also times when we might need to switch individual students (or a class) to Remote Learning due to a possible exposure, immediately. Remote Learning is reserved for those scenarios and also can be activitated while awaiting for test results, but should not be used for single day absences. If your child is not feeling well and is absent due to sickness, we advise that your child rests and relaxes to get better, rather and requesting remote learning for a day.
Please address your requests for Remote Learning to your child's teacher and school principal. We will help you make those decisions on an individual basis.
Guidelines for Successful Remote Learning:
- Designate a successful spot (without distractions) for your child to participate in remote learning at home.
- Please ensure that your child has the materials needed: Chromebook; any essential materials that your child's teacher has asked to be picked up at school; writing utensils; paper; books; etc.
- Help your child follow the schedule of times to sign on, as directed by the teacher; then please let your child's teacher be the guide during online instruction.
- While working online, we appreciate when parents/guardians take a step back and let children answer for themselves and work on their own, just as it would be in school.
- Please ensure that younger siblings are not distracting your student who is learning online.
- Please keep eating to designated lunch and snack times.
- Except for our very youngest preschool students, parents/guardians don't need to be right at the computer with them.
- We want to help develop our students' independence and to simulate an in-school experience as much as possible.
- Our teachers really appreciate the ability to have time with your children online, without other distractions that may naturally be going on in the household.
- If parents/guardians have questions/concerns for teachers, please address them as you usually would, such as in an email, phone call or conference. Live Google Meet time is reserved for teachers and students.
As always, if you have any concerns regarding Remote Learning, please contact your child's teacher and principal.
VALENTINES DAY
- We also ask that you send in the cards a few days early, prior to distribution at school.
- Our PTO has assigned Room Parents to each classroom and a parent may be contacting you regarding a special, pre-packaged snack for the classroom. No homemade treats can be accepted from home, due to safety and health protocols, but teachers may suggest a snack that is acceptable for the individual classroom, taking into account allergies, etc. All snacks must be pre-packaged with ingredients listed on the package.
- Of course, parents/guardians can also send in individual, preferred snacks for their own children as usual.
Our students (and adults!) were so excited to see one of the two new Westbrook Police Cruisers at school yesterday! Our students had the opportunity to vote on the color/design scheme for the new cruisers and we were so excited to see "Westbrook Purple" along with school logos incorporated into the new design.
Wishing all a safe and happy weekend and please keep in close communication with our school!
We look forward to "seeing" you at virtual Parent/Teacher Conferences next week.
Please remember that Tuesday, Feb. 2, and Thursday, Feb. 4, are early dismissal days (at 1 pm) for Parent/Teacher Conferences.
Warmly,
Ruth
Ruth W. Rose, Principal
Daisy Ingraham School
Email: rrose@westbrookctschools.org
Phone: 860-399-7925
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