April 7, 2020
Dear AVS Parents & Guardians,
I continue to thank you for all of your support during this time, we appreciate your feedback and dedication to working with the teachers to support your children through our distance learning.
In light of everything going on, we are pleased teaching and learning is still in session and will be for the remainder of the year. Our teachers continue to take attendance during their learning sessions as we continue to expect our students to be completing the assignments and participating in the activities and on-line learning sessions. We have adjusted our curriculum and will be placing emphasis on participation, effort, and work completion. We appreciate all of you as many of these lessons require parent support depending on grade level. If your child is having difficulty attending the online sessions or needs support, please reach out to your child’s teacher.
Throughout the next couple of months our goal is to continue to teach the essential skills in the core subjects encouraging students to think, respond and be creative. Teachers are re-evaluating trimester three expectations and sorting out how we can make sure the essential skills are taught this year and what needs to be carried over to the beginning of next year. Some of the assignments your child completes may not be graded. However, it is important for your child to complete the task as it can reinforce the teaching and learning taking place now and into next year. These tasks are often a part of the daily classroom routine and the skills are often the foundation to other skills and activities to come.
As some of you have noticed, it can be difficult to teach a large group of young children through Zoom…they are understandably wiggly and can be easily distracted by each other. In our class Zoom sessions we would like to remind you we can hear everything in the background. If possible, please have your child in a quiet room/area away from others. Students can mute themselves when not talking to keep from distracting others.
Our enrichment staff which includes Art, PE, Music, Science, Garden & Spanish have started to integrate into some online classrooms and assign activities in which students can engage. Also, you may have noticed Ms. Sani our school counselor in some of the Zoom sessions too. She continues to provide support and outreach around staying calm and dealing with all the change. If you feel would like Ms. Sani to connect with your child, please contact your child’s teacher and they will follow up with Ms. Sani.
On a closing note, we will continue to celebrate our “students of the month” through classroom video award clips from me. This month we celebrate our students who have shown tremendous effort and accomplishment in the area of mathematics.
Stay healthy,
Mr. Reno