Dear Greenwood Families,
As is the case each week, especially during these uncertain times, I hope your families continue to be healthy, safe, and upbeat. I’m going to keep my opening short, as there is what appears to be a wall of text below. I’ll just leave it at this: no matter what you need, we can do this together as a Greenwood community. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions or need support.
Superintendent’s Message—4/1/20
Last Wednesday, all Wakefield families should have received a message from Superintendent Doug Lyons and Assistant Superintendent Kara Mauro outlining four main topics: Teaming, Communicating, and Connecting with students; Scheduling; Report Cards/Grading; Adapting to Work in a Pandemic. I have included a link to the message for easy reference and/or in case you didn’t receive it. The district is working hard to share updated and relevant information while not overloading everyone in this time when there is a lot of information bouncing around. If you are not receiving messages from the Wakefield Public Schools, please let me know so that we can get you on the list.
Elementary Learn Anywhere Adjustments (April 6-May 4)
As a follow-up to the district message sent to families last Wednesday, we would like to share some updated PreK-4 shared understandings. As everyone fully recognizes, Learn Anywhere was developed and utilized as a program to use primarily for snow days or other short-term unscheduled school closures. Over the past three weeks, many classroom teachers have already made changes in the way they post assignments and share information with students and families based on feedback. Grade level teachers are collaborating with one another regularly in order to create a sense of consistency district-wide, while still maintaining structures that are specific to individual classrooms.
Academic work time:
PreK-2: 60 minutes per day
3-4: 90 minutes per day
Assignments:
Posted weekly or shared daily (Monday-Thursday)
Shared in a consistent location or through a consistent method. If that is something other than on the Learn Anywhere page, there will be clarifying information on the Learn Anywhere page.
Assignments for specific subjects (reading, math, etc.) are outlined for each day
A recommended amount of time is provided for each subject-area assignment
Connection, engagement, and well-being are still our top priorities.
Teachers will connect and communicate with students weekly (Monday-Thursday). This can happen through a number of platforms (email, Google Hangouts, SeeSaw, ClassDojo, Zoom, etc.)
“Live” connections with students:
Dates and times are scheduled and publicized in advance.
Subject and/or purpose of the time is stated (ex: Morning Meeting, Class Discussion, Virtual Snack/Recess, Story Time, Mindfulness, etc.)
As Superintendent Lyons reminded us all in his message, “There is no right or wrong way to be a parent right now. What is right, is creating a safe and happy place for your children, during this scary and uncertain time. When all of this is over, our students will not remember if they completed their assignments correctly or logged on the appropriate number of times a day, but they will remember the family, friends and members of their school community who made them feel safe and loved and reassured them that better times are ahead.”
Thank you all for your patience and flexibility as we work to create continued learning experiences for students, and we appreciate your support and feedback along the way. Our school communities are our greatest source of strength, and we know we can do this together.
March Madness Tournament of Books
You didn’t think we forgot about this, did you? After many rounds of head-to-head competition, a winner emerged! The Cool Bean by Jory John won this year’s tournament by a landslide! As our Greenwood Literacy Coach, Mrs. Labrecque noted, “It says a lot about our wonderful school community that a book with a central theme of empathy and kindness was the winner!”
Learn Anywhere—School Psychologist Page
Mrs. Beardslee, our Greenwood School Psychologist, is creating her own separate Learn Anywhere page in order to provide different resources that promote social-emotional learning. She will be posting videos about calming techniques and other helpful resources for students and families. It can be found on the main Greenwood Learn Anywhere page—check it out!
Weekly Theme—Poetry
As a way to structure my video message each morning, there will be a different “theme” each week. With April being National Poetry Month, that seemed like a natural next choice! My plan is to read some poems, share a poem-writing challenge, think about ways different people might illustrate the same poem, and some other activities that are still in the works. Who doesn’t love a mystery? And speaking of poetry, our own Greenwood Reading Specialist, Mrs. Holland, was inspired to write her own poem last week about this current experience. Please take a moment to check out her heartfelt words!
Greenwood Instagram & Facebook Account
Just another reminder about following the Greenwood School Instagram and/or Facebook accounts (@wpsgreenwood) to see the daily videos!
Thank you for everything you do to support your children and their learning—let’s have a great week!
Tiffany Back