Ms. Gough’s class worked VERY hard on a class goal coming back from break. Their goal was to earn 50 tally marks Monday through Thursday. They had to show genuine acts of kindness and expected behaviors. They did it and earned a puppy party, compliments of Ms. Livengood!!! We thoroughly enjoyed our puppy cuddles today!
Happy Thursday Parents and Guardians!
We had a bit of a slow start, I think we were all feeling a little sluggish after those two weeks off. I know many of us, students and staff alike, had to readjust to all of the COVID requirements of masking, temp checks, distancing, etc. But, we have picked up the pace and are feeling a little more into a routine by today. I have a few reminders for some of our building procedures and upcoming dates to note:
1. Transportation
Please call the transportation department with any daily or permanent bus changes by 1:00 PM at (309) 968-3020 so we can plan accordingly.
When dropping off your children, if you will exit your car you must park in the lot and walk them to the building. Please do not leave unattended vehicles in the car drop off lane.
• Preschoolers must be escorted to the outside classroom doors by a parent as well as retrieved from the classroom doors in the afternoon. They cannot be left alone to navigate down the busy sidewalk with the moving buses and middle and primary schoolers.
• Kindergarteners must also be picked up at the front doors with line-of-sight contact from the teacher that is monitoring.
We appreciate your attention to those transportation reminders to keep all of our students, especially our youngest ones, as safe as possible.
2. Outerwear
We are continuing to go outside as weather permits to get that fresh air and sunshine, if the clouds and fog would ever leave us. Please send hats, gloves, coats, etc. to keep your children warm out there. If they forget something, please tell them to ask a teacher or the office and we will lend them what they need to stay warm.
3. COVID
We continue to temp check, distance, clean and sanitize often, and wear masks. Though some guidelines are changing for essential workers, including educational staff, due to several factors, there will be no changes to our current COVID policies for the general student population per health department guidance.
Most importantly, if you or your children are being tested and/or awaiting COVID test results, please isolate at home and do not send any children in the home to school until you have negative test results. If anyone in your home is symptomatic, please contact the school at (309) 968-6464 so speak with Nurse Shyla. If you receive test results or anything urgent you need to share over a weekend, please email Nurse Shyla at thorne@midwestcentral.org or Principal Timm at timm@midwestcentral.org.
We appreciate your diligence to all of the above matters and we continue to be successful because of your partnership with our staff!
4. Upcoming Dates
January 15 Half day, dismiss at 11:40 AM
January 18 No School: MLK Jr. Day
Have a great end to your week and weekend!
Join our team!
MCPS staff is showering Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Ashlaw (and husband), and congratulating them on their upcoming arrival of their first born. Welcome Baby Ashlaw to the MCPS family!
Good morning parents,
I have many items to cover, I will do my best to be concise!
January 4, 2021 Return and Remote Learning: The district is ending remote learning as of today for anyone who does not have medical need and corresponding doctor's request. However, we will still be dismissing at 2pm upon our January return so that we can provide education and contact to those students that will be in and out of quarantine. We return on January 4, 2021 and we will still be requiring masks, social distancing, and prefer that your children bring a water bottle to fill.
Christmas Program: Stay tuned to your email and Facebook for the link to our Christmas Program designed and conducted by our Music and Band teacher, Mr. Forbes. This should come by tomorrow at latest, pending any technical difficulties of creating a virtual music/band concert!
RADA fundraiser: These products are slated to be here today by noon and we intend to efficiently distribute to your children to bring home this afternoon. Please take a look at your orders and email me with any discrepancies timm@midwestcentral.org.
COVID: Today we end with 1 staff member and 2 students positive, two of which never entered our building ill and did not require contact tracing. This number is still exceptionally low. I also must point out that our quick quarantines have continued to be successful meaning that none of our quarantine situations have led to an additional positive student case. We are hopeful for new guidance coming that will actually decrease the length and restrictions of quarantines to get students and staff back sooner! If you have any COVID situations that arise that effect your children in the school setting upon leaving today or shortly before returning on January 4, please email me at timm@midwestcentral.org
Additionally, here is a link for a document you can use in coordination with the health department if you need a return to school/work letter: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=pviBkHG6PEu6OZPRNwkEGrEzG0iOJS1GgHbvtQUODJBUMk5PUzdBR1QxTTJMVVVaSDNYRU9JNTNFSi4u
Lastly, we have made it. Nobody thought we could make it this long this year, but we did, with the diligent, persistent, courageous efforts from you and our staff. Thank you does not feel like enough to say so in screaming capitals, here it is: THANK YOU!!! If you need anything over break, please reach out to me.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
Check out the MCPS holiday concert... COVID style. We wish you could be here, but this is the next best thing! 🙂
As noted in the beginning, the recording of each of these songs was done in less 15 minutes to eliminate the close contact risk. Enjoy!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fIxPEny4CW4mpIGXCa_Jt1n3IbApexPD/view?usp=sharing
Join our team!
The first snow of the year is always so exciting! Ms. Dougherty and Ms. Vaughn’s preschool class loved watching it fall.
January Menus
Good day all,
I want to share with you my decision-making chart for outdoor play. This is from the Iowa Department of Public Health, which has similar weather patterns as Illinois. This chart is referenced by the governing bodies over Illinois Preschools, so we are going to utilize schoolwide here at the primary school to help us determine when it is safe to play outdoors and when we should stay inside. Outdoor, gross motor play is highly beneficial to children of all ages for learning, social, emotional, and physical health and we will opt for it as often as possible. Please provide a coat with hat and/or an additional hat, as well as gloves daily with the anticipation that we will be outdoors for recess and PE. If you are in need of these for your children, please contact us directly and we are happy to help!
https://idph.iowa.gov/Portals/1/Files/FamilyHealth/weatherwatch.pdf
Mr. Forbes hanging his class ornament for the Teacher Tree at MCPS!
We will be having Christmas Dinner Friday the 18th for lunch at the Primary School. Please disregard the previously posted the menu items for that day. Our new menu will consist of the following:
Ham
Au Gratin Potatoes
Maple Glazed Carrots
Hawaiian Roll
Cookie
Kindness Santa’s in 5th grade!
The Primary School will be counting down the days to Christmas break with a fun activity each day!
Good news... the phones are back up! Thank you for your patience.
Dear Raider students and families,
While this school year has not been what anyone would wish for, I hope each of you can find gratitude and something you are thankful for this holiday season. My mom had a Thanksgiving tradition that may be especially important this year. Before we could eat our Thanksgiving meal she asked everyone to go around and say one thing they were thankful for. You may consider trying that this year with your family.
I know I am personally thankful for the support of my family, our teachers and support staff, who have adapted to incredibly difficult circumstances, our bus drivers, who have gone the extra mile for our students, our parents, who have altered their work schedules, our custodial staff, who have kept our buildings clean and sanitized, our cafeteria workers who have prepared meals, and our principals who have provided their leadership. Mostly, I have gratitude for our students who have demonstrated tremendous patience and understanding as they navigate new learning models through this pandemic.
At the end of the day, each of us are trying to do the best we can under incredibly difficult circumstances. It hasn’t always gone smoothly, but I believe we have learned a lot since the first day of school that will make us more prepared and stronger for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year and beyond.
Our Thanksgiving break will begin today and students will return Monday, November 30th to in-person learning. We will continue to be vigilant in monitoring all student and staff health. Our current plan is to only close grade levels or buildings as necessary. As of today, our plan does not include a district-wide shut down. I hope to continue to be able to say that after Thanksgiving break.
It’s been a challenging year, but we will continue to get through this together. Please be safe this holiday season and have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Sincerely,
Dr. Todd Hellrigel
Ms. Coile's class has been learning about early explorers and ended their unit with a Ship Regatta Event. Students paired up and created a ship that would have to float, sail across the oceans blue with a wind test, and hold weight. We had one ship that held 66 marbles before it sunk to the bottom of the ocean. The students had a wonderful time creating and testing out their ships!
Happy Thanksgiving Raiders
Our main office phone lines are currently down. If you need to contact anyone in the District, please call 309.968.7916.
Raider Nation Proud! Alum, Taggart VanEtten recently made national news for an amazing accomplishment. Check out this article:
"Morton runner doesn't waste much time making quick name for himself in 100-mile race."
https://www.pjstar.com/story/sports/2020/11/21/taggart-vanetten-runs-second-fastest-time-american-history-tunnel-hill-100/6353110002/