Every new school year brings its fair share of challenges. The fall of 2020 is completely different for everyone. We have now completed 13 days in person at our elementary school. We have adjusted, worked to be as conscious about health as possible, and continued to put kids first. While many things have changed, we are finding success in several aspects of this year's start of school.
As a school, reading and book access are extremely important to us. Teachers and our librarian have worked to find ways keep books in the hands of kids in a safe manner. Our 4th grade teachers found creative ways to continue to have Book Tastings in person and virtually in the first few days of school. Our librarian is being creative to continue to provide book choice to kids in their weekly library visits.
Our teachers have taken advantage of the amazing weather we have been having by teaching outside. Kids love having the extra space to move around, and of course love taking mask breaks. Learning outside is just as meaningful as inside the building and at times, even more fun! Kudos to our teachers for trying new things!
Recess posed a big challenge to us as we planned for kids to return to the building. Luckily, we have an abundance of outside space. We created four quadrants for recess and each class is assigned a quadrant for a week time period. They can enjoy their recess in this space with their class and then will rotate through the other quadrants each week. Splitting up 100 kids into four quadrants has created some positive change. Kids have more space to play. Kids are making new friends and playing with others that they wouldn't have played with before. Kids are getting along better and using all of their time for fun when outside! That's a big win in our book!
The beginning of the school year is not complete without our #GoodNewsCalloftheDay program! Although you can't see our lips smiling, you can hopefully tell in our eyes that we are still celebrating great kids each and every day!
