Nishuane Elementary School PTA

The Gifted & Talented Magnet

PTA Meeting Minutes – Jan 14

January 14, 2021, 6:00 PM

Via Zoom

 

Agenda

  • Call to Order
  • Intro/Welcome
    1. Next meeting will be February 25, 2021, time TBD.
    2. Approval of previous meeting’s minutes. Website link: https://montclairpta.org/nishuane/pta-meeting-minutes/
  • President’s Update – Reggie Valentine
    1. Preparing to go back to school January 25
    2. Fundraising
      1. School Spirit – masks and sweatshirts
      2. Trivia Night
    3. Community support
      1. Virtual learning – facilitating
      2. Hybrid – 2 half-days a week
  • Peripherals
  1. What does Spring look like?
  2. How can we help?
    1. Teachers, parents, students
  3. Committees
    1. Grow Lab
    2. Explorers
  4. After-school enrichment – 10 classes
  5. Spirit wear / store
  6. Memberships
  7. Equity
  8. Outreach
  9. Financials (Audit)
  • Explorers Update – Ashley Akinyemi
    1. 4 new classes offered:
      1. Art with Montclair Art Museum
      2. Zumba
  • Yoga
  1. Messy Mixtures & Fizzy Solutions
  1. Success Story (Fall)
    1. 9 classes ran for 6-week session
    2. 74 students enrolled
  • 3 scholarships awarded
  1. $1,610 revenue
  1. Success Story (Winter)
    1. 11 classes offered for 8-week session (increase of 2 over Fall)
    2. 109 students enrolled (increase of 35 over Fall)
  • 2 scholarships awarded
  1. $2,646 revenue ($1,036 increase over Fall)
  • Principal’s Welcome – Dr. Jill McLaughlin
    1. Hybrid/Remote Model Scheduling
      1. Teachers will provide families with specific information regarding their class schedule
      2. Our first bell rings at 9:10am and instruction begins at 9:20am
  • Remote students log in to classroom Zoom at 9:20am
  1. School day ends at 1:10pm
  2. Between 9:20am and 1:10pm – core and related arts instruction in a dual modality form
  3. After 1:10, students will have lunch and small group intervention support and therapies will be provided as needed
  • Related Arts classes will continue to be delivered virtually to all students
  • Intervention support will continue to be delivered virtually to all students
  1. Special Education services: Students who are classified will continue to receive special education instruction, related services and support as indicated in their IEPs. Hybrid students receiving resource room instruction for academic areas will receive that in person with the resource room teacher.  Remote students will continue to receive this live instruction with the resource room teacher virtually.
  2. Related Services (Speech, OT, PT) will continue to be delivered virtually to all hybrid and remote students
  1. Masks
    1. Wear properly over the nose, mouth, and chin at all times
    2. Bandannas, gaiters, scarves, fleece, and masks with valves will not be permitted
  • Students must be able to put and keep masks on properly on their own while at school
  1. Please send children with extra masks and two labeled baggies (clean and dirty)
  2. Students may remove masks for snack-time only
  1. Hand Washing & Sanitizing
    1. Please practice proper hand washing with your children
    2. Every 90 minutes students will wash hands or use hand sanitizer
  • Additional times for handwashing / hand sanitizing are:
    • Upon entering the school bus
    • Upon entering the school building
    • Before and after snacks
    • After toileting, wiping nose, sneezing
    • When coming in from outdoor snack or playtime
    • When hands are soiled
  1. Student Arrival
    1. Student Walkers – Kindergarten
      • Start to enter at 9:10am through Door G (by the playground)
      • Temperature taken at the door by the Nurse Aide. Temperature above 100: escorted to isolation space on the side of the Nurse’s office.  Temperature below 100: hand sanitizer and walk to classroom.
    2. Student Walkers – 1st and 2nd Grade
      • Start to enter at 9:10am through Door A (front door)
      • Temperature taken at the door by the thermoscanner. Temperature above 100: escorted to isolation space.  Temperature below 100: hand sanitizer and walk to classroom.
  • Student Bussers
    • Enter at 9:10am through Door D (on High Street)
    • Temperature taken at the door by the Ms. Williamson. Temperature above 100: escorted to isolation space.  Temperature below 100: hand sanitizer and walk to classroom.
  1. Before Care
    • Students in Before Care shall be escorted to their classroom floors by YMCA staff. They will follow building safety protocols with YMCA staff upon arrival to building.
  2. Late Student Arrival
    • Arrive at school after 10:00am – do remote learning for the day
    • Arrive at school before 10:00am – tardy. Grown up parks in front of the building.  Call the main office at 973-509-4222.  Wait until the health screen is completed to ensure student may stay at school.
  3. Student Dismissal
    1. Begins at 1:00pm
    2. Grown-ups must provide teachers with written information regarding any person permitted to pick up their child
  • Students going to Aftercare will be dismissed to cafeteria with supervision
  1. Students riding the school bus will be dismissed with supervision to spots on the side of the school near High Street for bus entry
  2. Students going home with grown-ups (walkers) will start staggered dismissal between 1:00 and 1:10
  3. Utilize three different dismissal doors
  • Designated spots outside for parent pickup
    • Kindergarten: Door G
    • 1st Grade: Door F
    • 2nd Grade: Door A
  • Student Late Pick-up
    • After 1:20, teacher will walk the child to the tent on High Street with supervision
    • Office will call the grown-up for pickup
  1. Student Early Dismissal: Students needing to leave school early should have a remote learning day
  1. Physical Distancing
    1. Classrooms, hallways, and common areas have been set up to maximize physical distance to the greatest extent possible for students and staff (6 ft. or greater)
    2. Physical distancing signage in the hallways, stairwells, outside the bathrooms, main office and nurse’s office and outside on school property to help maintain physical distancing when outside the classroom
  • Send students to school in coats, shoes, and backpacks that they are able to put on/tie/zip etc. themselves
  1. Classrooms
    • Teachers communicate their classroom procedures with families
    • Teachers communicate needed materials for class
    • Desks physically distanced in the classroom
    • Lessons conducted from social distance via dual modality
    • Hang their backpacks, coats, and any personal belongings on the back of chair
    • Windows open for cross ventilation
    • All classrooms have either a sink or hand sanitizer
  2. Hallways
    • Marked with tape in the center of the floor
    • Arrow signage on floor detail direction for each side of hallway
    • Students will not utilize lockers at any time
    • No water fountains will be operable
    • Stairwells will be one direction (exception of one stairwell)
  3. Student Bathroom Visits
    1. Class uses the restroom together
    2. Other times, maximum bathroom capacity of 1 student per restroom at a time
  • Kindergarten students escorted by a paraprofessional
  1. Teachers will model bathroom expectations to students
  2. Classes will use restroom as a class after their snack
  3. Students will be required to follow the rules for cleanliness that are posted in all bathrooms
  • The middle stall(s) in the bathrooms locked & taped off – not for use
  • The middle sink(s) in the bathrooms taped off/covered – not for use
  1. Nurse Visits
    1. Student with a fever of 100.0 degrees or above will be sent to an isolation space until they leave the building
    2. Update child’s emergency contacts in Genesis
  • Door B, closest to the nurse’s office, will be used for students to exit the building who have been isolated with COVID symptoms waiting for pick-up. Parents/caregivers or emergency contact persons can meet the nurse and sick student at said door.
  1. Routine health screenings such as height and weight will not be performed this school year. Please contact your child’s school nurse with any specific concerns
  2. Physical distancing will be maintained in nurse’s office
  3. All students without a fever, but with any symptom of COVID-19 during the school day, will be assessed by the school nurse. The school nurse will make the decision if a student must be immediately isolated and excluded from school, or may receive treatment and rest pending a rapid resolution of the problem.  If the problem is rapidly assessed and treated by the nurse, the student/staff member may return to class.
  • The nurse will isolate and exclude any student or staff member based on her medical judgment.
  1. Visitors
    1. Excluding MPS or MPS-contracted employees, there will be no visitors in the building
    2. All parent/guardian meetings will be virtual
  • No accepting any items that parents wish to drop off late
  1. Reminders
    1. Practice proper wearing of masks
    2. Practice proper hand washing
  • Be sure to have child come to school with all materials requested by teacher
  1. Be sure to have child dressed in clothes, coats, sneakers, etc. that they are able to put on and maintain independently
  2. I received and will send Mounties/Bulldogs Schedule
  3. Cycle 2 ends March 18. If you are considering in-person (hybrid) for Cycle 3, the deadline to register by e-mail is February 26.
  • Snacks will be outside weather-permitting. Must be in a container that students can open on their own.  Nut-free.
  • Bring water bottles as water fountains will be out of service
  • Closing
    1. Answered many questions from the chat; others will be captured and responded to
    2. Approval of previous meeting minutes
    3. Adjournment

 

QUESTIONS FROM THE CHAT

  1. During the hybrid update, could someone mention what days Bulldog students are physically in the classroom please?
  2. Could someone clarify the schedule for Wednesdays? Will students be alternating in-person on Wednesday, and if so, where can we find the schedule?
  3. When will cycle three begin?
  4. What date do children enter the building?
  5. What technology do kids need to bring with them?
  6. Will every Wednesday and Friday be asynchronous? What will the in person students be doing in the teacher is not there?
  7. Is aftercare available through the Y?
  8. Wondering why asynchronous two days a week?
  9. Related arts will be virtual for kids in the building too?
  10. What will the in person students be doing in the teacher is not there?
  11. Is there still in school instruction every other Wednesday?
  12. Is Wednesday full remote for everyone? Or is it alternating in person for the Mounties and Bulldogs?
  13. Is it possible to have one related arts in the afternoon, as we currently do? Hillside has figured out how to schedule one afternoon aesthetic class for each student every afternoon, so wondering if it’s possible to do that at Nishuane as well.
  14. Will free lunch still be provided for remote learners? If yes, will we be picking up at the same Nishuane door/ location? Same day (mon & wed)/ same time window?
  15. How will they know where to go on the first day if we cannot walk them in?
  16. Has anyone received information from transportation yet?
  17. Can we still walk the kids to line up?? Or do we do car drop or have them walk from where we park?
  18. So do we really expect class to start at 920 with all of the checking and distancing? I am just wondering for the kids who will be waiting for class to start at home
  19. Are we required to inform the school if the child is doing a remote class on their assigned hybrid day?
  20. How many children does each classroom have room for ?
  21. If a child goes home because they have a fever, what is the protocol for coming back to school?
  22. How have the ventilation issues been addressed in the classrooms and in the interior spaces?
  23. What happens when the teacher needs to go to the bathroom?
  24. Should kids come with their laptops ?
  25. Is it possible for the whole class to return on are you depending on some kids staying hybrid to keep it safe?
  26. Is it possible to switch our child from walker to bus?
  27. What about the kids who doesn’t have district issued laptops ? Can we get one now ?
  28. Is there a threshold at which hybrid would move back to all-remote? – Honestly unsure. That’s a central office answer.
  29. And another question re bathrooms, if the child is going alone how will you make sure the bathroom toilet is not soiled and how do we ensure they keep their masks on in the bathroom?
  30. Will there be flexibility for students whose parents have to drop off / pick up siblings at Hillside at the same time?
  31. Hi just more questions about tech – if we don’t have a district issued device what should we do? Do we buy a chromebook? Send our iPad?
  32. Will there be SEL to discuss feels for some that will remain remote. there may some feelings about not being able to be in class with friends etc
  33. What is the protocol if a student or staff member test positive?
  34. In that event, do we send the neg covid test with the child, or ahead of time?
  35. How will the classroom be set up in terms of cameras? will teachers be teaching to the screen?
  36. Is there a certain amount of time they need to wait for covid testing or can it be that same day?
  37. How will small assigned reading groups be handled for 1st graders?
  38. How are you handling contact tracing?
  39. Will the rest of the class have to quarantine if the child test positive for covid?
  40. What is the districts policy on how many cases need to be confirmed before the school goes totally remote? and if it does go totally remote will it be for two weeks ?
  41. Will children in the classroom be using headphones?
  42. Will positive cases be communicated to staff and parents?
  43. Will students in the classroom have a way to see students who are remote during instruction?
  44. For Nurse-wouldn’t a covid test be necessary to ensure accurate contact tracing?
  45. My son uses my Mac laptop for remote learning. Are the district devices PC’s? Just want to get ahead of the transition, Will the district issued device be left at school?
  46. Question about having the bus monitors taking the temperature of the children before the reach school
  47. My son uses my Mac laptop for remote learning. Are the district devices PC’s? Just want to get ahead of the transition, Will the district issued device be left at school?
  48. If our child is new to the school, how to we find out our assignment to hybrid group/days of the week?’
  49. What do we know about vaccine availability for teachers and staff?