November 2, 2018
Dear Parents and Guardians,
It is hard to believe that it is November already! How quickly the last few weeks have gone by. November is the time of year we normally start to prepare for Parent/Teacher Conferences. However, due to COVID-19, Parent/Teacher Conferences have been pushed back to February, 2021. First trimester Report Cards WILL be sent home the week of December 7. Please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any questions about how your child is doing in school.
Report Cards
You may be wondering how teachers will be grading student work for the first trimester during our Hybrid Learning model? Portland’s elementary schools have identified a few high priority learning standards for teachers to focus on at each grade level. The high priority learning standards establish clear, consistent guidelines for what every student should know and be able to do in Math and English Language Arts from kindergarten through 5th grade. Teachers will be marking your child’s progress on report cards relative to where we would expect them to be at this point in the year based on what we taught. The reason we are reporting this way is so that you and your child are really clear on how they are doing and where they might need more support or challenge. We understand that all students are different and some students might take longer to become proficient in a standard, especially when learning is disrupted due to COVID-19. It is our goal to support ALL students so they are at or above grade level by the end of the year.
PPS will use a "met/not yet met" system to assess the progress of our PK-5 students attending the Hybrid Learning model this trimester. Teachers will mark “met/not yet met” on report cards to show how your student is progressing toward learning the key grade level standards. We believe this system is more developmentally appropriate for elementary school students and more in line with what we believe about teaching and learning. Also, especially in this time of hybrid learning and pandemic-related stress for children and families, we believe a “met/not yet met” system is most fair for children given the equity impacts of the virus.
Remote Learning Expectations
We are deeply appreciative of everything parents and guardians are doing to support your child(ren) in our Hybrid Learning model. Every day your child is remote there is still school work that must be completed and turned in to the teacher. We know the remote days of learning require a lot of time on the part of families and we value your commitment to your child’s education. To help all families understand the learning expectations for remote days, we have developed the following guidelines:
Students are required to attend live events scheduled during their assigned class time, or watch video recordings of any live meetings. Students must keep their cameras and audio ON throughout the lesson or until the teacher releases the class.
Students should log onto Google Classroom or SeeSaw daily and will be responsible to complete and submit all assignments posted. Attendance is tracked on remote days through students’ responses to online questions.
Students will complete any paper/pencil work that the teacher sent home and bring the completed work back to school on their next cohort day.
Please let your child’s teacher know when you need materials or help with the work Please communicate concerns with teachers, related service staff, and/or support staff.
Thank you for supporting your child(ren)’s participation and engagement in Remote Learning each day.
Garden Special
As you may have heard from your students, this year Garden has been added as a NEW special to the existing rotation of Art, Music, and PE specials. Together, Anna Franceschetti, the new garden educator and Lilly Kendall, the Food Corps member at Talbot, have created an engaging, creative Garden curriculum that is tied to Next Generation Science standards. We are excited to welcome all of your students into the Garden at some point this year. With our current students, the educators have been covering a broad range of topics, from how plants grow, preparing our garden for winter, why our leaves change color in the fall, how our food scraps decompose and much more!
Our school Garden is located at the edge of the Talbot parking lot and is shared with the Riverton community gardeners. Additionally, we have a small fruit tree orchard located behind the garden, six raised beds located in the front of the school, as well as five apple trees located on the hill near the bus loop. Throughout the year students will explore all of these spaces to learn about food systems, nutrition, and the natural world. In the winter, we will use the Community Room to hold our class and continue to teach students about food systems. Some of our winter lessons will include exploring worm bins, seed saving, and nutrition. We are so excited to work with your students to dig into how food grows and explore the phenomena of our natural world. If you are interested in supporting maintenance and other school garden projects, please email lilly.kendall@foodcorps.org about joining the Talbot School Garden Team.
Art Special
4th and 5th graders have been studying Abstract Expressionist artists and use of color blending, brush strokes and emotion in painting. They have been studying the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and his Neo-expressionist artwork and figures. Students have created a mixed media project that includes acrylic painting, collage and oil pastels to portray a figure displaying emotions, thoughts and identity. We are now beginning another mixed media project that includes embossing techniques, collage and paint markers. In this project, students are learning about Pacific Northwest Native American culture and art, along with the Ancient Mesoamerican cultures of Mayans, Aztecs and Incas and their artwork and symbolism. Through this knowledge, they are creating artworks that are inspired by these cultures. Pre-K have been doing line and shape projects with crayons and watercolor paintings. They have made shape faces, and pattern pumpkins from these earlier lessons.
Scholastic Virtual Book Fair
The Scholastic Book Fair will be online this year. The dates for the Virtual Book Fair are November 19 through December 2nd. Shop online for some wonderful books for your child and/or your child’s class. Thank you to PTO volunteers for organizing the Virtual Book Fair. More details about how to log in and shop will be coming soon. Just a friendly reminder that a portion of all sales from the Book Fair goes directly into supporting Talbot School!
Flu Clinic
One of the best ways to prevent the flu is to get a flu shot every year. Talbot will be holding a Flu Clinic on Monday, November 16 for Cohort A and Tuesday, November 17 for Cohort B students. If you would like your child to have a flu shot at school, parents need to fill out the form completely and return it to the school. Please be assured that if you have not returned the form, your child will not be given a flu shot. Teachers will remind students to pass in the returned flu permission forms, but be aware that sometimes the forms do not get passed in. Please feel free to call and check to make sure your child's form has been turned in. Our goal is for every child to be protected against the flu this year!
Attendance
The school office uses an automated robo call system for when students are marked absent from school without a notification from a parent/guardian. Parents/Guardians are expected to call the school office at 874-8210 or email Andrea Manuel manuea@portlandschools.org prior to 8:00 A.M. if their child will be absent or tardy for in person AND remote days. Parents/Guardians who have not called in for an absent or tardy child will receive the automated phone call as a reminder to call the office to provide the reason for the absence. Excused absences are defined by Maine State Law and the Portland School Board of Education as:
personal illness;
an appointment with a health professional that must be made during school hours;
observance of a religious holiday;
a family emergency; or
a planned absence for a personal or educational purpose that has been approved in advance by the principal/assistant principal.
Maine Law (20-A MRSA 5001- A) requires that children attend school every day. In cases of excessive unexcused absences (7 or more!) for which the parent is responsible, the school department may refer to the Department of Human Services and law enforcement. Therefore, it is extremely important to notify the office whenever your child is absent from school, including Remote Days.
Cold Weather Gear
One feature of the Hybrid Learning Model that we embrace at Talbot School is the opportunity to bring students outside to our beautiful outdoor learning spaces every day, even in the colder months. We urge you to do your best to send your children appropriately dressed for learning outside as we move into colder seasons. We have students go outside every day throughout the winter, unless the temperature drops below 13 degrees with wind chill. Students need jackets, hats, snow pants, boots and gloves/mittens in order to be safely protected from the cold when they are outside at wiggle break or learning in the outdoor classroom. If you need help getting any of these items for your child, please contact the office at 874-8210.
Curriculum Information
Please be sure to check out our new slides and videos that give information and overviews of the instructional program happening at each grade level in our Hybrid Learning Model. You can visit the Curriculum Information Videos on our webpage at https://talbot.portlandschools.org/.
Important Dates in November
November 11 - No School Veterans Day
November 11 - Last day of PTO Charleston Wrap Fundraiser
November 25, 26, 27 - No School Thanksgiving break
With appreciation,
Ann Hanna
Principal
