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Articles from May 2020

Coronavirus Update: May 27, 2020

Here are the latest updates from the Dubuque Community School District:

WEEK 10 ELEMENTARY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES NOW POSTED
Week 10 of educational materials developed by the district’s Educational Support Team are now available on our EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES WEBPAGE. This week’s resources again include Suggested Learning Resources + Activities, a Social Emotional Learning Guide, and a variety of Student Handouts and Worksheets.

As a reminder, the district’s team has worked to be sure these resources meet the needs of learners across grade levels and of all abilities. Activities not marked with a specific grade level can be used by a wide range of students – look in the accommodations section of the resources for tips on making the learning accessible to your student!

This will be the final elementary educational resources packet for the school year. Printed copies of these packets will be available at meal delivery sites on Friday, May 29.


MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADING
At the conclusion of the scheduled school year, middle school students and families will receive report cards that include grades for trimesters one and two. Because learning occurring after the school closure was ungraded, third trimester courses will show a grade of “Ex” to indicate that the class was excused due to the closure.

Families with additional questions can reach out to their school directly.

Coronavirus Update: May 20, 2020

Here are the latest updates from the Dubuque Community School District:

NO MEAL SERVICE ON MEMORIAL DAY (MONDAY, MAY 25)
Due to the Memorial Day holiday, there will be NO MEALS SERVED at district and community meal sites on Monday, May 25. This includes ALL community meal sites operating by the Dubuque Community School District, Boys & Girls Club, DREAM Center and Project Rooted.

Meal service will resume on Tuesday, May 26, at the normally scheduled times.


RETRIEVING ITEMS FROM SCHOOLS
Next week, between May 26 and 29, MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS will coordinate pickup of any student items left at school. Schools will communicate directly with families to share specific times and logistical information for this retrieval of items.

At this time, students will return district-issued laptops, hotspots, textbooks and library books. Please refer to communication from your school for other items that may need to be returned, including heart rate monitors, instruments, etc.)

Students will also have an opportunity to clean out their locker.

Please remember to engage in appropriate social distancing during these pick-up times.

Families with ELEMENTARY SCHOOL students who were unable to pickup item during their school’s scheduled pick-up time can contact the school directly to make arrangements to do so.


WEEK 9 ELEMENTARY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES NOW POSTED
Week 9 of educational materials developed by the district’s Educational Support Team are now available on our EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES WEBPAGE. This week’s resources again include Suggested Learning Resources + Activities, a Social Emotional Learning Guide, and a variety of Student Handouts and Worksheets.

As a reminder, the district’s team has worked to be sure these resources meet the needs of learners across grade levels and of all abilities. Activities not marked with a specific grade level can be used by a wide range of students – look in the accommodations section of the resources for tips on making the learning accessible to your student!

If you are having difficulty with the resources or have questions about how to accommodate the activities for your child, please reach out to your child’s teacher(s) by email or Seesaw for assistance.

Printed copies of these packets will be available at meal delivery sites on Friday, May 22.

Locker Clean Out / Materials Return

Hillhawk Families,

As we enter the last week of voluntary learning opportunities, please continue to encourage your children to participate. This is the last week that teachers will be emailing lessons. Thank you for supporting your children’s work from home.

We are going to be doing a locker clean out, computer/hot spot, textbook and musical instrument return next week. This will also be a time to pick up medicine from the nurse.

Following are the details, please read carefully:

When: Wednesday, May 27th and Thursday, May 28th from 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.

Registration: Registration is required. We ask that everyone register by noon on Friday, May 22nd. Students will have 15 minutes in our school. Students are allowed to bring one family member with them (ie. parent, older sibling, etc) into school. What happens if you don’t register, you will not be allowed to enter the building unless there is an open slot. The link to register is the same one used for parent-teacher conferences so you will be familiar with it. The link can also be found our school web page and Facebook page. The link is: https://ptcfast.com/schools/Thomas_Jefferson_Middle_School

Needed Items: Your child needs to bring the following items to school with them during their locker clean out appointment: their student ID, a bag for items in their hallway/gym lockers, any textbooks or library books to be returned, school computers/hot spots and school music instruments.

Entering school: We will have three doors as entry points. They are the front, science and gym (back of school by locker rooms) doors. Doors will have staff allowing people in to the building. They will check to see if your student has an appointment prior to allowing entry. Upon entry, your child will receive a checklist of what needs to be done while at school. Please exit the same door you entered.

Expectations in the building: Students will pick up a checklist. Students will clean out their hallway lockers and return textbooks, library books and computers/hot spots to the library. Students need to clean out their gym lockers and return heart rate strap monitors. They will also return musical instruments by the music rooms. If your student has medicine they need to pick up, they should do so between 7:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (both days) as we have staff available at that time.

Masks and Gloves: Masks are recommended when entering our building. We will have disposable gloves at the entry doors if you’d like to use them.

Picture: If possible, we’d like your child to take a picture of them at their favorite place in/at school or leaving the building. We typically take a lot of pictures on the last day of school. We would ask that the pictures be sent to Michelle Weber at miweber@dbqschools.org We will share these on social media. Please have your child include their current grade with the picture. We will try to organize them by grades.

8th Grade Students only: Please stop by the office when you are in our building. The Jefferson PTO has something they’d like to give you to say good bye.

We are the only middle school allowing our students in the building. It is important that our students have some closure. Cleaning out their locker at the end of the year is a normal routine. What won’t be normal about it this year, is that it is usually loud as students visit with friends and are excited about summer vacation. Due to social distancing, we ask that students don’t spend time visiting or lingering at school. Reminder: If you show up to clean out a locker without an appointment, you will not be allowed in school unless there is an open slot. We are limiting the number of students in our building.

Awards Assemblies: We will hold awards assemblies for our current 6th and 7th graders next school year. We are working on details of how we are going to present our 8th grade awards. More details to come next week.

Yearbooks: We are hopeful that our yearbooks will be in next week. One of the printing companies had to shut down for a couple of weeks due to illness. We will send an email to all if they arrive prior to May 27th and 28th

This is a lot of information at one time. We will send reminder emails and phone calls as May 27th and May 28th approach.  This information is available on our school website, on the school Facebook page, and was emailed to the email address set to receive school communications on 5/19.

To sign up for a time slot, visit this link or call Jefferson – 552-4709.

https://ptcfast.com/schools/Thomas_Jefferson_Middle_School

Coronavirus Update: May 13, 2020

Here are the latest updates from the Dubuque Community School District:

HEMPSTEAD MEAL SITE LOCATION CHANGE
Beginning on Monday, May 18, meals will no longer be served at Hempstead High School due to renovation of the school’s kitchen. The meal site will move to Roosevelt Middle School, where meals will be served during the normal 11 a.m.-1 p.m. timeframe.


ELEMENTARY/MIDDLE SCHOOL INFINITE CAMPUS GRADE INFORMATION
As we move through the completion of the school year with student learning, elementary and middle school grading information will not be accessible in Infinite Campus, as the current learning for students remains ungraded at this time.

Elementary and middle school students/families will receive end-of-the-year grading information at the scheduled conclusion of the school year.


WEEK 8 ELEMENTARY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES NOW POSTED
Week 8 of educational materials developed by the district’s Educational Support Team are now available on our EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES WEBPAGE. This week’s resources again include Suggested Learning Resources + Activities, a Social Emotional Learning Guide, and a variety of Student Handouts and Worksheets.

As a reminder, the district’s team has worked to be sure these resources meet the needs of learners across grade levels and of all abilities. Activities not marked with a specific grade level can be used by a wide range of students – look in the accommodations section of the resources for tips on making the learning accessible to your student!

If you are having difficulty with the resources or have questions about how to accommodate the activities for your child, please reach out to your child’s teacher(s) by email or Seesaw for assistance.

Printed copies of these packets will be available at meal delivery sites on Friday, May 15.

Coronavirus Update: May 6

Here are the latest updates from the Dubuque Community School District:

RETRIEVING ITEMS FROM BUILDINGS
Next week, pending any change in conditions, ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS will be coordinating pickup of any student items left at school. These items will be pre-packaged for families to pick-up outside the building.

  • Schools will communicate scheduling and logistics details directly with families of elementary school students.
  • All schools will have social distancing measures in place and families will not be allowed inside the building.
  • Items will be pre-packaged for families to pick-up outside the building.
  • If students have items from school they wish to return (district-owned instruments, library books, textbooks, etc.), they can be dropped off at this time as well. Please note that there will be no penalties for items that remain with families until the beginning of next school year.

MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS will be scheduling pickup of student items for late May/early June to coincide with textbook, computer and hotspot returns. Schools will reach out to families with details as plans are finalized.


HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT/NO-CREDIT GRADING OPTION
As shared previously, high school students have the option of taking second semester courses with a Credit (P)/No Credit (N) grading option. The deadline is May 15 for seniors to choose this option and June 1 for students in grades 9-11. Credit/No Credit courses are not included in a student’s grade-point-average, but they will receive credit for the class if a grade of 60% or higher is earned.

The request form for each school follows (students will be asked to login to their district Office365 account to complete the form):

Hempstead Credit/No-Credit Request Form

Dubuque Senior Credit/No-Credit Request Form

IMPORTANT NOTE: Students planning to move on to post-secondary education should consult the institution they plan to attend to determine which grading option will be best for their individual circumstances. Students planning to play intercollegiate athletics may also wish to review guidance from the NCAA Clearninghouse or the NAIA Eligibility Center.


YARD SIGN PICK-UP FOR SENIORS
Dubuque Senior High School and Hempstead High School will hold pickup for yard signs celebrating seniors on Tuesday, May 12. Pick-ups will be held at each school in a drive-up format with social distancing measures in place. Schools will communicate pick-up times and details directly with seniors and their families.


DON’T FORGET TO #ThankATeacher
Our teachers rock! This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and we hope you’ll take a few moments to #ThankATeacher for the amazing work they do to support our students and families. Be sure to share your pictures and posts on our district Facebook and Twitter pages. And, don’t forget to use #ThankATeacher and #DbqSchoolsProud.


WEEK 7 ELEMENTARY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES NOW POSTED
Week 7 of educational materials developed by the district’s Educational Support Team are now available on our EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES WEBPAGE. This week’s resources again include Suggested Learning Resources + Activities, a Social Emotional Learning Guide, and a variety of Student Handouts and Worksheets.

As a reminder, the district’s team has worked to be sure these resources meet the needs of learners across grade levels and of all abilities. Activities not marked with a specific grade level can be used by a wide range of students – look in the accommodations section of the resources for tips on making the learning accessible to your student!

If you are having difficulty with the resources or have questions about how to accommodate the activities for your child, please reach out to your child’s teacher(s) by email or Seesaw for assistance.

Printed copies of these packets will be available at meal delivery sites on Friday, May 8.