11-20-2020
Dear ECSD Families,
Unfortunately we continue to see an upward trend with the virus activity in our community, county, and state. This upward trend combined with the need for families to plan and make arrangements, ECSD will continue to implement the Hybrid Learning Plan through Friday December 18th which is the last day of school prior to Winter Break. We will reevaluate with Palo Alto Community Health and determine if it is feasible to go back to full in-person learning following Winter Break. That announcement will be made on Friday December 18th.
Please review the following information on the ECSD Hybrid Learning Plan.
Current Situation
Governor Reynolds Proclamation dated 11-16-20 added additional mitigation strategies for COVID-19.
There is concern across the state with the number of available hospital beds and the inability to transfer patients to other facilities.
ECSD has over 96 staff and students in quarantine/isolation. Our Quarantine/Isolation Rate is over 10%. State metric is 10%.
The Positivity Rate in Palo Alto County stands at 23.1%, the State metric is 15>#/p###
In the prior 24 hour period, Palo Alto County had conducted 29 COVID-19 tests with 18 of those being positive for a positivity rate of 62.07>#/p###
Our Response
ECSD Mask Requirement will stay in place
The majority of the students in isolation due to close contact continue to be at the Secondary Level and therefore we need to maximize Social Distancing at the High School and Middle School.
In consultation with Palo Alto Community Health, the Emmetsburg Community School District will continue to implement the Hybrid Learning Plan through Friday December 18th which is the last day of school prior to Winter Break.. We will reevaluate with Palo Alto Community Health and determine if it is feasible to go back to full in-person learning following Winter Break. That announcement will be made on Friday December 18th.
ECSD Hybrid Model
Secondary Grades 5-12 Move to Hybrid Model
ECSD High School and Middle School will implement an A/B School Week by Family. This will allow for approximately ½ of the students to attend school on any given school day at the Secondary Level. Students from the same family would attend school two days a week on either an A Day or a B Day. Families have been notified as to which schedule their student(s) are on and these will stay the same.
ECSD High School and Middle School has implemented some consistent expectations for all classes/students as we continue with the hybrid model. These are non-negotiable expectations:
Each teacher will post on Google Classroom a to-do list for each day (Monday - Friday).
Students will be held to the same expectations as if in the building. Students will be held accountable for learning the content being taught by our teachers. They will be required to learn skills and move forward in all content areas.
Students will not have “days off” Monday - Friday.
Attendance is taken everyday, every period, whether students are in class or online.
Our extra-curricular attendance policy applies to students that are absent from class, whether online or in person. You must be in attendance in order to practice or participate in your extracurricular activity.
High School Study Hall will not be required to meet online. This includes those scheduled during the day and the directed study hall 9th Period. The missing work list will be e-mailed to students. Students need to get this work completed and submitted to teachers.
CHANGE FOR ONLINE STUDENTS: Students that have chosen to be online for the entire year and those online because it is their day on the hybrid schedule to be online, or those doing online because they are in quarantine/isolation, are required to log on during your class period, listen to the instruction and complete the work. Attendance will be taken everyday. As we have moved further into the hybrid model and are continuing to meet the needs of our students, it is important to have this daily contact with all students.
Wednesday schedule: Each student is expected to run through their normal schedule with the use of google meet. Trying to keep a consistent schedule for students. Keep high educational expectations during this Hybrid time. Time to check in with all classes and see if there are any questions on the material students should be completing at home, review content needed to answer those questions and reminder of work that needs to be completed. Expectation to students is they should be doing something for part of today - it is not a day off. Students will log into Google Meet each class period on Wednesday and meet with their teacher during these times. Attendance will be taken during this time.
Wednesday Schedule | Middle School Periods | High School Periods |
8:10 - 8:30 | 1st Period | 1st Period |
8:35 - 8:55 | 2nd Period | 2nd Period |
9:00 - 9:20 | 3rd Period | 3rd Period |
9:25 - 9:45 | 4th Period | 4th Period |
9:50 - 10:10 | 6th Period | 5th Period |
10:15 - 10:35 | 7th Period | 6th Period |
10:40 - 11:00 | 8th Period | 7th Period |
11:00 - 11:20 | 9th Period | 8th Period |
The reduction in student numbers in the building will allow us to provide social distancing throughout the day. Face Masks will still be required.
Elementary Grades PK-4 Hybrid Model
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
All students PK-4 will attend school
Wednesday
Wednesday morning teachers will provide work for the students to complete on Seesaw and Google Classroom. The work provided will be targeted and evaluated. If you have concerns about being able to complete the work, please contact your students' teacher for assistance.
Wednesday afternoon staff will be involved with PD opportunities and offer support for online learning.
It is crucial that we provide elementary students in-person access to their teachers as they master foundational benchmarks in reading and math. Face Masks would still be required.
Grab and Go Lunches
We continue to offer grab and go lunches for families on the days that your students are not in school. Please fill out the following survey to request meal service. If you have already filled out the survey, you do not need to complete an additional survey.
ECSD Hybrid Learning Request for Free Meal Pick-Up
Stay Safe, Stay Well,
Darren D. Hanna
Superintendent
Emmetsburg Community Schools