Barrington Middle School
BMS Connected Learning Newsletter: Back to School Update, September 10, 2020
The BMS Learning Community is Respectful, Responsible, and Ready to Succeed!
Mission:
Barrington Middle School’s Mission is to empower all students to excel in character, citizenship, collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking, so that they may positively impact the future.
Common Commitments:
To empower ALL students to excel, The BMS Learning Community will provide:
A safe, caring, and supportive learning environment;
A challenging curriculum supported by current technology;
The best research-based strategies to meet the unique educational, physical, emotional, and social needs of the 10 to the 14-year-old learner; and
A deliberate and specific approach to meet the individual needs/abilities for each performance subgroup of our student body.
BMS Spotlight on Learning:
This week we would like to shine our BMS Spotlight on Amy Skadberg and Caron Martin! On behalf of our entire learning community, we can’t thank Mrs. Skadberg and Mrs. Martin enough for their hard work over the summer months. Summer is generally a busy time for our front office. This summer has certainly been an adventure, and right along the way, Amy and Caron have handled every opportunity with a positive and upbeat attitude. Thank you, Amy and Caron, for being true professionals!
Day in a Life Video:
Over the summer months, we created a Day in a Life Video for our students/families. The video’s goal is to give students a sense of what learning will look like when returning to school. We encourage our families to watch the video with their children. Please note that the video over-emphasizes the use of hand-sanitizer. Students will use hand sanitizer when moving from one location of the building to another, as well as before and after eating.
https://vimeo.com/454210142/1c7ac02410
Emergency Contact Form:
This year, we will be collecting our Emergency Contact forms electronically. Please complete the linked document by Friday, September 18, 2020. In addition to updating important contact information, families will:
Indicate that they have read and reviewed our BMS Student Handbook
Indicate that they would/would not want their child photographed.
Acknowledge our district’s COVID-19 policy’s attestation requirements (see below for more information)
Screening Students
Barrington Public Schools abides by the guidelines set forth from the RI Department of Education (RIDE) and RI Department of Health (RIDOH) for Screening Students and Staff, related to COVID-19 Health & Safety Guidance for reopening schools.
Checking for symptoms at home each morning by families and caregivers is critical and will serve as the primary screening mechanism for COVID-19 symptoms. Communication of this protocol and a self-attestation form will be provided to parents to use as a screening tool. This tool will be used to symptom check, and families should not send their children to school if they exhibit any COVID-19 symptoms. We will update the checklist of symptoms provided on the form if any guidance from the CDC changes.
Student Attestation Procedures:
You must screen your child for temperature, other symptoms, and risk factors for COVID-19 each day before sending them to the bus or building. If the student has any signs of illness or risk factors, they will remain at home, and the parent/guardian will contact the school nurse.
Barrington Public Schools requires you to use the Student attestation form daily to screen your child. We will send out weekly reminders on Sunday evenings with reminders about screening for symptoms of and risk factors for COVID-19 and what would necessitate your child to stay home.
Please see the linked document below for additional information.
Notes about Screening Students:
Families and caregivers will screen students at home using a self-attestation form.
Fever is defined at 100° F or above related to this self-attestation form.
If a student has a low-grade fever, less than 100℉ before school, do not send your child to school and monitor at home for symptoms of illness or if increasing fever develops.
Remain in close contact with the school nurse or principal
If feeling well enough to learn, students monitored at home may engage in distance learning.
All students must stay home if they answer “Yes” to any screening questions before school.
If a student screens positive for any COVID-19 symptoms, the student’s parent/guardian should seek medical advice from the student’s healthcare provider and inform the school of the student’s absence and inform the school nurse (COVID-19 point of contact) at the school.
School staff (and bus drivers) should observe students throughout the day and refer students who may show signs of being symptomatic to the school nurse for assessment.
Nursing staff will monitor students who are symptomatic in isolation rooms until parents arrive and provide instructions for the next steps. Parents must pick up their children within one hour for the safety of all members of the community.
6th Grade Model:
Our 6th graders will attend in-person learning five days a week and remain in stable pods throughout the day. Teachers will be rotating to students.
7th/8th Grade Model:
Our 7th/8th graders will be following a blue/gold schedule. Our blue group (last names A-K) will be in-person learning on Tuesday - Wednesday, and our gold group will be in-person learning on Thursday - Friday. On Monday, September 21, we will alternate Mondays as a blue group day and a gold group day. Please see the BMS Daily Calendar below for more information. 7th/8th grade students will be moving from class to class.
When students are not in-person learning, they will be accessing their teachers’ classes through Canvas and following instruction. Teachers will be live streaming their instruction using a camera in their classroom.
Schedule for Monday, September 14, 2020:
Monday, September 14, 2020, will be the first day of school!
In-person learning will begin for our 6th graders and any 7th/8th grade student who has qualified for five days a week learning per team decision and learning plans on Monday, September 14, 2020.
All other 7th/8th grade students and full-time distance learning students will be receiving an email from the school on how to access their Canvas login information and access their classes for distance learning on Monday, September 14, 2020.
Schedule for Tuesday, September 15, 2020:
Tuesday, September 15, 2020, will be in-person learning for 7th/8th graders belonging to the blue group (last name A-K). Students belonging to the gold group (last names L-M) will be engaging in distance learning. Gold group students' first day of in-person learning will be on Thursday, September 17, 2020.
All 6th graders and any 7th/8th grade student who have qualified for five days a week learning per team decision will continue their in-person learning for the remainder of the week. (Note: 6th-grade students will be in-person learning in their stable pods five days a week)
BMS Daily Calendar:
As you are aware, most 7th/8th grade students will be in-person learning 2 - 3 days a week. To help our learning community know which days students are assigned to in-person learning vs. distance learning, we created the below calendar. This calendar will also be linked to our website.
Note: most of our 6th graders will be engaging in in-person learning five days a week.
BMS Arrival/Dismissal Procedures:
Arrival | Dismissal | |
General Information | When students enter through their designated doors, students will be sanitizing their hands. Students will report directly to their first-period class and place their items under their desks. No lockers this year. Students' first instructional period for that particular day will be their homeroom. Students will not be allowed on campus before 8:20 am. | When students exit through their designated doors, students will be sanitizing their hands. It is incredibly important for students to pay attention to our dismissal announcements to know when to dismiss. Students will need to leave campus directly after school. |
Time | Beginning at 8:20 am Target Drop Off Times: 8:20 - 8:30: Last Name A-K 8:30 - 8:40: Last Name L - Z Homeroom will begin at 8:40 am. | To dismiss our students safely, we will begin the process at 3:00 pm. As we become more efficient, this time will be pushed back. Our official end of the day is 3:15 pm. |
Bus | Students arriving on the bus will use the front door entrance. | Students will be dismissed by bus (one bus at a time) using the front door entrance. |
Car/Walkers/Bikers | Students arriving at school from Middle Highway entrances will use the 3 story cluster wing’s front side door. Students arriving at school from the Lincoln Ave entrance will use the 3 story cluster wing’s backside door. | Students will be dismissed by specific rooms (3 rooms at a time). When students are dismissed, they will leave out of the same door they used to enter school in the morning. |
BMS Distance Learning Student Expectations:
Last year, we learned a great deal of information about best practices for students to follow while engaging in distance learning. Linked below, you will find documentation that we will be reviewing with your students. We encourage you to share this with your students as well.
BMS Distance Learning Student Expectations
Learning Model Updates:
Families who have identified their learning model status (in-person learning or distance learning) are asked to commit to their preferred learning model for four weeks before switching models. This will allow your student to establish routines and rituals with learning and not be disruptive to learning. Frequent changes in plans will only add to confusion and disruption for the students. If you plan on changing your learning model after the four weeks, we ask that you notify your school’s principal 72 hours before the change of plans—this way, the school will be prepared for your child’s shift in plan.
Masks:
Students are required to wear masks throughout the day. Teachers will be providing students with outside mask breaks. We ask each student to bring two masks with them and a paper bag for soiled masks.
Canvas:
We are moving away from Google Classroom and beginning to use Canvas this year. We will be sending out specific directions to login and use Canvas. For now, we wanted to provide you with these introduction videos.
Unlike Google Classroom, you and your children will only have to log in to 1 Canvas Account to see all of your child's teachers at the elementary level and your child's courses at the secondary level.
Students’ Canvas Overview
https://community.canvaslms.co...
Parents’ Canvas Overview
https://community.canvaslms.co...