QCC Newsletter: April 2020 (PDF)

Employee of the Week: LeeAnn Maki-Van Berkom

This week, we would like to recognize and honor the work of LeeAnn Maki-VanBerkom, our transportation supervisor. LeeAnn led her team to figure out how to deliver meals, school supplies and plenty of smiles and waves to our students across the district. More than just the supervisor, she also drives the longest route and makes great connections with kids and community. Leading by example, continuous flexibility and willingness to do what it takes for our students, LeeAnn is our Employee of the Week.

April 6, 2020

Dear Rangers,

Today Governor Inslee ordered the continuation of the closure of in-person, at school building school for the rest of the school year. While this is sad news, as friends will not be able to spend time together at school, our spring sports season is no longer possible, and our typical spring activities and traditions such as Prom and graduation in our gym all fall under the school closure order. However, education and the celebration of learning will continue. The bringht noe is that it gives all of us the opportunity to be creative, involve students in helping us re-create these spring traditions and find ways to engage as a community while staying safe and learning apart from each other.

Last week Mr. Moss and his team communicated our plan to continue to engage secondary students through Project-Based Learning. Brick-and-Mortar Elementary students, at the same time, will continue to work with their teachers to extend their learning and build new academic skills. We had hoped that these learning-over-distance measures would end and we would be back to our classrooms later in April, teachers were also building in the possibility that school would continue in a distance learning model for the rest of the year.

Parents, we need your help and partnership, as you have been so generous in providing already. Now that we are not able to bring students to the school building, it is essential that each student has a place to engage in learning while staying home. Your children will depend on you even more, as they are not able to see their teachers, to help them maintain a schedule and routine for learning. I recognize that each family has its own concerns and circumstances, and we are more than willing to speak with each of you to help find ways to support student engagement.

Our expectation for ourselves is to provide interesting and engaging learning opportunities for our students. Our expectation for our students is to stay healthy, safe, and to continue their learning. Our partnership is never more important than it is right now. We will continue to host on-line meetings where parents and student can ask Mr. Moss or me questions they have about our district and school plans. Your child’s teacher will continue to connect with your children at least once a week. We have support services set up if students need help with their work, and we continue to engage in developing interesting ways to learn.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me or Mr. Moss if you have questions about this letter or our plans to continue to engage students in learning for the rest of this school year. There are still many questions that we have not found answers to yet, such as what will graudation will look like this year, but as we create those plans with students and parents, we will communicate that as well.

I am proud to be a Ranger with you!

Frank Redmon

Superintendent

Teaching & Learning Update 4/03/20 (Downloadable PDF)

Please click the link below to view updated information for West Sound Tech Students

https://www.smore.com/qshzd

Superintendent Update 4/03/2020 (Downloadable PDF)

Notice: The board work study that was scheduled for April 8th has been cancelled.

This week’s employee of the week is an unsung hero who works quietly, efficiently, and with great ability behind the scenes to make what we all do possible. Steve Haveron keeps our network running smoothly, responds to tech requests, manages the tech committee, the tech budget, installs instructional technology in classrooms, and learns what he needs to in order to be an effective leader in technology to support student learning. In addition, Steve also is a mentor for students whose passion is around technology. When we ask for tech support, Steve not only delivers solutions, he also recommends other and often more effective ways to answer our tech questions.

Dear Ranger Families,

As we enter into Spring Break, our staff has been busy working to design what education will look like for students come April 6^th. For this, we have had numerous meetings and both our elementary and secondary teachers have stepped up in amazing ways to think about education through an entirely different perspective to design educational opportunities that will engage all students.

Grades K-5

• • All primary teachers are currently working to update their classroom pages on our district website to include extended daily lessons as well as abbreviated daily lessons. Our goal through providing multiple options for student learning is to ensure all kids will be given opportunities for engagement.

• • Classroom teachers will continue to have weekly video or tele conferences with each student.

Grades 6-12

• As the state has shifted course and asked that all districts go beyond simply providing optional opportunities for engagement to instead provide education that allows for course credits, our secondary staff has collaborated on how to do this while also being understanding of the challenges that come with what we’re facing as a community and nation.

• While our teachers have quickly proven their abilities to transition each class into an “online” learning model, we came to the realization that having six different independent subjects which each have independent workloads may not be a realistic expectation for our students at this time. Meanwhile, we also came to the realization that meaningful, engaging, relevant learning must be the standard.

• Through this process, we have decided to provide engagement for all students in grades 6-12 through Project-Based Learning, an approach that allows students to complete several tasks within one project over a period of two weeks to earn credit across different classes. Through completing this bi-weekly project (which will have a multitude of choices to ensure all students find the work to be fun and relevant), participating in provided math exercises, and maintaining an exercise log, students will be able to stay on track in earning all credits for the semester.

• Project-Based Learning at a Glance

  For this approach, all classes (with a few specific exceptions) will be changed from letter grades to Pass or Fail courses, and each student’s conferencing advisor will work with the student throughout the process, as well as assess the project at the end of the two weeks.

• To help families fully understand Project-Based Learning, we will be having two virtual “open houses” over the next week. To join either of these meetings, first go to www.zoom.com and then click on “join a meeting” in the upper right hand side. Next, enter the Meeting ID shown below. Finally enter the Meeting Password, also shown below. Additionally, please visit the following URL for a short video explaining the basics of zoom meetings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSkPj6J7IC8&feature=youtu.be Alternatively, if you are unable to join over the internet, you may join audio-only using the phone numbers below.
• • Tuesday, March 31^st at 6:00 pm
    • Meeting ID: 997-922-181
    • Meeting Password: 012161
    • (253) 215-8782

• • Thursday, April 2^nd at 6:00 pm
    • Meeting ID: 196-092-871
    • Meeting Password: 406269
    • (253) 215-8782

Food Service Delivery & Material/Supply Delivery

• Beginning next week some changes will be coming to our food service delivery program to help reduce the potential for people to get sick. While we will still be providing the same total number of meals for any person 18 and under, we will only be delivering meals on Mondays and Wednesday. For this, Monday’s delivery will also include meals for Tuesday and Wednesday’s delivery will also include meals for Thursday and Friday. Today’s delivery included meals for both today and Monday and Tuesday’s delivery will include meals just for that day.

• We will continue to deliver materials and supplies to families after Spring Break; however, we will be available to work with families throughout next week on individual deliveries of items. For this, please call the office during our office hours.

            Office Hours During Spring Break

• The school office will be open from 9:00 am -1:00 pm Monday-Friday of next week. We will then resume normal hours of 8:30 am – 3:00 pm beginning on April 6^th.

Lastly, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at any time through my cell phone, (360) 302-1294.

Thank you,

Sean Moss, Principal

Please follow the link below to a Youtube video that contains a primer on how to connect to a Zoom Meeting. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/nSkPj6J7IC8