November 8 – 12

by Melanie Sylvester · November 5, 2021

KG students are “Home Helpers” in SuperUnit 2!

We are here for you! Dan & I continue to invite you to book meetings with us, using our Google Calendars, if you would like to talk about anything.

ES Yearbook: We are still going to produce a yearbook this year with the theme of “Zoom In, Zoom Out”. In preparation for that, I am hoping that you can drop a few photos from this quarter into this Yearbook Folder. Minh has created folders for your first SuperUnit. We will need to be creative … so we’d love to have anything you think might be usable. Parents may be able to help with providing photos of their kids working virtually as well. Thank you!

This week’s Highlighted Resource: SeeSaw Lessons!

Following on from Lee’s email yesterday, a reminder that our fully functional trial of Seesaw Lessons is now live for the next 60 days. This could prove to be a valuable resource to lighten the load of content creation, so please explore the lessons available, tweak them as you see fit and let me know if you have any questions.
I recommend you take their Seesaw Lessons self paced training module (it only takes about 20 minutes). There’s also a handy standards alignment tool you can use to search Common Core State Standards and find the Seesaw Lessons that align with them.
Please note that Seesaw lessons are primarily, at present, designed for Grades EC-2 but they are gradually building the Grade 4 and 5 content.
Your feedback will be instrumental in determining whether or not this is something we pay for in the future, so I’ll send out a more formal feedback form towards the end of the trial. In the meantime, please feel free to let me know your thoughts, either warm or cool, on this new feature of Seesaw.
Thanks,Dave.

Bright Spots: Please take a moment to read the “bright spots” that were shared last week on the right side widget! Let’s continue to focus on, and celebrate, the good things.

When we do this we can share a joyful educator moment or share a shout out to a staff member who has brightened our day. You can find the form here!

Professional Development Opportunities: I have started a sidebar widget with links to amazing PD opportunities. If you know of others, please share with me, and I will continue to populate this.

Campus COVID (from Lisa C): Thank you everyone for your help in following the government regulations when coming to campus. Following up on Catriona’s email (#108 Sept 25), these are the protocols currently in place for all faculty and staff coming to campus:

Every staff or faculty member must be fully vaccinated (and 14 days after the second dose of the vaccine).
Staff and faculty members who have recovered from COVID-19 may come to campus after the nurse verifies the documentation.
No children are allowed on campus (no SSIS students, no staff children).
Follow all 5K rules while on campus (masks, hand washing, social distance, no gatherings, health declaration)
Staff and faculty must use Gate 2 and Main turnstiles (AKA ES entrance).
A DAILY health declaration must be completed by every staff or faculty member (electronically through QR code or paper method). [please note that this must be done at the gate]
Turnstiles are now working for staff and faculty with SSIS ID cards. If you don’t have your ID card then you must SIGN IN and SIGN OUT the logbook with Security.
All deliveries are at Gate 4 (lunch delivery, Starbucks coffee, parcels, envelopes, etc)
COVID testing is not required for staff returning to campus.
Rapid COVID testing is available on campus every Tuesday morning. This is optional. SSIS nurses will do it.