Employee of the Week: Crystal Manly

From the beginning of this crisis, Crystal has been on the front line, creating, problem solving, collaborating, and leading to ensure that there was no break between the excellent food service program while students were in school and a region-leading food service distribution system now that students cannot come to school. She has been tireless in her efforts to create the menus, order the food, work with the paras who have been staffing the kitchen with her to create and package the meals for delivery by our transportation team. So many folks involved in the process, but Crystal has led this incredible effort.

Thank you, Crystal!

Dear Rangers,

We once again find ourselves in new waters, with new directives from the state to stay at home, continue to provide food to students, daycare for healthcare workers and emergency responders, and to provide an education to our students while most folks are at home. That last point is where I will spend most of this note with you today – what education looks like at this point in the shutdown.

I first want to acknowledge that what is being asked of parents is unprecedented, difficult, and ambiguous. I am sorry about that, and hope that you know that we are here in this together, and our teachers, paras, food service, custodial, transportation, and administration staff are all working on supporting you and your children while we are working through the crisis as a community.

Know that we will be asking for more engagement, more time spent in academic work, and continued contact with their teacher or advisor. In-person, face-to-face education has been banned through the 24^th of April, and it is not outside the realm of possibility that the school buildings will not be available for a longer period, so we are hoping for a return to school on the 27^th, but planning for the eventuality that we do not return this school year.

This week, our teachers will be contacting your children to talk about their engagement as well as how they have been doing. Next week is our Spring Break, and while our food service and daycare services will be running, our learning and teaching staff will not be reaching out to students. We will start with a stronger learning and accountability focus starting Monday, April 6^th.

Last night State Superintendent Reykdal sent guidance to all school districts in the state. The highlights from that memo are:

• Education must continue, teachers will continue to teach
  • We started with providing opportunities for students to engage in learning – now we are shifting to ensuring that all students are making progress toward learning targets, earning credit, and building academic skills.
  • There is much that our amazing staff still needs to develop; this shift in expectations for students will happen after spring break (March 21^st to 29^th). In the coming days you, and for 6-12^th graders, your children, will hear from their teachers with more on what this looks like.
• We will design learning for equity and access
  • Learning goals will be based on Washington state standards
  • Instruction will be flexible
    • Some materials will be delivered through our existing food delivery system, most will be on-line through tools such as Google Classroom.
    • We will be supporting you by sending engagement strategies and ideas, schedules, and other ways to help you to keep your children plugged in to learning.
  • Teachers will be assessing learning
    • To help minimize the chance of spreading the virus, almost all of the work that students do to record and demonstrate their learning will be electronic. Similarly, we are working to reduce the number of things that we are physically sending home.
    • We will need your help in gathering and assessing your children’s’ work. Throughout, your child’s teacher or advisor will stay in touch with you.
  • Special Education staff will be supporting students who have specially designed instruction written into their IEP’s.
    • Special Education teachers and paraeducators will coordinate with General Education teachers to help with accommodations and modifications
    • Supports for students with IEP’s will be delivered to those students by the Special Education Staff as well as the General Education staff, so that we are delivering services to the greatest extent possible.

This is a lot, I recognize that. We are adjusting how we communicate with you, so that you are not overwhelmed, but are supported and get what you need from us.

• Parents of Kindergarten through 5^th grade students will have a more direct role in working with your children to engage in learning.
  • Know that the teachers will be giving you not only what your students need to learn, but also how to help them in that learning.
• Parents of 6^th through 12^th grade students can be copied on messages sent to their students, please let their advisor know if you do want to get emails and notifications. The onus of working on projects and completing work should be on the students themselves
  • I encourage you to stay informed about the projects that your kids are working on; I am sure you will be as interested as the students will be in learning.
  • For many students, staying focused on completing assigned tasks will be easy, for others we will need your help in reminding students that school is still in session, even though it feels very different.

Throughout the crisis of the coronavirus, we still need to rely on each other – and the continued education of our children is no exception. Our expert educators and support staff deeply and dearly miss working with your children, seeing their faces every day, and celebrating their learning and successes with them. We still want to provide service to you and your children and we are working every day to find more effective ways to do that even while we cannot see them in person.

At any time if you have questions, need help, or just want to talk about how we are doing, please do not hesitate to talk to you child’s teacher, Mr. Moss, Mr. Davis, or me. We are all here for you – now just a bit more distant!

Frank Redmon

Superintendent

Supply & Distribution Update Letter 3/20/20 (PDF)

The school office will be open Monday - Friday from 8:00 am - 3:00 pm

If we can help you over the phone or through email that is best. If you visit our office, please remember that we will be practicing social distancing. 

Second Step has provided us with a Healthy at Home: A Toolkit for Supporting Families Impacted by COVID-19, offered in both English and Spanish.  Within the toolkit parents and students can access videos about prevention and care, emotional well-being, and learning at home.  Please take a look and try out some of the activities.

Healthy At Home Toolkit (Click link and then select English or Spanish)  

Dear Ranger Families,

I want to give you a quick update on how we plan to stay engaged with you and your children over the course of the school shutdown.

This week your children should receive a call or request to video chat using ZOOM, an online platform. This is the best method that we have at this point to stay in contact with each of our students. In this first week, we are checking in with each student to check in on their well-being. We know that this shutdown is incredibly stressful on you and your family, and we want to ensure your children are supported by one of their strongest adult advocates after you, their teachers.

As you know, today we started providing meals for anyone 18 years old and younger who wants them. Tomorrow we will begin delivery to those areas and at the times as advertised on the flyer on our website and Facebook.

Next week and in the weeks that follow, your child’s teacher will stay in contact to support her or his learning and engagement in the learning. To support that, we will be sending home instructional materials every Tuesday and Friday that will be delivered at the same times and in the same places as the meals. If you are able to come to school to pick up these materials, please let your child’s teacher know during the contact next week.

At this point, plans for graduation, scheduled for June 6^th at 2:00 PM have not changed. Our seniors and juniors will be receiving work and assignments from their teachers. For these students, there is an expectation that they continue to stay engaged with the work, so they are able to earn the credits they need to make progress toward graduation.

Our staff is committed to ensuring we support the engagement in learning for each student in the district throughout the shutdown. While we have an outline of a plan of how that will work, know that much will change throughout the next six weeks. One thing that we do not plan to change is our scheduled Spring Break – March 30 to April 3^rd. Food service and day care will continue through the break, but there will be no teacher contact that week.

As always, I welcome your questions, advice and feedback. Contact my office at 360-765-2900 or email me at fredmon@qsd48.org.

Proud to be a Ranger with you,

Frank Redmon

Superintendent

Information About Free Meals for Children 18 and Under (Downloadable PDF)

Dear Rangers,

This is a scary time for all of us, and I want to recognize the staff of the Quilcene School District who have stepped up to the plate and has helped craft our ideas on how to continue to provide services to the community.

I first ask for your patience and understanding as we learn more about the individual and community impacts of the closure of schools. Know that we are thinking of, and planning on, how best to serve the families of the Quilcene School District in a time when the situation changes almost daily.

Below Mr. Moss and I, along with our administrative team have outlined a plan that we hope will best serve the needs of kids and community. Please know that as we receive more guidance from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction along with the Governor’s office, these plans will change. As they do, we will do our best to keep you informed.

While we will try to put all of our actions in place as soon as possible, it may be early next week before all of these new systems will be working. To be able to ensure we are delivering the best possible level of service, we need some information from our parents and families.

• Tomorrow our office staff will be making phone call home to all families. The purpose of these calls will be to further identify which families will need which services. In addition, we will use this information to begin to identify what supplies and materials (including Chromebooks) will need to be prepared to send to homes. 

One of our most basic needs is simple – a good meal. We will strive to provide a breakfast and lunch to any person 18 years old or younger who wants it - even kids from outside the District or children not yet enrolled in school. To do that,

• We will be providing breakfast and lunch Monday - Friday each week during the school shutdown. We will begin tomorrow, March 17^th with these meals being provided on a pickup basis at the school from 10:00 AM to noon.
• Starting Wednesday, March 18^th, we will then expand to several locations and bus stop delivery on Wednesday. Our buses will be stopping at several locations in our district for those families in the area who want to pick up food from us. Please refer to the schedule below for locations and times where breakfast and lunch will be available for pickup beginning on Wednesday:
  • Quilcene School Cafeteria: 10: 00 – 12:00
  • Coyle Fire Hall:  10:15 – 10:45
  • Coyle Community Center:  10:50 – 11:20
  • Dabob Fire Hall:  11:45 – 12:15
  • Faith Farm:  10:15 – 10:45
  • Lake Leland Dock:  10:50 – 11:20
  • Discovery Bay:  11:45 – 12:15
  • Linger Longer Bay:  10:15 – 10:45
  • Hiddendale:  10:50 – 11:20
• It is essential that we have a good count for the number of meals that we need to prepare and have available. As mentioned above we will be calling each family in the district. You may also email Tammy in the office at tthompson@qsd48.org, or call 360-765-3363.

Children need to know that there is a routine and a purpose, as well as be assured from the adults in their lives that things will be OK, even if they are a bit weird at the moment.

• One of the most important components as we move towards what things will look like over the next six weeks will be establishing a routine with your kid(s).
  • Some things you should consider when establishing a routine:
    • Wake Up Time
    • Breakfast
    • Times for Structured Play
    • Reading Time (or being read to for younger students) 
    • Lunch Time
    • Outdoor Time
    • Exercise Time
    • Dinner Time
    • Family Time
    • TV Time
    • Bed Time

We also recognize that just as this is scary and ambiguous for parents and staff, our children will need support for their fears and misgivings.

• Our District Counselor, Tiffiny Jaber, will be available throughout the closure. To contact her you can reach her at her email, tjaber@qsd48.org, or by calling her at (360)477-6572.

• Over the duration of the next six weeks, we will continue to offer mental health services weekly, Monday-Wednesday from 8:00 am - 2:00 pm,  for all students. This service will be provided by Rebecca Williams of MCS Counseling. Rebecca has worked in her current capacity for two years and many of our students have already established an ongoing relationship with her. To utilize these services, Rebecca can be reached at (360)930-9370.

• • Student Under 13- Parents or guardians must call to give authorization.
  • Students 13 and Over- Are able to call directly 

This week, our learning and teaching staff will be working on a multitude of ways to help your children stay engaged and active while they are away from school. This will take a few days of planning, and while some students came home today with materials to work with, most students can expect to be contacted by their teachers next week.

Keep watching our web site, Facebook, and ClassDojo for updates. If you have any questions, would like to talk to me or Mr. Moss, or any of our instructional or administrative staff, please do not hesitate to call or email.

Thank you Quilcene,

Frank Redmon

Superintendent

Quilcene School District

360-765-3363

Employees of the Week: Debi Cornelius & Kevin Wong

This week we honor Debi Cornelius and Kevin Wong as employees of the week. They have both gone above and beyond in their duties in helping to keep us all safe and taking on the sanitizing of the classrooms and buildings while keeping up with their other tasks. Thank you Debi and Kevin for all you do and your dedication to Quilcene School District.

Dear Rangers,

We have kept our schools open as long as possible, as recommended by state and local public health authorities. We know that in addition to education, schools provide vital support to our communities and that closure will have a major impact on our families. Please take a moment to read this entire message. 

As ordered by Governor Inslee, All Quilcene Public Schools will close to students, effective Tuesday, March 17 through April 24. This includes West Sound Tech.

Monday, March 16 is the last day of school in the Quilcene District through April 24, including athletics, activities and clubs. 

School offices will remain open through Friday, March 20 so families can pick up their student’s medication and other personal items. We will continue to post information, updates, and resources on our website and our Facebook page.

Our district office will remain open through the closure, should families need to contact us. Our School Board will continue to meet and govern our school district in this challenging time.

We understand that extended school closure will create hardship for many families. The school day is the centerpiece of the lives of many people. Children count on the reliable routine that a school day offers, from the classroom setting to the many people at school who know them, care for them and provide recognition of them five days a week.

Families, too, count on that routine and the knowledge that their children are cared for during the day. It allows them to tend to their workday or focus on the other pieces of life that need to be taken care of–and there are many.

Contemplating weeks without that structure and care may seem overwhelming. Please know that we are doing our very best to make decisions that will help care for all of us through this time.

Meals for Students 

Meals will be available to all youth 18 and under starting this Tuesday, March 17. We are working on a plan that will likely be a combination of limited delivery and on-site pick-up. As those details are worked out, we will send out information.

No forms or registration are required. Students can drop by to pick up a meal. Breakfast and lunch will be distributed at the same time. We encourage families to pick up the meals and eat at home, to encourage social distancing. Meals will be available Monday through Friday.

Over the next few days, we will communicate our plan to support families in the following ways:

• Providing learning support materials online, via email and hard copy. These are not meant to be a substitute for classroom instruction but will help students practice their skills and learn independently during the closure.
• Providing emergency childcare for our families of healthcare professionals and first responders, and other workers who need to continue working during our closure, and are unable to provide other means of safe supervision. Please complete the form that was sent home with students today and return it to school on Monday if you are in need of childcare.
• Providing support to our 11th and 12th-grade students to ensure they complete graduation requirements. 

We will be sending frequent updates with information and resources via email, Facebook, the website and social media channels. We know families have many questions and we are doing our best to get you answers. You may call or email me, and we will work to provide answers in our regular updates.

We are so grateful for your patience and understanding as we continue to work through this difficult situation. We will get through this challenge together. 

Thank you,

Frank Redmon