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5/19/20
Alice Ott families,
I am trying to keep families informed of current activities, new information we receive, and let you know that I am hearing your questions even if we don’t have an answer yet. As the end of this very strange school year comes to a close, I have some new plans and details of which you need to be aware.
MONDAY, MAY 25th IS MEMORIAL DAY, which means we will not be here to pass out packets. For those of you who need packets, we will be open on Tuesday, May 26th, from 1:00-3:00pm.
ORCHESTRA AND BAND INSTRUMENT RETURN TIMES
Ms. Trigg and Mr. Alexander will be collecting all school instruments next week. Please be watching for more thorough information coming from the teachers, but here are the days and times.
Wednesday, May 27, 10am-1pm and 3pm-6pm
Thursday, May 28, Noon-3pm
COME EMPTY YOUR LOCKERS!
We are finally allowed to set up some dates, times, and procedures for students to be able to come pick up personal items from their lockers. Again, I’m only giving you the dates and times for now. There will be more details to come, including specific procedures to allow us to continue following required social distancing while still allowing students into the building to empty their hall and PE lockers. Students should bring any textbooks and library books to return when they come to get their personal belongings.
June 1, 1:00-5:00PM, last names beginning with A-H
June 2, 1:00-5:00PM, last names beginning with I-P
June 3, 1:00-5:00PM, last names beginning with Q-Z
END-OF-YEAR SLIDESHOW PIC REQUEST
The yearbook staff would like to keep with tradition and offer the end-of-the-year slideshow to all AOMS students as a way of remembering this unforgettable school year. However, we need your help! Please send us a photo of you! You can also include your family and/or friends in the photo. It can be a photo from anytime this school year, just make sure it’s school appropriate. We cannot accept photos with tongues or hand signs (yes, even peace signs!) Please send your photo to your yearbook Chief Editor, Aaron Busi at: 706582@stu.ddsd40.org
We need everyone to participate for our slideshow to happen, so send your photo in ASAP. DEADLINE: Last day to turn in photos is Monday, June 1st. Turn in your photo and then wait for the link that will be sent to you so you can view the YouTube premiere of the 2020-21 AOMS Slideshow on June 11.
LAST DAY OF DISTANCE LEARNING
The last day of school will be Wednesday, June 10th.
Thanks,
Duane Larson, Principal
4/19/20
Hello Alice Ott families! I hope this email finds you well. I keep seeing the phrase, “Stay Home, Stay Safe.” I want to add one thing to the slogan. “Stay Sane!” This is a pretty crazy experience we are all going through. I truly do hope that your family is doing well.
In my last update I explained that teachers were creating new lessons and we were beginning Distance Learning for All. We began last Wednesday instructing students on new material and teachers will be teaching in this manner for the rest of the school year.
Tonight I want to make sure that students who cannot get online to do their work know that the offline work is available MONDAY from 1:00-3:00PM at Alice Ott Middle School.
OFFLINE STUDENTS
Each week on Monday from 1:00-3:00PM we will have work for students whose families do not have the ability to get online to complete work. Since students have several teachers each, we cannot compile packets in advance. Parents/students will need to come to Alice Ott and walk down a row of tables that will have copies of work from every teacher. Whoever comes to pick work up will have to know the student’s schedule. I believe the easiest way to do this will be to have the student present.
This is the first time we are doing this, so please be patient. We hope the process goes quickly! We will have people outside the main doors directing and reminding people to follow social distancing guidelines. Please bring your own gloves and masks if you want to use personal protective equipment.
STILL UNKNOWN…
There are still questions to which we do not have answers. One thing I have been asked by several people is when can students pick up their personal belongings from their lockers? At this time, there is not yet a plan or date. With many of our students sharing lockers, and social distancing still required, there is no easy way to do this.
Another question is about yearbooks. Thanks to Ms. Trigg and a strong yearbook class, we have sent our yearbook to the printers and they should be shipped to us by June. There are two questions we still have to answer. 1) Can students still purchase yearbooks? The answer is that we will still have some yearbooks to purchase, but we are not sure when students can purchase them, since we are only set up to take payment in person. 2) When can students pick up their yearbooks? This could be connected to when we allow students to pick up personal belongings, which is still unknown.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue to work together to help your child get the best possible education during this time. Feel free to reply to this email with questions or concerns.
4/14/20
Hello Alice Ott families! I hope this email finds you well and staying safe during this interesting time in our lives. In my last update I explained that teachers were creating Supplemental Learning Activities for students to practice skills they had been previously taught. As we did that work, the State of Oregon asked us to transition and step it up a notch to what they call Distance Learning for All. This new expectation means that instead of giving students review/practice work, we will now be instructing students on new material and trying to progress through the normal curriculum for the rest of the school year.
Distance Learning for All is officially beginning for middle school students on Thursday, April 16th. Each of your child’s teachers will be providing lessons and expecting your child to complete the lessons to the best of their ability. This is new for all of us, and I am asking that families partner with school staff to try to make this new experience the best it can be. The first step is to access the lessons from each teacher. If you have internet and a device, your child can do the lessons online. If you do not have these tools, we will have lessons that you can pick up at the school.
Here are the details we know at this point. Each week we will evaluate our systems and adjust as needed.
ONLINE FAMILIES
Teachers will be posting lessons by the end of the day each Wednesday. The rest of the “week” is Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. Thursday and Monday are “A Days” and Friday and Tuesday are “B Days.” Teachers will use Wednesday for professional development and their own learning and planning, as this is new to everyone.
OFFLINE FAMILIES
Your lessons will be a few days behind online students, but this will not be a problem! Our plan at this time is that lessons will be available to be picked up at Alice Ott Middle School each Monday from 1:00-3:00pm. This will be a chance for a student to pick up work from each teacher and complete that work during the week. Since student have several teachers each, we cannot compile packets in advance. Parents/students will need to come to Alice Ott and walk down a row of tables that will have copies of work from every teacher. You will pick up work from each class, so whoever comes to pick work up will have to know the student’s schedule.
TEACHERS’ OFFICE HOURS
We are prepared for students to ask for help and get feedback on assignments. This can happen in a couple of ways. One of those ways is Office Hours. Every day except Wednesdays teachers will be available one specific hour per day to answer questions. We have scheduled these as follows:
12:00-1:00PM–Language Art, Reading, and Social Studies.
1:00-2:00PM–Math, Science, and Special Education.
2:00-3:00PM–ELD, PE, Health, and Electives.
OTHER QUESTIONS
The other way to contact a teacher is by email. You can email your teacher at any time, not only during office hours. Teachers will plan to respond to these emails within 24 hours. (The 24-hour response is Monday through Friday.) If you need an immediate answer, you will need to contact teachers during the assigned office hours, but you can email them any time and they will try to respond in a timely manner.
PLEASE AND THANK YOU!
Parents, please partner with us during this time as we all try to do what is best for students. I’m sure these weeks that we have been locked down have been full of different emotions; some good, some bad. Having extra time together can bring moments/hours of fun and joy, but it is also a LOT of togetherness! We understand. Personally, there are days I am enjoying the new challenges, and other days I feel like I might go (just a little bit) crazy! We hope that you appreciate that we are attempting to provide the best opportunity for your child to learn during this difficult time. I want to thank you in advance for your patience and flexibility as we work through this experience together!
At this time there are still many unknowns. Please trust me that when we find answers or solutions to any questions I will communicate them clearly to you.
Sincerely,
Duane Larson, Principal
4/1/20
Hello Alice Ott families! I hope this email finds you well and staying safe during this crazy time! Although students are not in school, we have been working hard and making plans for how to provide needed services for students and families. At this time, as information and even direction from the state continues to change, I will let you know what we know, even though there are definitely more questions than answers.
Contact
All families should be hearing from their homeroom teachers. If you get a call from a blocked number it could be them! I usually don’t answer calls with no caller ID, but your child’s homeroom teacher should be calling before Thursday afternoon and we would appreciate if you can answer.
Resources
The district has some resources in one place on the website. Use this LINK to go to the district website’s menu of Family Resources.
Third Quarter Grades
The district has decided that middle school grades for the third quarter, which was cut off with two weeks remaining, will be Pass (P) or No Pass (N). Often students have time at the end of a quarter to try to improve their grades with make up work or turning in missing assignments, so the decision was made to NOT penalize students who did not have this opportunity. Some students and parents may be upset to not see specific grades this quarter, but understand this was the decision made during unprecedented times. Also, these grades will NOT be printed and sent home, as staff is not at school to do so. You can check ParentVue at any time. At this time, there are too many unknowns to discuss potential 4th quarter grading.
Supplemental Learning Activities
The first instruction from the State of Oregon was for districts to provide Supplemental Learning Activities to all students. In brief, this means activities that can go out to ALL students, and are not new learning that requires teachers instructing on new content. So the activities should cover material already taught and just gives students an opportunity to continue practicing their skills during the shutdown.
As I’m sure you understand, this is all new to our staff. Teachers were given the plan and instructions March 31st are working on preparing activities for your students. The activities then will be compiled by the district next week and a distribution plan will be finalized. We will provide at least two ways for your family to access these activities. One way will be the district website. Begin looking there on Monday, April 13th, for weekly activities for your child by grade level and subject. The second way we will distribute this content is by packets that can be picked up at our district sites that are serving Grab and Go meals. Again, the packets will be available beginning April 13th. Here is a SCHEDULE of times and locations for Grab and Go Meals. (This page also contains Food Pantry information is your family is in need of food.)
Distance Learning
This week the State Superintendent of Education came out with new expectations for school districts. He said that due to the possibility that schools MIGHT remain closed for the rest of the school year, he is asking districts to go beyond supplemental activities and begin offering instruction to all students covering new content. This is an entirely new way of delivering teaching that we are not currently able to simply put into motion. This will take an enormous amount of training for teachers and logistical planning so that every student can access this new learning. It’s not as simple as teachers giving lessons online, as there are many barriers to this getting out to all students. Barriers include things like homes without internet, or homes with multiple students trying to use a single device to watch lessons from several teachers in one day. Again, this new expectation from the state has more questions than answers at this time, but the district will work toward implementing Distance Learning. Any new plans will be communicated to all families as they are made.
Thanks,
Duane Larson, Principal
