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Beacon News - November 2020
Here is the November edition of Beacon News. It contains important information regarding schedule changes, family connection meetings, learning packet pick up, Veterans Day tribute, September Selfie Slideshow, and more.
Read MoreFamily Connection Meetings - Schedule Changes Week of 11/09/20
Family Connection Meetings will be held on November 9, 10, 12, and 13 via Zoom in lieu of fall parent/teacher conferences. There will be early releases on these days to allow for meeting appointments. These virtual meetings will be an opportunity to discuss your child's progress with his/her teacher. Please use the same Zoom link your child uses for live learning to meet with your child's teacher. The link can also be found in your child’s Google Classroom under the “Classwork” tab.
There is no school on Wednesday, November 11 in observance of Veterans Day.
Read MoreLive Learning Schedule - Week of 11/09/20
Learning Packet Pick Up - Week of November 2
Beacon student learning packets for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade will be available for pickup November 2-6 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. outside your child’s classroom. Please wear a mask and maintain social distance.
Read MoreSchedule Your Virtual Family Connection Meeting!
Our next round of family connection meetings will be held on November 9, 10, 12, and 13 via Zoom in lieu of fall parent/teachers conferences. There will be early release on these days to allow for meeting appointments. Your child's teacher will provide an adjusted live learning schedule for that week.
Your child’s teacher will discuss student progress, meeting student goals, and the implementation of class curriculum. If you have any concerns about your child’s progress, please address the problems at this time. Please make every effort to meet with your child’s teacher at the scheduled time.
** PARENT ACTION REQUIRED: SCHEDULE YOUR FAMILY CONNECTION MEETING **
Beginning Wednesday, October 21, parents may schedule a family connection meeting using Skyward Family Access. Meetings must be scheduled by October 30. Please contact the Beacon office at 360-249-4528 if you need assistance.
Read MoreBeacon News - October 2020
Here is the October edition of Beacon News. It contains important information regarding The Great Pumpkin Reading Challenge, attendance procedure, live learning schedules, learning packet pick up, and family connection meetings.
Read MoreLive Learning Schedule - Week of 10/19/20
No School - Friday, October 9
There is no school on Friday, October 9. There will not be any Grab N Go meals or delivery service since it is a non-school day.
Read MoreAttendance Procedure
Beginning October 5, the school is required to record excused and unexcused absences and report unexcused absences to the state. WAC 392-401A-018 requires school districts to take daily attendance for all enrolled students participating in remote learning and in-person learning.
Your child will be marked present if he/she demonstrates participation by either:
Attending his/her scheduled live learning Zoom session; OR
Completing the Beacon Remote Attendance Form in his/her Google Classroom.
Your child will be marked absent for the day if he/she does not demonstrate participation. If your child is absent, please excuse the absence in one of the following ways:
Report the absence online via Skyward Family Access;
Email the school office;
Call the school office at 360-249-4528.
Acceptable excuses for student absences include: illness, medical/dental appointments, family emergency, bereavement, and religious occasions. Other reasons may be excused at the discretion of the school principal.
Read MoreLearning Packet Pick Up - Week of October 5
Beacon student learning packets for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade will be available for pickup October 5-8 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. outside your child’s classroom. Please wear a mask and maintain social distance.
Read MoreBeacon News - September 2020
Here is the September 2020 edition of Beacon News. It contains important information regarding Google Classroom, iReady Diagnostic, and Live Learning sessions.
Read MoreLearning Packet Pick Up - Week of September 8
Beacon student learning packets for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade will be available for pickup September 8-11 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. outside your child’s classroom. Please wear a mask and maintain social distance.
In addition to necessary curriculum materials, the learning packet will include a magnet with your child’s computer login information. Please watch for an email from us on Tuesday evening with a link to our newsletter which will include detailed login instructions for Google Classroom and iReady.
Read MoreView Teacher and Schedule a Conference
If you have completed the Annual Student Information Update for your child, your child’s teacher is now viewable under the Schedule tab in Skyward Family Access.
Please schedule a conference with your child’s teacher by clicking on the Conferences tab and selecting an appointment.
If you need assistance, please email beaconskyward@monteschools.org.
Read MoreBeacon ES: Welcome Back!
August 25, 2020
Dear Beacon Families,
I hope you are all doing well, staying safe, and making adjustments to life as we now know it. I know that our decision to start the year off remotely has left many of you with mixed feelings. On one hand, students and staff will remain safer during remote learning and on the other hand, students thrive on interaction with their peers, school staff, and routines. We know that many of you still have questions. Hopefully this letter will serve as a guide for you to navigate through the first couple of weeks of school.
YOUR CHILD’S TEACHER: Starting August 31, you will be able to log into Skyward to view who your child’s teacher will be for the school year. In addition, your child’s teacher will be sending you an email with their Personal Meeting ID link through Zoom. This link will be used for Open House, Family Connection Meetings, and throughout remote learning.
VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE: Using the Zoom link your child’s teacher sent you, please test it on September 1 from 5:30-6:00 p.m. Teachers will be available to answer questions about the first three days of school. Please reserve more detailed questions for your personalized Family Connection Meeting.
FAMILY CONNECTION MEETINGS (GRADES K-2): Families may sign up for a half hour meeting time through Skyward starting August 31. These virtual one-on-one meetings are intended to welcome families and students to school, provide a safe environment for families to speak freely with their teacher, and help families and teachers begin to build relationships so that they can work together to help children be successful in school. These meetings are scheduled for the first three days of school, September 2-4. Contact the main office should you need help scheduling. This process will be much like our typical conference week.
SCHOOL SUPPLIES: Lists are available on our website. It is broken into two parts: a remote learning section and a return to school section. We will provide other supplies in Learning Packets.
LEARNING PACKETS: These packets will include all the necessary curriculum materials needed and will be available for pick up the week of September 8 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. outside your child’s classroom.
CHROMEBOOKS: We understand starting school in an online environment may create challenges for some of our families if there is not adequate technology in the home. If your family does not have consistent access to a computer, please contact our main office to be placed on a distribution list. Devices will be distributed per availability starting August 31. If you do have a device at home and want to know whether it will work in a remote learning environment, it is helpful to note the following:
A desktop computer or laptop computer works best in the virtual format.
Chromebooks, tablets or iPads are also a suitable option.
Mobile devices may not meet the needs of your child’s online learning environment and are not recommended.
Please keep the following in mind if you are checking out a Chromebook from our school:
If you have children attending more than one school, you will need to go to each school to pick up a Chromebook.
Only the parent/legal guardian can be present to sign for the device.
In the meantime, we will continue to work hard to keep you connected to the school in multiple ways: Family Connection Meetings, Google Classroom, Remind, newsletters, our website, and social media. We will continue to offer opportunities for students to stay engaged with teachers and other support staff. We know how important this connection is, and we will do our best to meet and fulfill that need.
In partnership,
Barbara Page, Principal
TO DO LIST:
August 31: Log into Skyward and do the following:
View your child’s teacher for the school year
Schedule a Family Connection Meeting
August 31: Check your email for a Zoom link from your child’s teacher
August 31: Chromebooks will be available per request. Our office will contact you about pick up details.
September 1: Test Zoom link during Open House, 5:30-6:00 p.m.
September 2: First Day of School for grades 1-2. No live learning for kindergarten.
September 2-4: Virtual Family Connection Meeting with your child’s teacher
September 8: First day of live learning for kindergarten.
September 8-11: Learning Packet Distribution, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Annual Student Information Update
Please watch for the following letter to arrive in the mail within the next few days. It was mailed Friday, August 14, 2020. Your Skyward Family Access user name and password will be included in the mailed letter.
WELCOME BACK BULLDOG FAMILIES! This has been an unprecedented year and now more than ever we are looking forward to working with you and your students as we return to learning. As decided at the School Board meeting on Tuesday, August 11, we will begin the 2020-2021 school year remotely until it’s deemed safe for our students and staff to return to in-person learning.
While we know there continues to be questions regarding the upcoming school year, we are working very hard to get answers out to you. Detailed information on remote learning, materials, chromebook check-out, etc. will be sent home, emailed and posted on our website in the days to come. We encourage parents/guardians to check the district and school websites at www.monteschools.org and by logging into your Skyward Family Access, as information will be updated in both places regularly.
For now, the one thing which hasn’t changed is the “Annual Student Information Update”. We will be using online forms to update information for students - this information will be required for all students. Upon completion of families selecting their program of choice, rosters will be updated and your child’s teacher will be shared via Skyward on August 31.
The “Annual Student Information Update” will open on Monday, August 17 and close on Sunday, August 23. This timeline allows staff to finalize and update class rosters for each program. Therefore, we ask families to please do the following:
Log into your Skyward Family Access account and complete the information update process. The first step will be to complete the Pandemic Response form. This will include choosing either the:
In-Person Program: This program is linked to a classroom teacher and will start the year in “Remote Learning” and blend into “In-Person Learning” when it is safe for our students and staff; or,
M.O.D.E.L. Program: This virtual program is linked to a M.O.D.E.L. teacher and provides students and families the ability to have a flexible schedule.
Verify your contact information (i.e., address, phones, and emergency contacts).
Complete additional steps in order to finalize your child’s registration for the 2020-2021 school year. These forms still need to be completed, even though we are starting remotely. They include: food service, health information, photo/video authorization, etc.
The link to Skyward is located on the Montesano School District website at www.monteschools.org. Please refer to the letter you will receive in the mail for your user name and password.
If you need access to a computer or assistance with Skyward, you can call or email your respective school offices. We are here to serve and help you any way we can. Enjoy your last few weeks of summer!
Sincerely,
Chris Cady, Simpson Elementary Principal
Barbara Page, Beacon Elementary Principal
Read MoreEnd of Year Message
Summer Meals Available
2020-2021 Open Enrollment
Will your child be 5 years old by August 31st? It's time to enroll in kindergarten!
Montesano School District is now enrolling new students for the 2020-2021 school year. New student enrollment may be completed online using the Skyward Family Access system. Click here to enroll online. For additional information regarding preschool and kindergarten enrollment requirements, please click here.
PRESCHOOL
Please complete the online form to request a free screening to determine preschool eligibility. Enrollment applications for preschoolers are not needed at this time.
If you need assistance, please email beaconskyward@monteschools.org.
Read More2020-2021 Parent Input Week
If you would like to provide input regarding your child’s learning style or needs for the upcoming school year, please complete the online Beacon Parent Input Form no later than May 1, 2020.
Read More