Notes from Principal Simmons: Weekend Update March 27

Friday, March 27, 2020

Weekend Update March 27

Positivity Project Character Trait for Next Week is HUMOR! (How fitting!?!)

A person with the strength of humor is skilled at seeing the funny side of things, bringing smiles and laughter to others, and identifying and communicating the absurdities in life.

Report Cards Available Online

Your child's 2nd marking period report card is now available to view online. Click here to access the viewing instruction. Here is a short video that also explains how to access the report card online. If you need to update your email or phone number on Schooltool, please click this link.

Distance Learning

My, oh my!!!!!!!! Reality looks very different than it did even months ago. I admit, once upon a time, I wondered what a "work from home" job would be like. I envisioned leisurely coffee mornings, doing laundry throughout the day and having extra time to help my kids. Boy, oh boy, was I wrong. My laundry is backed up, dishes are overrunning the sink and I work until late into the night. Usually, I tell my daughter to "Skip it! I'll help you later!" I am 100% certain I chose the right career at the right school. Being the Stonehedge K-2 Principal is my dream come true and I can't wait to get back to it. I so miss our kiddos. I can not wait... to never work from home again!

At this point, you and your child should have been able to access the distance learning portal. We have received a lot of feedback about the activities provided for your children. The feedback has ranged from, "This is awesome! Thank you!" to "This is not enough. When will more learning be provided by the teachers?" to "We are overwhelmed! This is too much!" All of these feelings are normal and understandable. As I indicated in last week's blog, these first two weeks of activities before the break are intended to help ease the transition to online learning. All activities for these two weeks are review and are intended to keep your child engaged and productive. We are also using these two weeks to make sure every family has access to the technology necessary for online instruction and to ensure that our teachers and families are comfortable with the necessary technology. Instruction that will include new learning, versus review, will begin after the break (if necessary) and will continue via the distance learning portal as well as Google Classroom. At that point, teachers will be looking to give the students feedback on their learning rather than grades. If you need any help with accessing anything, please call the office (315-487-4648) or email me (asimmons@westgenesee.org).