Focus on our Students
This week in Center, we are beginning our new adventure in learning. Teachers and staff have spent the last week preparing for this new alternative approach to instruction and we are ready to hit the ground running.
Students will be able to connect with teachers on a weekly, if not daily basis. Staff have already reached out to students this past week, to check in on their kids, see how they were doing, and also find out what resources or supports students might need to continue their learning at home. As a district, our personal touch to learning and ensuring that instruction is student centered continues to be the focus.
At the elementary level, students will be able to use their individual Ipads provided by the district. Teachers put together lessons that incorporate both virtual experiences and more traditional approaches. At the secondary level, students’ schedules will be comparable to when they were onsite. Teachers will be doing online instruction, virtual lessons, science labs, exercise regimens, and weekly projects. All students in middle school and high school have laptops, so students and teachers are familiar with this type of learning, and many teachers already have Google classrooms established.
Our special education and EL teams, have put together resources and Toolkits to support students and core teachers during this time. Our counselors are setting up times to meet with kids and continue providing them with established services. Staff will be utilizing Zoom meetings to keep up with regular communication. Staff are also continuing to provide small group and 1:1 instruction as needed through Google Hangouts, Newrow, and Zoom meetings.
Our team worked hard this past week with local Internet providers, Ciello and Jade, to get families who do not currently have services, set up with Internet in their homes. Thanks to funding through some of our grants and Katrina Ruggles’ efforts we are able to provide this service to families at no cost for the next couple of months.
Grab-and-go food service will continue on a weekly basis. Last week, thanks to the hard work of our food service team, under Dianna Valenzuela’s leadership, we were able to provide food to over 250 students. The grab-and-go service will take place every Monday from 10:00 am until noon. Students will receive food for the week. Ms. Banning worked hard to continue our food distribution service for identified families as well.
Our transportation department is jumping in to help by delivering food and supplies to families in the country or that were not able to come to the scheduled pick up.
Everybody has risen to the occasion, to pitch in and help, and make this a positive, productive experience for our students. Thank you all! #VikingStrong
Full STEAM Ahead
On March 11th, Ms. Dolan and her students hosted the first STEAM night for our district. This event gave students the chance to showcase the projects and work they’ve done in their various science classes throughout the year.
Chemistry and physics students gave demonstrations on their science based projects, other students presented activities related to technology, engineering, arts and math.
Coding students demonstrated the games and programs they’d designed on their computers.
Future scientists had a great time taking part in the different experiments and had the chance to participate in hands on mini projects. It was a great night of exploring the world through the lens of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math!
