Principal's Page
Smyth Road School Newsletter
October 22, 2020
As we continue to bring back more hybrid students, we are going to try and schedule a few events (with safety protocols in place) to try and add a little “normalcy” to our school.
Costume Days: With Halloween around the corner, we would love to again give students the opportunity to dress in costumes. Because we have two different cohorts of students each week, students can dress in their Halloween costumes on Tuesday, October 27th or Friday, October 30th. Full remote students can send in pictures of themselves in costume by submitting a picture to smythlibrary@mansd.org. We will put together a slide show of all costumed characters and share it through our website!
Costume masks are not allowed; however, students need to still wear the daily required facial mask over their nose and mouth. (I bet there will be some interesting and clever use of these masks in costumes)
First Day of School Form: We still haven’t received the majority of the first day of school forms from families. These are the student emergency forms and it’s important that we have these forms submitted. They can be found front and center on the district webpage, mansd.org.
Cameras in Classrooms for Instruction: We have been getting some cameras from the district so that teachers can provide some synchronous lessons. I would like to respectfully remind parents that appropriate behavior and language is expected from our students (and their family members) when they are remotely part of classroom lessons. We ask our remote students to be in a place in their home where they can concentrate and can be free of distractions. They should be sitting up and ready to learn. We also ask that behavior in the background is appropriate. Please understand that we can’t have family members using inappropriate language in the background while students are trying to learn. Other expectations for parents/guardians:
Please let your child learn and try their best first. We are trying to encourage and build independence. It is hard for the student to concentrate and learn if you are giving them all the answers.
Please do not videotape or take screen shots of classroom instruction. You have not been given permission to do so.
Please make sure people in background are not shouting. It is hard for students to learn.
Please do not criticize or comment on the teacher’s instruction or comment on any of the children in the classroom. It should be understood that there is an umbrella of confidentiality regarding the unique abilities, inabilities and disabilities of any and all children in our school.
It should go without saying that family members in the background should be dressed and should not be engaging in any inappropriate activities.
As much as I would like to NOT have to mention all the numbered requests above, it is unfortunately necessary. We have already experienced all the above in our remote teaching environment. Going forward, teachers will be able to temporarily remove someone from their google classroom if students or family members violate these remote instruction expectations.
Thank you for your cooperation as we work to educate your children during this very tricky time!
Reminder: No School for students tomorrow, Friday, October 23rd for teacher workshops
Come to our Pumpkin Drive Through!! Thursday Oct 29 6-7 p.m.