Columbia School District

DEAR CES FAMILIES, The teachers and staff at Columbia Elementary School are so excited to welcome our Little Eagles back to school! Everyone at CES has been working diligently to prepare for this school year. This letter includes many details and updates to help us all work together to ensure our students stay safe, happy and successful. STAFF CHANGES We welcome the following staff members and those who are switching to new positions: Alesha Jones, Playground Aide - Mrs. Kelly Rentschler, Virtual Teacher - Adonia Senkewitz, Custodian - Jean David, Cafeteria - Kathy Jenness, Kindergarten ARRIVAL WINDOW To allow students to practice social distancing in the hallway at the start of school, we are asking families to drop off their child during the window of time: 7:45-8:15 a.m. All students must remain in their cars or bus until 7:45 a.m. CES doors will open at 7:45 a.m. Please do not drop off children before 7:45 a.m. as there is no adult supervision available until 7:45 a.m. Keeping children safe is our priority! FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL On the first day of school the entrance doors to our hallways are limited to staff members and students only. We will have many staff members on hand to make sure your Little Eagle gets to the correct classroom. Our Kindergarten families are invited to drop off their child at the outside classroom teacher’s door, where you waited in line to meet your teacher at the K Open House. DISMISSAL If your child will be picked up using our pick-up loop, please display the picture of the yellow car with your child’s last name and teacher’s name in your front passenger side window. When you arrive, your child’s last name will be displayed in their classroom. They will walk from their classroom out the front entrance. Several adults will be available to help your child enter your car from the curbside. You will not need to get out of your vehicle. We appreciate your patience with the pick-up loop the first week of school. It takes longer than normal because it is unfamiliar to many the first week. Please click here to see KINDERGARTEN ONLY arrival/dismissal information. You will notice a BACKPACK tag placed on your child’s backpack the first day of school. This allows our staff to ensure your child is going to the correct location during dismissal (BUS #, PICK UP LOOP, WALKER DOOR, PRESCHOOL SIBLING PICK UP). Please consider leaving this tag on your child’s backpack. CES ARRIVAL WINDOW 7:45 -8:15 a.m. CES DISMISSAL WINDOW 2:30 - 3:00 p.m BREAKFAST PROGRAM All students will be given a free grab-and-go breakfast in their classroom upon arrival. Students who have already eaten breakfast at home can save their breakfast as a snack for later in the day. LUNCH PROGRAM Lunch costs $2.65 daily, which includes milk. If you pack your child’s lunch they can purchase milk ONLY for 50 cents. Please consider filling out a free or reduced lunch application even if you are unsure that you will qualify. Please click here to apply for free or reduced lunch. You can also get a paper copy in our CES office. If your child qualifies, it helps your family and it also helps our school! This information is kept confidential. Students and classmates are not identified in any way by how they pay for their lunch. Students will eat in the cafeteria with their classroom cohort. They will be safely distanced from students in other classrooms. Students are welcome to bring lunch from home. School lunch will be delivered to their lunch table. Preschool students will eat lunch in their classrooms. CHILDCARE & PRESCHOOL If you are interested in childcare or preschool, please call Mrs. McLaury at 517-592-9753 for more information. We offer childcare beginning at 6:30 a.m. and after school until 6:00 p.m. Our tuition-paid Preschool begins on Monday, September 14th. Our GSRP Preschool begins on Monday, October 5th. BLUE COMMUNICATIONS FOLDER Every student at CES uses a blue communications folder daily. Please check this folder each night and send it back to school every day even if it is empty. This is the main way our staff communicates with you. You can also send important notes to school in their blue folder. VOLUNTEERING AT CES Volunteers and guests are not permitted at this time. We look forward to seeing our volunteers soon! PTO CES has a dynamic PTO that supports education in our school. If you would like to be involved with this wonderful organization, please email Casey Stein, PTO president CaseyNichole2000@yahoo.com or call/text 517-240-8583. ATTENDANCE If your child will be absent or late for school, please call 517-592-7552 and leave a voicemail. Please remember to ask for a doctor’s note if you take your child to see a doctor. This helps with how we are required to document their absence. We all agree that the more consistently children attend school, the more they learn. We appreciate your help in making attendance at school a priority. Virtual students are required to participate in their assignments and activities each day. Attendance is taken and we are required to report truancy in the same manner as an In Person learner. MEDICATION AT SCHOOL Parents or guardians must bring any medication to the school office in the original container and fill out a medication form. Students are not allowed to transport any medication, including cough drops. SAFETY PROTOCOLS DUE TO COVID 19 Students will wear masks at drop off & dismissal, in hallways and in common areas. Students are permitted to take off their mask when they remain with their classroom cohort and do not come in contact with students from another class. All CES students will be given two Columbia Eagles washable masks. Students will wash or sanitize their hands frequently & have fun learning while practicing good hygiene. Students will use their own personal set of supplies. Shared items will be limited and will be cleaned after each use. To allow families and students to social distance, families can drop off their Little Eagle anytime between 7:45 - 8:15 a.m. The dismissal window will be from 2:30-3:00 p.m. Students who become ill at school will go to “The Cozy Cabin” and be cared for by our support staff until a family member arrives. Students will enjoy daily recess in colorfully designated zones with their cohort classroom. Each day of the week students will rotate with their cohort to their newly assigned zone. Colorful, breakaway lanyards will be worn at recess to match the students’ assigned zones. Lanyards will be kept at school. If your child accidentally brings their lanyard home, please have them wear it to school the next day. VIRTUAL LEARNER INFORMATION Chrome Book Distribution Chrome books for Virtual learners can be picked up at the CES front porch on Wednesday, August 26th from 1-3 p.m. This will count as your attendance for the ½ day of school that day. Lunch Pick Up Information Lunch pickup for Virtual learners will be from 10 -11a.m. at the high school front entrance loop. You do not need to pre-order meals. Just drive up! Any virtual students that need meals delivered can have meals delivered on Wednesday as well. If you need delivery, please email our Food Service Director at Lindsay.Kandell@myeagles.org. Trimester Commitment Information Our Virtual Learners have the option to switch to In Person Learning on November 23rd and March 1st when each new trimester begins. TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION Virtual Learners at CES Students who are virtual learners who need to borrow a device, please fill out the technology form below and pay $40 for insurance. Insurance for families who qualify for free/reduced lunch is $5. Devices can be picked up on Wednesday, August 26th from 1-3 p.m. under the covered porch front entrance at CES. In Person Learners at CES Students who are In Person learners who need to borrow a device, in case we go to distance learning at some point in the year, please fill out the technology form and pay $40 for insurance. Insurance for families who qualify for free/reduced lunch is $5. Our ISD technology team will prepare those students' assigned devices with the appropriate filters so if/when the student is required to switch to distance learning they can take their device home. We use our devices daily at CES so chrome books for In Person Learners remain at school unless distance learning occurs. If the student is never required to switch to distance learning, the insurance is non-refundable. COLUMBIA CONNECTION - We look forward to connecting with you! CES School Office 517-592-6632 CES Website: myeagles.org/BES/index.htm Preschool & Childcare 517-592-9753 CES Facebook: facebook.com/ColumbiaCentralElementary/ Attendance Voicemail 517-592-7552 Columbia Transportation Department 517-592-6449 Virtual Teacher Help Line 517-769-8536 GOALS This year we will be focusing on our school motto, “WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!” We are so grateful for the partnership we have with you. We appreciate your flexibility, patience and support. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at any time at 517-592-6632 or Trudy.Wright@myeagles.org Looking forward to an AMAZING year, Trudy Wright CES Principal #WhateverItTakes

Educating the Whole Child at Columbia School District! Read more: https://pamcampbellssoup.blogspot.com/2020/08/educating-whole-student-at-columbia.html

Daily Quote: “If you seek to hate, you will. If you seek peace, you will have it. No one can control what another does, but certainly can control how you react to what someone does. Focus your efforts on finding the good in everything!!! It’s a game changer!” Dina Peek

Columbia Jr.-Sr. High School Orientation Information: August 19 and 20 This will be an outdoor event where students will be able to pick up schedules and their learning material to include textbooks, Chromebook, leisure reading books from our library, course schedule and all other necessary back to school information. August 19-Building tours, informational meeting and learning material pick-up Your orientation will begin with a student and parent informational meeting held at the football stadium. Students only will also participate in staggered buildings tours and be able to pick up their learning materials. 7th grade Orientation, 6-7 PM 9th grade Orientation 7:30-8:30 PM August 20-Learning Material Pick Up 2-4 PM-11th and 12th grade 6-8 PM-8th and 10th grade Columbia Central Virtual Open House-Will be shared with students and parents on August 25th. Teachers will provide a video featuring a welcome back message for their students, a tour of their classroom, important aspects regarding their course syllabus, and any other important information. The videos will be posted on our Virtual Open House website and shared with families.

You might qualify for free or reduced lunch! Go online to lunchapp.com to complete the form today. The process is easier, shorter and has a faster response time! We would like to avoid handling paper copies due to the spread of Covid-19. If you do not have access to the Internet, please feel free to turn in a paper copy. We are looking forward to seeing your students smiling faces!

Columbia School District is partnering with the community to keep our students and staff members safe! For our Face to Face students it is important to continually wear a face covering. Accordingly the student handbooks have been updated to include consequences as follows. Covid-19 Safety Compliance. Non-compliance to the mask wearing protocol. Step one. 1st non-compliance the student will be referred to the office to meet with a principal. 2nd non-compliance the student will be sent home. Step two 3rd non-compliance the student will be referred to the office to meet with the principal. 4th non-compliance the student will be sent home. Step Three 5th non-compliance the student will be required to use our Learn at Home Program.

Technology Registration - Please complete this form if you would like your child to be able to take home a Columbia School District Chromebook/iPad and select the insurance option that best fits your family's needs. Technology distribution dates will be posted to the district website. Technology Registration

After many hours of diligent meeting, planning and deliberating, the Columbia School District has finalized the Return to Learn plan for the 2020-2021 school year. The plan has been devised from the guidance of the State of Michigan's Return to School Road Map in conjunction with the Jackson County Health Department and CDC recommendations. Please go to www.myeagles.org for the details of the plan as well as links to applicable documents. Within the plan is a link to make the choice for your child to attend school face to face or online. Please complete the required Commitment form for each child individually. The deadline to submit your choice is Sunday, August 16, 2020, at 11:59 pm. Columbia School District

Quote of the Day: 💛🦅💙 Remember, you are a product of your thought life.

Good Morning! ☀️ Remember to be kind today.

MEET MRS. RENTSCHLER Mrs. Rentschler is the Virtual teacher for K-2 students. She has taught Preschool, Kindergarten and 2nd grade! She is passionate about mixing technology, organization and creativity. Most of all, she loves our Little Eagles!

Quote of the Day: 💛🦅💙

Columbia Transportation Plan for Returning to School https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rO7GbJxySWZd28-plG9ZnkLXNNWsuK3W1wc1IgwFWUc/edit?usp=sharing

Do you know a child turning 5 by December 1st who is interested in Virtual or In Person Kindergarten? Our Kindergarten Open House is today Tuesday, August 11th from 5-7p.m. at Columbia Elementary School. It is an outdoor event. You can register your child, take a bus ride, get lunch information and meet their classroom teacher. We hope to see you there!

Quote of the Day: 💛🦅💙Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.

Kindergarten Graduation is at 10:30! Tune in to 95.9 The Power Cow or on this Facebook page to see it live! 💛🦅💙🎓

Quote of the Day: 💛🦅💙

The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, The National Alliance on Mental Health, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Quote of the Day: 💛🦅💙