Monday Morning Memo: Happy Labor Day--enjoy the Monday off!!!!

Our Early Childhood team absolutely rocked the first day of Preschool starting! I want to thank Michelle Magness, Amanda Usyak, Ellen Stirrat, Linda Rasmussen, Abbey Kadera, Deb Marienau, Rachel Lundberg, Mary Foersterling and Colleen Robinson for making it an amazing experience for the students.

and

A special kudos to Cathy Jawnyj for being everywhere and anywhere needed!

-From Natalie Udstuen

Kudos to Rachel Lundberg for thinking out of the box to help our remote preschoolers feel more connected when celebrating birthdays! And, kudos to Lemar Wilson for jumping right in to go above and beyond, exceeding our expectations with the creation of an individual cupcake for each student!

With thanks,

Mary Foersterling

I want to give a shout out for the Monday Morning Memo to Courtnee Snell and Amanda Lorenz. Their help with small groups for math is helping our students grasp the learning concept.

-From Michelle Jessop

Thank you Paula for troubleshooting bus material delivery issues and even being willing to remake things for K families that slipped away during delivery!! We so appreciate you and EVERYONE helping make bus deliveries happen!

-From the Kinder Krew

My K Team,

Thank you Kristine Gumm for jumping right in and learning all things digital to help our team in a totally new way this year!

Thank you Nicole for organizing Boom Cards for us, Sami for organizing our Drive, and both of you for all your efforts, new learning, and TEAMWORK. Together we've made teaching 5 year olds on a screen not just do-able, but making it greater than imaginable! I am so proud to be part of it all with you!

-Tiff TW

I had some "double trouble" this morning, at our morning meeting. Cortnee Snell was able to jump into my virtual room, pull the two of them out of my virtual room and put them back on track! She is more than competent! Thank you for such a great addition to our third grade team!

-From Theresa Kovach

Shout out to Natalie Udstuen for finding missing materials and getting them to families!

and

Shout out to Kristine for being so flexible and learning so many new systems with us!

The Kinder Team

Thank you, Andrea Sekulich, for dedicating hours of your time to come help Kim and me with our EL letters and program spreadsheets. You have gone above and beyond to help us, so that we can keep up and have time to help our kids. Thank you for being such an awesome team player.

Thank you, Kim Leable, for decorating our classroom so beautifully and for sharing your knowledge on interpreting data. You are an expert at figuring out what is going on with students and I really appreciate all that I have learned from you already.

Thank you to all of the Kindergarten team-- Sami, Nicole, and Tiffany. You are all three so supportive and encouraging. You make work enjoyable. Thank you :)

Thank you, Cary Scarpino and Nicole Mild, for all that you do to include and support our EL families.

Thank you, Matt and Natalie, for your constant support.

AND

Thank you, Sue, for all the help you've given me with scheduling, looking up student data, and answering so many phone calls from me. You are always efficient, patient, and ready to help.

-From Abbey Kadera

Kudos to Russ for cleaning up my lunch that I dumped all over the hallway...and kudos to Lynn for calling in the reinforcements for me!

-From Mollie Herchenbach

Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind. A new excerpt from... | Brené Brown

Recording Live Lessons--REMINDER!

Please be sure that, when you are in a LIVE session using Meet, you record and then post the

video. This allows students who may not be able to join live to be able to access the content

too. This means that, anytime you are live with your class, you are recording. Small group

work, 1:1 work, office hours do NOT need to be recorded or posted. Please send any

questions on this my way! :)

Reporting Days

Now that we are in the swing of things, we expect you to keep your onsite days consistent. If

you need to make a change for any reason, please let your principal and me know by Sunday.

Here's why--we are monitoring who is in the building each day for safety.

Also--if you commit to an onsite schedule for coverage--we COUNT ON YOU to do what

you have agreed to. When this doesn't happen, it impacts everyone.

Please keep a consistent schedule--if you need to make a change, reach out to your

principal and/or me. THANKS!

Phone Masking

I know many of our certified and instructional paraprofessionals want to be able to

receive/make phone calls as well as text with students/families now more than ever.

Totally get this and appreciate your commitment so much!

Here are your two current options:

*Set up (or continue using) Google Voice via a personal GMail account. This is free!

*We can purchase Google Voice lines through the District, but they are NOT free
(or even close to free) since we are a business/school entity rather than a person.
Cost is $10/person/month. If this is your only option, please reach out.

Food and Materials--REPEAT

We had a really good first materials run Friday. Thanks to everyone who made this happen!

To make things go even more smoothly...

Teachers--PLEASE let families know if there are/are not materials to pick up each week.
Materials should be labeled by student. If there are materials from multiple teachers

(classroom, music, art, etc), they should be bundled for efficient handout.

Materials should be organized in alphabetical order by route. Please do NOT sort by

stop. We had lots of parents pick up at different spots than their assigned one and I

don't want to fight that battle.

Materials not picked up on the route can be picked up the same day from 9-10 at Lotus

OR at Grab and Go from 8-10 daily at Lotus.

Families can can also call the LOTUS OFFICE to request weekend pick up for materials.
Any family who cannot get materials at either of those times should come to the Lotus '

office and we will assist them--the unclaimed materials will stay down by the Events

Entrance alpha by bus for easy grab.

We have also restarted meal Grab and Go daily at Lotus from 8:00-10:00AM. This is in addition

to the bus runs. We also started “Early Bird” pick up for families that neither of

the other options work. If you have ideas or suggestions, please share them! :)

As always, when you have questions, please ask. When you have suggestions, please bring them

forward. We are ONE TEAM, ALL IN...now more than ever.

FLASH BACK...FLASH FORWARD TO START THE YEAR!

THANKS to everyone for your work to complete the FLASH BACK reflection to help us know where our

students' gaps exist!!!!

These documents should be used by EVERY team to help in planning. The tools you need are linked

below:

LINKS:

PreK-8 Flash Back Standards

Exploratories Flash Back Standards

Case Manager Flash Back Reflections

COVID-19 SAFETY PROCEDURES

If you are concerned that you have COVID-19 or have been exposed to COVID-19 and have been

or are scheduled to be onsite, please let your principal, Maddie Espinoza, and/or me know

immediately so we can partner with you for your safety and for the safety of others.

You can trust that we will keep all this information confidential, balancing staff privacy and system

safety needs.

All staff MUST wear masks AT ALL TIMES

when onsite and in public spaces.

If you are working in an office/classroom

with the door closed, you may remove your

mask. It must be worn when anyone enters

that space with you.

In addition, the steps below (from the CDC website) MUST be taken if you have been diagnosed with or

exposed to COVID-19:

COMING ONSITE:

You MUST complete the daily self-certification form.

Social distancing of 6 feet and following handwashing

procedures--inside and outside--remain expectations and

a priority for your safety and the safety of those around

you.

Mark your calendars! Our first articulation meeting of the year will be Wednesday, September 16th at 1:45 p.m. The meeting will be held virtually, more details to follow!

The IEA Store is open until September 15th. If you would like to order any IEA gear, please visit: https://primodesigns.net/iea/shop/home

The IEA and EAFL encourage all members to VOTE! Be sure you are registered for the upcoming November election. You can find more information using the links below.

IL Voter Registration Page

WI Voter Registration Page

Link to IEA COVID Resources and Information Page

Melissa Jakstas, President

Maureen DeVoss, Vice President for Certified Staff

Chris Brown, Vice President for Non-Certified Staff

Katy Gardner, Treasurer

Betty Cwiak, Secretary

Cathy Jawnyj, Region Representative

Michelle Serini, Stanton School Representative

Tiffany Tardio Weber, Lotus School Representative