A message from Principal Collins
I am pleased to serve as the Interim Elementary Principal at Fonda-Fultonville for the 2020-2021 school year! This certainly has been an interesting year for us all. Our hardworking and conscientious custodians have spent the entire summer thoroughly cleaning the facility and setting up socially distanced learning environments. I welcome and value your positive energy and dedication to excellence in education, and I look forward to working with you and your children. We are a caring community with the common goals of nurturing and caring for students and promoting high-level learning. I look forward to working with you as a team to help each student meet their goals and have a successful school year.
Best Regards,
Mrs. Collins
Start of the Year
In an effort to transition students back to school successfully and comfortably, the school year will begin with individual meetings for all learners. Parents should have received a letter with individual details about classroom teacher assignments. Teachers will reach out to schedule a visit for each child. We ask that a caregiver plan to attend the meetings as well. Special accommodations for working parents can be made as needed. There have been minor changes to class lists because of the response to the remote learning option. If a change occurred with your child’s teacher assignment, you will be notified by a faculty member.
The first day of in person learning for grades PK-4 will be Monday, Sept. 14.
- Related: School Supply Lists
Hybrid Learning Model & Rotating Schedule
FFCS will reopen for the 2020-21 school year using the hybrid learning model. Students will alternate between in-person learning and structured remote learning based on a rotating schedule. Students in grades PK-4 will attend school for three weeks, then remain home for remote instruction for one week. This schedule will be replicated on a monthly basis. We will notify families as soon as possible if there are any changes. These schedules will be detailed on the calendar of the district’s homepage so families can easily check who is expected to report for in-person or remote learning on any given day. Please note, Life Skills and ELL students will attend school daily under hybrid/modified learning.
Grades Prekindergarten-Kindergarten
- SEPT 9-11: Teachers will schedule individual appointments for prekindergarten and kindergarten screening. Students and their parents should attend the screening. Students should not report to school except for their scheduled screening. They will receive work in the mail to do at home these first three days.
- SEPT 14-OCT 2: In-person learning.
- OCT 5-OCT 9: Remote learning.
Grades 1-4
- SEPT 9-11: Teachers will schedule times for students in grades 1-4 and their parents to visit their classrooms, meet their teachers and take a reading assessment. Activities will be mailed home to be completed during this week. Students should not report to school except for their scheduled meeting. They will receive work in the mail to do at home these first three days.
- SEPT 14-OCT 2: In-person learning.
- OCT 5-OCT 9: Remote learning.
Fonda-Fultonville Elementary School Day
- 7:45 a.m. School opens and students welcomed
- 7:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Instructional Day for Pre-K
- 7:45 a.m. – 2:10 p.m. Instructional Day for Gr. K-4
- 1:30 p.m. Dismissal for Pre-K
- 2:10 p.m. Dismissal for Gr. K-4
- 2:10 – 2:30 p.m. Dismissal for Parent Pick Up
If you choose to drive your child to school, please note that parents will be welcome no earlier than 7:45 a.m.
Mandatory Use of Protective Personal Equipment
Parents are encouraged to send their children to school with a filled water bottle and clean face covering. Face coverings will be available at school and on the bus if needed. Students and staff will be expected to follow all safety protocols, including wearing face coverings (that cover both the nose and mouth) indoors and outside when social distancing (six or twelve feet depending on the activity) is not possible or when an acceptable barrier is not in place. This pertains to traveling around the school and at all times on buses. Face coverings are strongly recommended by the NYSDOH at all times. Face coverings are required to be worn by all individuals at all times except for meals and at times determined by staff and administration when social distancing is occurring. Students who are unable to medically tolerate a face covering will not be required to wear one. Face coverings will be provided to students, if needed.
As you prepare for your child’s return to school this fall, please work with your child to practice wearing a face covering for several minutes to simulate the experience of walking in our school hallways or having to be in large group settings for a few minutes.
Designated Personal Workspace
In classrooms, desks/ tables will be arranged to comply with social distancing guidelines. Class sections have been split into two, with the exception of third grade, which moved into larger spaces. Because of these modifications, we will be able to decrease the number of students in a classroom each day. This will reduce the need for students to wear face coverings during instruction. Each student will be provided a desk or table assignment to serve as their designated personal workspace for the entire day. Enhanced cleaning routines have been developed to allow for the regular disinfection of high touch surfaces such as desks, chairs and door knobs.
Pick-up & Drop-off Locations
The pick-up and drop-off location for grades Pre-K, K and 4 is the right hand entrance to the elementary school. The pick-up and drop-off location for grades 1 & 2 is the left hand entrance to the elementary school. The pick-up and drop off location for Grade 3 is the middle school entryway Door 6.
Arrival Procedures
Health screenings will be conducted each morning before coming to school for all members of the school community. Faculty, staff and students will take their temperatures prior to coming to school. They must also complete an online one-question form that asks whether they have a fever. Students must have their temperature taken and their form must be completed prior to boarding the bus or arriving at school. A link for this form will be emailed each morning to make this as convenient as possible for families.
All school community members are required to wear a face covering during arrival. School doors will not open until 7:45 a.m. daily. Buses will be unloaded one at a time. There will be designated staff members monitoring the hallways and school entryways to ensure compliance with health and safety guidelines.
Drop-off is held between 7:45 – 8 a.m. Parents should drive around the loop and remain in their vehicles and drop their child off at the designated space on the sidewalk. The first stop is for grades Pre-K, K and 4. The second stop is for grades 1 & 2.* Staff members will be available to escort students to their designated entryway. Staff members will be available at the doors to escort students to their classrooms. Parents/caregivers are no longer picking up and dropping off students in the main vestibule or main office.
*Drop-off for grade 3 is at the middle school Door 6, next to the flower garden in between the middle school and high school (see picture above). You can park your car in the main middle school parking lot and walk your child to door 6. Staff members will be waiting at the door to escort your child to their classroom. Parents will not be allowed to escort their children to their classrooms during drop-off, unless the student is late or if you have a scheduled appointment (see visitor policy below).
Dismissal Procedures
All school community members are required to wear a face covering during dismissal. Classrooms will be released on a staggered schedule. Teachers will bring students who are picked up by parents to designated locations. All others will be escorted to the buses. Students who are waiting in the classrooms will sit 6-feet-apart until a staff member escorts them to their parent/caregiver for dismissal.
New this year, parents will be asked to pick-up their children at the designated pick-up and drop-off door (see pick-up and drop-off locations above). Pick-up is held between 2:10 – 2:30 p.m. Parents/caregivers are no longer picking up and dropping off students in the main vestibule or main office.
Visitors on campus
Out of an abundance of caution, the visitor protocols have been adjusted. Visitors will be allowed to enter school buildings by appointment only. Visitors will be required to complete a screening assessment prior to entering. Masks and adherence to all health and safety protocols will be required. The one exception is for an elementary student who is late to school, a parent may bring their child to the main vestibule and complete the health screening prior to entering.
Remote Learning
Grades PK, K & 1 will use the Seesaw Learning Platform. Details will be shared by teachers with all families. Online expectations will be to complete assigned tasks in Seesaw daily and join as many daily classroom Google Meetings each week as possible, which might include a read aloud, morning meeting, etc.
Grades 2-4 will use Google Classroom. Online expectations will be to complete assigned tasks in Google Classroom and join as many daily classroom Google Meets as possible, which will include an ELA and a MATH lesson daily.
K-4 students will have posted activities to complete or view by their special area teachers.
Technology
Elementary students who were identified in a survey with follow up communication will be provided with a district-provided Chromebook and/or a Wifi hotspot to the extent practicable.
Remote Learning Support Center has been created to assist with tech questions that families may have. This support center can be found on the district website and contains frequently asked questions, tutorials, as well as an email address and phone number that can be used to request further assistance.
Grading & Assessments
Grading will continue with our traditional number based system at all school buildings under all learning models, and all assignments will be graded as appropriate. The elementary building will still use standards based report cards for grades k-4. Grading and assessments help teachers and administrators determine student’s strengths and needs. District assessments will be implemented during the school year.
Information on state testing will be shared with students and families when it is finalized by the state.
Attendance
In order for students to be successful, it is important that they attend their classes whether in-person or remote. It is a requirement under the NYSED guidance that attendance is taken daily whether in-person or remote. When participating in remote instruction, teachers will take daily attendance based on students’ online engagement and whether they log in during remote live Google Meet sessions. If a student is sick and unable to attend their remote learning classes, an excuse or doctor’s note should be sent to the school office via email or fax, just as they would during in-person learning. If a student is not logged in during these live sessions or engaging in our on-line platform they will be marked absent. During in-person learning, attendance will be taken as normal. Students arriving after 8 a.m. will be marked tardy.
Although students in grades PK-4 must log onto the learning platform daily to be marked present during remote learning, the emphasis will be on completing assignments and not on the time students spend online.
Bus rules
- A mask must be worn at all times while riding, entering and exiting the school bus, unless prior approval by the district because of a medical condition or disability.
- No eating or drinking allowed.
- Students must remain in their assigned seat at all times.
- Members of the same household will sit together.
- Students must ride the same bus to and from school once routes have been established.
- Bus changes will not be permitted due to seating capacity limitations.
Food service procedures
- One meal choice will be provided for students who purchase their meals at school. Meals will be individually wrapped.
- Parents can order their child’s breakfast and lunch online in the morning.
- Students will be assigned seats in order to maintain social distancing in the cafeteria.
- Lunch tables will have a see-through divider.
- Meal accounts must be maintained throughout the week/month through MySchoolBucks.
- Meal deliveries will be available for those participating in remote learning upon registration/sign up. More information will be shared with families about this process on the school website and through email.