Eppler Junior High School

Dear Eppler Chieftain Families,

Let’s try this again. Return to In-Person Learning … Take Two! We are truly excited to begin welcoming back our students this coming Tuesday, January 19!!!!

I know the schedule and the calendar are the important parts of this communication, but I ask that you carefully read all of the information being provided. These bullet points include important background information that is used in developing protocols that will allow our students to safely return to our school building.

·         Schedule – Students enrolled in the remote/in-person learning model will use the cohort schedule that was shared with you earlier this school year. This schedule reduces the interaction of students. I have included the schedule again in this communication.

·         Safety Protocols – As a school and district, the health and safety of our students and staff remains the top priority. We need to work together to make sure that we can meet our goal of a return on January 19, 2021, and continue moving forward with increased face-to-face learning. Parents need to follow these safety protocols each morning and, if your child is experiencing any of these symptoms, please keep them at home.   In the event that someone who attends our school is diagnosed with COVID-19 and attended class, we are required to quarantine those students and teachers in their classrooms into a remote setting.  Working together, we can keep our students in the classroom and avoid any interruptions. We will also continue using the protocols that are important to keeping everyone safe, including encouraging frequent hand washing, the use of hand sanitizer, reducing close interactions, and wearing of face coverings. These protocols are all detailed in the updated parent handbook that is now on the district website.

·         Cohort Groups –Students will be divided according to alphabet into two groups called Cohorts.One cohort will attend in-person instruction while the other cohort group works remotely. By separating students in cohort groups, we are able to manage the interactions between students.The cohorts will be divided by the follow alpha structure, according to last names: Cohort 1 will be comprised of students whose last names begin with the letters A-K. Cohort 2 will be comprised of students whose last names begin with the letters L-Z.

·         Transportation – For families that are eligible for transportation services, times and routes are available at this link. We also encourage you to review this video with your children, detailing the important safety procedures that students must follow while riding the bus. Students who are eligible for transportation will receive those services. Bus route information can be found at this link.

·         Food Service –Breakfast and lunch are available for our students during their in-person learning sessions. For days they are at home for remote learning, meals are available at the remote pickup locations during the designated times. More information on remote locations is available at this link. Lunch time needs to be managed carefully as it is the one time each day where masks can be removed while our students eat. It is therefore extremely important that we are able to distance our students and staff for their protection. We will have five lunch periods, running in half-hour increments from 10:45 a.m. through 1:15 p.m. If you have special dietary concerns that need to be addressed, please be sure to call our office.

·         Student Support Time – Built into the schedule is a student support time. This is time for our students to reach out to their counselor, teacher or administrator to ask questions or get further support. It is suggested that students bring their own headphones/earbuds to use during Student Support Time, so they can converse privately with a teacher/support staff during this time.

Below are schedules for student, bell times and a calendar.

School Calendar (Through the End of February)

Examples

·         Student with last name of Adams for the week of January 18:

o   Student is assigned to Cohort 1.

o   The student would follow the A Block schedule on Tuesday and the B Block schedule on Wednesday, in-person, at school.

o   The student would follow the A Block schedule on Thursday and the B Block schedule on Friday, working remotely at home.

o   There is no remote day this week due to the ML King Holiday.

·         Student with the last name of Smith for the week of January 25:

o   Student is assigned to Cohort 2.

o   The student would follow the A Block schedule on Thursday and the B Block schedule on Friday, in-person, at school.

o   The student would follow the A Block schedule on Monday and the B Block schedule on Tuesday, working remotely at home.

o   Student would follow the remote day schedule on Wednesday.

In-person Schedule

Remote Day Schedule for Junior High School Students

During the remote day, students will attend all of their six classes. Below are the times that will be followed:

Students’ 2^nd and 5^th Hour teachers will share with them which lunch they are assigned when we return to school.

Because students will not be using lockers, they will take personal belongings: laptop, backpack, jacket/coat to each class. Details of plans for entering the building, cleaning desks, breakfast/lunch options, etc., can be found in the attached Updated Eppler Chieftains FAQs document.

If you have any questions, please call our office at 586-797-2900, or reply to this e-mail.

Be well!! We can’t wait to have your children back in school!!

Jerry Pantano
Principal