As a reminder, there is no school this coming Monday, October 12th, for the Columbus Day Holiday.  We also have 12:05pm dismissal days scheduled for October 21st (parent/teacher conferences), October 22nd (parent/teacher conferences), and October 23rd (teacher workshop).  Aftercare will be in session on the 21st-23rd.

The Saint James Home & School Association (similar to a PTA/PTO) will hold its second meeting of the new school year this evening, Thursday  (10/8) via Zoom from 7:00-8:00pm.  We strongly encourage parents to attend to learn more about the HSA and to hear about what events are upcoming in the next few months.  If you are unable to attend the Zoom call but would like to volunteer to help at various times throughout the year, please reach out to our HSA President (parent volunteer, Jodi Talaga) at hsa@saintjamesschool.net.

The Zoom information is as follows:

Topic: HSA Meetig
Time: Oct 8, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/76148498886?pwd=NTc3R2R4bHpqdmFyTEpTN1NjK1FDUT09

Meeting ID: 761 4849 8886
Passcode: n4KJ95

 

Dear Parents/Guardians:

As we continue to best meet the educational needs for all our students, we have determined that some clarifications regarding protocols for attendance and reporting of absences is necessary.  This includes all students — those who participate in remote learning as well as those who are in-person learners.

1.  Parents/Guardians must call the school nurse (option #3)  to report any and all absences, regardless of the reason, by 8:00 am.  This includes remote learners.

2. Students who are absent from school for personal reasons (i.e. vacation/travel) should continue to keep up with missing classwork, but are not allowed to attend classes virtually.  Their absence from school will be noted in the school’s daily attendance report.

3. We really appreciate how diligent our parents/guardians have been these past few weeks in keeping students home from school at the sign of any illness (even if students are not experiencing the “high-risk” COVID symptoms).  These students, and students who are remaining home due to a COVID-related issue (quarantining due to close contact with a COVID-positive person, experiencing COVID-related symptoms, or awaiting COVID test results), but are otherwise able to attend school, may sign in remotely and attend classes virtually.  A parent/guardian must call the school nurse to report the student’s absence from in-person learning (please do not email the teacher or the school office of the absence).

With devices now being sent home nightly, it is possible that K – 3 students needing to stay home (not for personal reasons) can be part of the remote learning on their first day of absence.  If the decision is made too close to the start of the school day, teachers will not have time to upload the materials to the Seesaw platform. Students can still live-stream from home beginning at 8:00am as long as all other remote learning protocol are followed.

Please do note, however, if the student is truly not feeling well and is not able to remain online with their class for a full day, they really do need to take the day as a “sick day”.

**It might be helpful to familiarize yourself with the “Student Expectations for Remote Learning” (click to open), also found in the parent/student handbook. in case your student needs to attend class remotely.

**Students who are traveling or are on vacation, will be marked absent, and are expected to complete the classwork posted in their Google Classroom. They may not attend classes virtually. Please refer to the parent/student handbook for additional information regarding attendance and school policy. 

**Reminder: Students (in-person and remote) are tardy if they are not in school when the bell rings at 7:55 am.

If you are using the “Drop & Go” area to drop off your student(s) in the morning, please remember students need to be ready to depart the car quickly (mask is already on, backpack in hand, etc).  More families are now using the Drop & Go option and traffic is starting to back up down Park Street.

If your child is not fully ready to exit the car, please find an alternate place to park.  Parents should not get out of the car in the Drop & Go area and students should be getting out on the curb side of the car only (not into the busy street).

In addition, please remember to pull all the way up in front of the school (just don’t block the crosswalk).  We want to utilize the entire length of that curb in front of the main school and the Pre-K parking lot.

In addition, signs around the school clearly note acceptable parking areas.  Please obey the traffic signs at all times of day for the safety of our students and parents!