4/22 Principal's Message
Alston Ridge Families:
I hope you are well and safe. As the world has changed around our school community, please know that what remains certain is that we love you, we miss you, and your students and your family are always in our thoughts. Please share with us any ways that we can support you. Your student’s teachers, our school’s counselors, and our school’s administrators are only an e-mail away, even if we are away from one another.
This Friday will mark the end of the second week of the school district’s Remote Learning plan. Even in crisis, our faculty has been determined to develop meaningful content that can connect your student to the important learning of their grade. As you look over your students’ shoulders and support them with learning activities, you’ll see the products of whole-grade and schoolwide collaboration—grade level teachers collaboratively generating activities and producing video content that can help guide a few hours of productive engagement each day. And, most happily, I hope that your students have had the chance to connect “in-person” with their teachers and instructional assistants who miss and care about them dearly.
Please share feedback with our administration by completing our Parent Survey* about your family’s experience with Remote Learning so that we can help improve our service to all families at Alston Ridge.
If you are still trying to find a family rhythm to learning from home, please know that you are doing a great job and we are proud of you! Please give yourself and your student the grace and permission to ask for help when you need it, step back from the computer or papers when things become challenging or overwhelming, and focus on manageable goals that will help your student feel successful and encouraged by their participation in learning. Each small task that your student attempts will help them transition back to in-person learning when we return to school. If you encounter any technical problems, the Wake County Remote Learning Help Desk provides support to students and families.
We feel acutely that this is not the same as school, and we wish that we could be there alongside you as you are balancing this homeschooling process alongside your work and other family responsibilities. But, the safer we are now, the sooner we will all be back under one roof together (and with your children out of the house again!).
A few reminders as we continue this learning together, and as we reflect on all of the usual things that would be happening at this time of the school year:
- Quarter 3 report cards will not be published by the school district, and grades will not be marked according to the usual Standards Based Grading process. And, during Remote Learning, grades will not be marked for Quarter 4. The priority for feedback to students will not be on evaluating proficiency but will be targeted to encourage continued growth and engagement with the process of Remote Learning.
- Single Subject Acceleration has been delayed and the process for determining eligibility for this accelerative practice will be communicated to all families once it has been finalized by the school district.
- Families who requested a Track Change for 2020-2021 during the spring window have received initial communication by e-mail.
In addition to content developed by our school and through the district’s Remote Learning site, UNC-TV has partnered with the Department of Public Instruction to ensure relevant educational programming for children of varying ages. Learn more about UNC-TV at their site--https://www.unctv.org/unctv-at-home-learning/ and in the district’s communication: here.
And, when you need a way to start your day of learning, plan to check in via YouTube with our schoolwide Morning Announcements produced by our amazing Assistant Principals: Mrs. Melissa Oliver and Ms. Ruth Ann Freeman. It has been terrific to connect with families through our newly minted YouTube Channel where we share daily birthday announcements, news and notes, and a motivational message. Don’t forget to tune in for nightly picture-book read-alouds from our teachers at 7:30 pm too!
The channel: _AlstonRidgeES_Staff-AlstonRidgeES
Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvcQ2RAB5UbVj9DlbQZNymg
Families can “Subscribe” to receive alerts about new video content. And, if you can’t join for our regular 9:10 am announcements, or 7:30 pm Read-Aloud, you can watch the videos later on the Channel page.
Finally, thank you to our amazing parents who have worked with the PTA to produce our 2020-2021 Yearbook. In a memorable year, it will be wonderful to have an artifact of our students’ experience together. Orders are still underway through the online ordering process with Strawbridge Studios: navigate to "Order Pictures and Yearbook" and enter the school code YB109939. Yearbooks are $22 and are available until this Friday, April 24.
And, it is never to soon to begin preparing for a new school year. Bypass the hassle of store visits and the precautions of social-distancing--you can order all of your student’s school supplies for 2020-2021 through our PTA supported partnership with First Day School Supplies. Supplies will be prepared based on teacher supply lists and will be waiting in the classroom for the 1st day of school. We are grateful to our PTA for their forethought in continuing this partnership for the safety and convenience of our families.
*Parent Survey Link, Remote Learning: https://forms.gle/3cwojYGqGzRwUMn8A
Take good care--we miss you.
Niko