Lisa Leatham, Principal
Lisa Leatham
If you missed the chromebook checkout days/times over the last week, they will continue Tuesday through Friday (the 22nd-25th) at the District Office. The District Office is located across from the Middle School at 88834 Territorial Road.
We will be moving the chromebooks over here, as well as the other technology needed for checkout, this evening and tomorrow morning. The checkout will occur every afternoon for the rest of the week from 1PM – 4PM. If you cannot make that timeframe, and still need a chromebook, please contact your building administrator. They can work to get your chromebook and login-information for you, and meet you early in the morning, or in the evening.
Can you believe it? The start of school is just a week away!
As we get closer to the first day, we want to remind families of some of the basics at Veneta Elementary this year. While some things will be different, many things will be the same-including all the staff here at VES who can’t wait to see everyone! Whether in-person or virtual, we’re looking forward to next week!
A few reminders:
- For K-3 in-person, doors open at 7:30am
- For K-3 in-person, school starts at 7:55am and ends at 2:25pm
- For 4-5 hybrid students who are in Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL), your teacher will be reaching out before school starts with your schedule
- For K-5 students in the Options program (entirely online), your teacher will be reaching out to you before school starts with your schedule
- 4th & 5th hybrid CDL students will have school supply kit, textbook, and teacher information pick up in the entry hallway at VES on Friday, 9/18, from 9:00am-3:00pm and Monday, 9/21, from 9:00am-5:00pm
- Students are split into A day and B day cohorts. Cohort/bus information is at the top of this page under the red 2020 School Year tab.
- Class lists are posted on the front doors of the school
- K-3 in-person students will attend either T/Th (A day cohort) or W/Fri (B day cohort)
- K-3 in-person students will have work assigned by their teacher that is to be completed on off days
- 4th-5th will attend online sessions remotely four days a week, Tue-Fri.
- There will be no school on Mondays. In addition to daily cleaning, the school will be thoroughly cleaned on Mondays.
- Due to health precautions, we are not able to invite any family members or volunteers inside the building this year, even on the first day of school. So sorry!! Our sweet VES staff will be outside to greet your child and help him or her to the correct classroom.
- There will be a photo opportunity for kindergarten students outside the kindergarten entry on their first day of school (Tuesday AND Wednesday), as well as a photo opportunity in front of the school for all other students. Everyone (even those not participating in in-person learning) is welcome to come take a picture!
- Masks are required while at school, per State of Oregon requirement. This includes PE and recess. However, there will be timed “mask free zones” that students will be able to utilize during the day when needed. We understand that masks can be a pain-they aren’t our favorite things either. Please help us by practicing mask usage before the start of school. It’ll take some getting used to but we’re all in this together and we can do it!
- If your child is sick please, please, please do not sent him or her to school.
- If your child has one of these three symptoms we will call home right away and ask that you pick up your student: Fever (100.4 or higher), Shortness of breath/trouble breathing, or a Cough. Please do not send your child to school with any of these symptoms. We want everyone who walks through our building, students and staff alike, to stay safe and healthy!
- A great resource for this fall is the red 2020 School Year tab at the top of our website. Anything and everything related to this school year can be found there, including links and info for the entirely online Options program.
To show you some of the changes you’ll see at VES this fall, our Instructional Assistants made a few short videos. Click on the link below and navigate to videos to watch them. A huge thanks to our IAs for being good sports and making these. We’ve got some movie stars in the making! 😉
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ7KkjE0VLv_waMtY2Ib8vQ
I’m sure I’ve forgotten something in this post. If so, my apologies. If you think of something I haven’t covered, call the office at 541-935-8225 and Becky or I will be happy to answer any lingering questions or concerns. See you soon!
A reminder that tomorrow is the first day of Chromebook checkout for our VES 4th and 5th grade students in the hybrid program and for our students in the Options program. Here’s the post from the FRSD website, with the link to the daily schedule of checkouts:
The NEW chromebook checkout schedule/location/days/times have been finalized. The checkout, for ALL SCHOOLS, will be in the North parking lot of Elmira High School. To access that information, visit the link/page below.
CLICK HERE FOR CHROMEBOOK CHECKOUT SCHEDULE
IMPORTANT ADDITION: AN FRSD CHROMEBOOK CHECK-OUT AGREEMENT MUST BE SIGNED BY THE STUDENT AND PARENT IN ORDER TO RECEIVE A CHROMEBOOK.
These forms will be available in the front office of every school as well as the high school during check out. The link below will take you to the form if you would like to print, sign, and bring with you to the checkout.
Chromebooks can not be issued without a form signed by both the student and parent.
Good morning FRSD families. Our vendor, Chartwells, and their staff have been working hard to prepare for the return of students. Below are some notes regarding our plan for the beginning of the year, and how it will build and grow over the first few weeks this Fall. In addition I have included some important information concerning Federal waivers the district has received in regards to providing meals.
1. FREE MEALS: Federal Waivers we have received allow the District to provide both breakfast and lunch meals FREE to ALL school age children through December 2020.
2. FREE AND REDUCED LUNCH FORM: Please, continue to fill these out now, DO NOT WAIT. The waivers will end eventually, and we don’t want families to end up not being covered when they do. In addition, the qualifying income amounts have been adjusted, allowing for more eligible families. The easy online application process can be completed here: https://www.ode.state.or.us/apps/frlapp or you can go to this link and print a copy of the form and turn it in at a school: https://www.fernridge.k12.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/1621_001.pdf
3. Beginning in week 1: The first day of meals will be the first day students return, on September 22nd. We will have 3 ways students can get meals:
a. K-3 students that attend school will have an opportunity to have both breakfast and lunch, at their school, in the cafeteria.
b. The High School North Parking lot will have a “drive-through” meal pick up service occurring each school day, from 11:00-12:30. A lunch for that day and a breakfast for the next day will be available. In order to pick up meals, parents/students will just need to provide their last name for ODE compliance. The meals are free of charge.
c. Students in grades 4-12 that are on campus for 2 hours for LIPI (Limited In-Person Instruction) from 9-11 AM will have an opportunity to get a meal before they leave for the day, including a breakfast for the following morning.
4. Beginning in week 2: In addition to the opportunities described above occurring in week 1, we will add:
a. Service at the EHS drive through location from 11:00-12:30 on Monday the 28th, a no-school day. This will continue every Monday.
b. Drop off/pick up locations will be available at a few locations throughout the community. The exact number and location of these meal pick-up sites is yet to be determined.
5. Beginning in week 3: Everything from the first two weeks will continue. We will be looking into the possibility of having all buses available to deliver meals to the community in food boxes, that would allow a family to get a box of meals (lunch and breakfasts) for the entire week so that they wouldn’t need to come to a site each day. This will take additional logistical planning and we will keep families informed if this becomes a possibility.
A big HELLO to our VES family! Hoping this finds all of you safe and healthy. School is getting closer (finally!) and we wanted to give you an update on all sorts of things. Hope this helps with your planning over the next two weeks. See you all soon, whether in person or virtually!
The first day of school has been delayed:
- K-3 “A Day” students will begin on September 22
- K-3 “B Day” students will begin on September 23
- 4-5 Students in Hybrid Distance Learning will begin on September 22
- K-5 “OPTIONS” online students will begin on September 22
Class lists will be posted on the front doors by 9:00am on Tuesday, September 15th.
Veneta Elementary Community Q & A continues:
- 9/9 @ 5:30: https://meet.google.com/pfg-eeod-bjp?hs=122&authuser=0
- 9/16 @ 5:30: https://meet.google.com/pfg-eeod-bjp?hs=122&authuser=0
Chromebook Checkout will be September 15-18. If you have a device that your 4th and 5th graders can use, go for it! If you need one, please check the schedule on the FRSD website for your checkout time.
4-5 Supply Kit pickup will be here at VES in the hallway by office: Friday, September 18th from 9:00-3:00 and Monday, September 21st from 9:00-5:00.
Thank you so much for all the support, patience, and kindness that’s been shown towards our efforts to get school up and running again. We know this is a hardship on our families and that everyone has been stretched to their limits over the past several months. Know that we appreciate your efforts. The VES community is strong and supportive and we’re going to grow even stronger through this time.
Due to the current emergency situation in Lane County, and its effect on our community, staff and students, I regretfully must share that we are delaying the start of school by one week. Instead of beginning September 15th, we will begin on Tuesday, September 22nd with all students K-12 and in the FRSD OPTIONS program. As before K-3 will be in a hybrid A/B model, and 4th – 12th will be in Comprehensive Distance Learning.
While I am certainly disappointed with the turn of events that necessitate this shift, I am confident it is the best choice given our current circumstances. While our staff have been working overtime to get ready for students, we now have too many uncertainties in order to roll out in 7 days. Some of the circumstances that led to this decision include
- The periodic loss of power and potential loss of power makes our chromebook checkout, a CRITICAL component that needs to occur prior to students returning, too risky to begin. Chromebook checkout will be moved to next week. A schedule will be posted prior to Saturday, September 12th.
- We may need to open some of our facilities in our community to support folks that need clean air to breath, a shower, or to simply charge a phone or have a meal.
- We have staff that live in areas that have had to evacuate, as well as many staff supporting close family members in need.
- The adjustment of our school air systems to utilize more outside air (to assist with COVID), has exacerbated the issue of smoke in some of our classrooms and buildings.
- A need to support some other Lane County Districts and communities that are in desperate need currently.
I thank you in advance for your continued resilience in the face of seemingly unending challenges.
Gary Carpenter, Superintendent, FRSD 28J
I’ll be holding a question and answer session both tomorrow, Sept. 2nd, and next Wednesday, Sept 9th, at 5:30pm via Google Meet. You’ll find the link below.
In these meetings I’ll be giving an overview of the activities taking place right now to get things ready for the start of school, as well as answer any questions you have regarding school this year. Looking forward to seeing you!
Lisa
Registration for all students (both the in-person Hybrid model AND the online Options program) is Tuesday-Thursday of this week. There are three options for registration this year:
1) Register online-click the registration tab on the right side of the VES website.
2) Pick up a paper packet from the front of the school, take it away to fill it out, and return it to Becky in the office.
3) Call Becky at 541-935-8225 to schedule an appointment to come in and fill the paperwork out in person.
A reminder that we have a $20 school supply fee payable at registration AND if you ordered spring pictures you can pick them up from Becky in the office during registration.
See you soon!
Elementary Supply Fee
For the 2020-2021 school year, the FRSD elementary schools will again be instituting an elementary school supply fee. Given the current health and economic conditions, we have lowered the supply fee to $20 per student, payable at registration. The fee will encompass all in-person school supplies needed for students in K-3 classrooms as well as supply kits for at home learning for students in 4th and 5th grades. The supply fee eliminates the need for parents to shop for supplies and ensures that classrooms, whether in-person or virtual, have all supplies clean and ready to go on the first day of school.
Fern Ridge Faith Center is once again kindly partnering with our community to provide scholarships as needed. No child will be denied access to supplies.
Questions? Concerns?
Elmira Elementary: (541) 935-8214
Veneta Elementary: (541) 935-8225
