Governor Whitmer has mandated that schools across the state remain closed through April 13, 2020.  Kent City Community Schools will proceed with spring break as previously planned, April 3 – April 10, 2020. The Kent City Elementary Office is now closed until after spring break.  Be watching your email and our Facebook page for more communications from us. 

 

Dear KCE Families,

Below are a few additional updates that we have to share with you.

Food Service Update
Beginning the week of March 30th, meals will be available on Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 9:00am-11:00am at the elementary school for curbside pick-up in the bus area on College Street. You will be able to pick up meals for 2 days at a time.  

 

If you are unable to pick up food for your child during our designated times, please call our food service hotline at 616-678-7570 and leave your name, telephone number, and a brief message. A staff member will return your call as soon as possible to get further details. 

Public Access to our Building 

Kent City Elementary is currently closed to the public until further notice. Learning materials and resources are available online at https://www.kentcityschools.org/parentsstudents/covid-19-updates/ 

Hand2Hand Food Distribution Program 
If your family participates in the Hand2Hand Food Distribution program, please note that during our mandated school closure, Hand2Hand food bags may be picked up on Fridays at Kent City Baptist Church located at 400 W. Muskegon Street from 11am-1pm and 4-6pm until school resumes. 

KCCS Website Update

Our COVID-19 badge has officially gone live on our https://www.kentcityschools.org website.  If you go to the homepage, you will see a new badge displayed in the top left corner.  Clicking on this badge will direct you to a page with all information and communications regarding the closure.  You will also see a heading for Teacher Lessons/Information under each building. This is where we will place any grade level materials that have been sent to you electronically.  We will also continue to post resources that we think you might find helpful during this time.

As we begin this third week away from KCE, we wanted to continue to support and encourage you and your family. These are challenging times, but we will persevere and get through this together. 

 

Resources to Focus On

 

Below you will find some links and information to a few selected resources that directly connect to the curriculum we use at KCE and have found effective with your children.   Our goal is not to overwhelm you with additional resources, but guide you toward those that will be familiar to your children and offer an explanation of each. 

 

Bridges Math

The Bridges Math Learning Center is providing free online resources for all students to use independently or with support from family members or educators. This is the math curriculum that we use at KCE so students are very familiar with its format. At the Math Learning Center At Home Learning Webpage, click on your child’s grade level to access fun daily math activities, collections of practice pages, family games, and online games. No login or registration required.

 

Bridges will be updating these pages every weekday with a new math activity. You will discover that many of the activities are worthwhile for students of all ages and can be enjoyed as a family. The following day, they will share examples of how other people did the activity so you can check your work and stretch your thinking. Some of our teachers have already sent these out, so you may already be familiar.  

 

Khan Academy 

Khan Academy is a free website whose mission is to provide a world‑class education for anyone, anywhere.  Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. 

Many of our classrooms in grades 3-5 already use some of the lessons and resources on Khan Academy and Khan Academy Mappers to support instruction or reteach concepts. Some teachers may have already provided at home learning opportunities for their students. 

 

If you would like to learn more about Khan Academy, please go to the Khan Academy Parent Quick Start Guide.  

 

There is also a specific application, for younger children age 2-7, called Khan Academy Kids. To learn more about this resource go to the How to Use Khan Academy Kids for Remote Learning article. 

 

Epic!

Epic! is an award-winning subscription service that is free for educators, which gives families access to thousands of online books, videos and quizzes from leading publishers to help kids everywhere read, learn and grow. KCE educators will send families an invitation with a class code to join and get remote access. If your child’s teacher has not sent information to join Epic! or you missed it, please contact them. Once you get the invitation with the class code, you can visit the Epic! Website or you may wish to download the Epic! App and create an account to gain full access. 

 

If you have been invited to join in an email from your child’s teacher and are having trouble gaining remote access, click on Remote Student Access During School Closures Due to Coronavirus (COVID-19). 

 

Typing.com 

Typing.com is an online program to practice keyboarding and help upper elementary students in grades 3 through 5  build digital skills. Extensive keyboarding lessons and digital literacy content provide your children with fundamental career and life skills.  KCE Students in grades 3, 4 and 5 can use their Google school account to sign in at the Typing.com Student Sign In page. Now more than ever, our children need to be able to be fluent in typing skills, continually remind them to use the “home row”.   

 

Distance Learning Family Survey  

This week, KCE teachers will be reaching out to students and families to collect specific data on internet accessibility and the devices that students will be able to use for online learning from home.  This information will help us better understand internet access across the school district and what barriers that may exist for individual students and families. It is important to honestly respond to this teacher survey, so we can best assist students in gaining access and or print resources to continue learning. We are seeking your input on the following questions.

 

1. Do you currently have internet access in your home that you consider reliable?

 

2. If the answer is NO, what barriers prevent your household from getting reliable internet access?                                          Is it cost, remote location, or another reason?

 

3. What devices does your family have such as computers, tablets, iPads or Smartphones that  will allow you to access the internet for both student learning and teacher communication? 

 

4.Do you have enough devices for the number of children in your home to share?

 

5. What other barriers would make distance learning a challenge for your family?

 

March is Reading Month Spirit Week

We were not able to finish our March is Reading Month dress up days this month at school, so we thought it would be fun to put together an at-home spirit week and share photos of our experience. View the KCE Virtual Spirit Week Schedule 2020 , participate accordingly, and share or post a picture reading each day.  When posting you pictures on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, please use #KentCityEl to tag your posts. Please note that the hashtag ends with a lowercase l and NOT an Uppercase L!  Let’s have fun as we celebrate reading together this week!

 

Facebook Read Alouds Reminder

Don’t forget that the Kent City Elementary Facebook Page hosts a live read aloud at 7 PM Monday - Friday.  KCE librarian Sara Schutt read each night last week, but you will begin to listen to some different readers this week.  If you have a Facebook account and would like access to this private group, please request access and complete the membership question.  This is also a great place to post all of your spirit week photos. We look forward to connecting you each day! 

 

Please let your kids know how much we miss their beautiful smiles and the many conversations we engaged in daily!  It is our goal during this time to remain connected and to let you know we are here for you! Remember you can email us at pam.thomas@kentcityschools.org or will.lepech@kentcityschools.org.  with any questions you may have or any support that you may need from us during this time.

 

Take care of yourself and your families ...stay safe, healthy and make sure you have some fun along the way!

 

Pam and Will