Sangster News You Choose
Message from the Principal
Dear Sangster Families,
We are all in this together! The new distance learning journey is in place because the health and safety of you and your family during this pandemic is a priority. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones well.
It was exciting to have our first full week of face-to-face instruction. If the staff did not see your child(ren), they will be reaching out to you. We want to make sure we are connecting with each of our students every week. We miss our students!
Ms. Jankovich, Ms. Redford and I were able to see so many thoughtful and engaging lessons. The staff is working hard to provide opportunities for your child(ren)’s continuity of learning. Our collaborative teaching teams continue to reflect on distance learning plans and are using those reflections for constant adjustment. Our distance learning goal is to continue to inspire a love of learning in our students and to continue to foster the growth and progress towards our standards of learning.
We want you as a family to make decisions about what works for your family. Many of you are managing and juggling your family systems, work schedules and health issues during this stressful time. We encourage you to communicate with teachers, support staff, and administration whenever needed so we can support each other in this process. There are many points of access for our continuity of learning including daily instructional time and office hours with teachers, centrally mailed learning packets, and continuous lessons on the cable channels.
District Level and School level resources for continuity of learning: https://fcps.blackboard.com/webapps/login/
FCPS cable channels with learning activities are available:
- Channel 21 includes elementary school programming
- Channel 25 includes middle school programming
- Channel 99 includes high school programming
The Sangster staff is working and collaborating each day during this global crisis. They put on bright smiles during the lessons, even when their own children and families are struggling. They love and miss your children! Next week is teacher appreciation week. THANK YOU to our staff for all you have done and continue to do to help finish the school year strong and connect with students.
To all Sangster families – THANK YOU for all you are doing to help your children stay focused and calm during this challenging time. We will get through this together. Stay in touch. Take good care. Sangster Strong!
Sincerely,
Lisa M. Reddel
New Student Registration for School Year 2020-2021
NEW STUDENT REGISTRATION for School Year 2020-2021 (Kindergarten-6th Grade) - Parents who have not yet completed the In Person Registration Appointment, please complete the following link: https://forms.gle/SD38Zdt1bbH29XEp7. Our registrar will be in contact with you.
If you know of a new student that needs to register for the 2020-21 school year, please refer them to the Sangster website or contact Marian Hoelscher at mthoelscher@fcps.edu for more information.
Student's Intention for 2020-2021 School Year
(Parents of Rising 7th Graders that will be attending another FCPS school do not need to respond)
If your child will not be returning to Sangster next school year, please email our registrar Marian Hoelscher at mthoelscher@fcps.edu with your intentions. Please include the following information:
Student Name:
Grade Level:
Name and address of New School:
If you previously advised the office that your child will not be returning to Sangster and your plans have changed, please let us know.
This information is important for staffing based on enrollment and state regulations require that we determine the educational intentions of students leaving.
Sangster's WHSE News Channel
Tune in to our weekly broadcast on our unlisted WHSE News channel!
FCPS Distance Learning Plan
Information about the FCPS Distance Learning Plan can be found here: https://www.fcps.edu/academics/distance-learning
The complete plan is available here (PDF)
Distance Learning Plan for Students with Disabilities
Sangster staff is working hard to prepare differentiated instruction for students with disabilities and are looking forward to connecting with the students they support and their families. Please review the county-wide plan below for supporting students with disabilities.
https://www.fcps.edu/node/40612?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=
Learning Packets
Questions about using the learning packets during learning at home should be directed to your child’s teacher. Materials used in the centrally mailed packets contain copyrighted materials so we are only able to post on Blackboard, not on the public website. Distance Learning Packets can be found here.
Step by Step directions on how to find learning packets are here: https://www.fcps.edu/distance-learning/instruction/packets/how-to-find
Report Cards
Students will be given a grade for third quarter based on assignments given through March 13, 2020. Due to the initial pause in teacher-led “live” instruction, the third quarter has been extended until tomorrow, Friday, May 1, 2020, which primarily impacts middle and high schools. Grades will be available in ParentVUE/StudentVUE on Saturday, May 9. Report card mailings to all parents/guardians who have not opted into electronic delivery will begin on May 12, 2020. Report cards will be mailed home centrally from FCPS.
Students will not receive marks for 4th quarter, although their effort and progress within the distance learning window can be counted toward improving their Final Mark. This Final Mark is the grade that will remain on their academic transcript. Report cards will be mailed home centrally from FCPS.
Attendance
Student attendance will be taken daily (Monday-Thursday) by classroom teachers during the “Virtual Teacher-Directed” Instructional hour when synchronous instruction is provided. This is done to monitor participation across the division and to help teachers identify students they will need to check in with via a phone call later in the week to provide additional support. This data will be entered in the Student Information System (SIS), but will not be included in the student attendance history needed for state reporting.
Advanced Academic Level IV Services
The AAP office began sending notifications to families regarding eligibility decisions for Level IV services for SY 2020-21 on Monday, April 13. Due to COVID-related closures, Instructional Services has created an electronic communications system to be used instead of paper letters sent by mail. Parents will have until this coming Monday, May 4, 2020 to accept placement so that we can communicate acceptances that impact staffing to principals in a timely manner. Letters for students who are found ineligible will contain information about the appeals process. The AAP office is extending the appeals deadline until July 15, 2020 because appeals cannot be completed until they are able to access the original files and convene an appeals committee. The deadline date will be reconsidered if necessary.
Internet Connectivity
Mifi devices have been ordered by FCPS, although we do not have any new information on if/when they might be available to Sangster families. Many of our families are connecting through cellular phone hotspots or through other mifi/computer devices available within the home. There are also many companies offering discounted internet service and devices during this crisis. Please visit the links below to learn more.
Cox
https://www.cox.com/residential/internet/connect2compete/covid-19-response.html
Xfinity
https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/comcast-broadband-opportunity-program
Verizon
https://nationalverifier.servicenowservices.com/lifeline https://www.verizon.com/support/consumer/account/manage-account/lifeline-discount
Access to Computer/Tablet
Sangster administration directed classroom teachers to connect with each student/family on their class roster. They identified families who do not have any access to technology while checking in with students over the past few weeks. If you have a student in grades 3-6 and do not have access to any devices as a family or to internet, please contact your child’s teacher for support.
Access to the School Building
We are under explicit direction that staff and students should have extremely limited access to the school building during this health crisis. There are a few exceptions to include:
- Emergency pick up of medications (that cannot be obtained from the family physician).
- Pick up of special education equipment needed for Distance Learning Instruction.
- Pick up of a resource or tool that is required for Distance Learning Instruction.
If you need to make arrangements for an essential pickup, please contact Allison Jankovich at ALJankovich@fcps.edu or Jennifer Redford at jaredford@fcps.edu.
Student Placements for 2020-2021
While it is still early to be thinking ahead to next year, we want to give you information about class placements for the 2020-2021 school-year ahead of time. The staff at Sangster Elementary works hard to place students in an optimal learning situation each year. If you have some information that would help us make those decisions, please send your comments in writing to Ms. Reddel by June 1st. Please do not list teacher names. Rather, describe the classroom academic learning environment in which your child learns best.
Mental Health Resources
FCPS has created a website for Mental Health Resources that is accessible on the main page of the FCPS website.
FCPS Mental Health Resources
Mental Health Emergency Numbers
During this difficult time our clinical team continue to be here to help support our staff, students, and families. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have students who you are concerned about.
Paula Augenstein
PHAugenstein@fcps.edu School Guidance Counselor K, 2, 4, 6
Lisa Railan
LTRailan@fcps.edu School Guidance Counselor K, 1, 3, 5
Maggie Wilkerson
mswilkerson@fcps.edu School Social Worker
Denise Mattingly
dmattingly@fcps.edu School Psychologist
Technology Support
What can I do if I cannot hear the teacher?
- Make sure your computer volume is on. You can check this by clicking the “F1” button at the top of your keyboard.
- Make sure your speaker volume in BBCU is turned all the way up. You can do this by:
- clicking on the purple tab with the “X” in it located at the bottom right of your screen.
- then click on “My Settings” (the picture of the gear) drag your speaker volume (it’s purple) to 100%
What if the audio and/or picture quality is poor or goes in and out?
- Move closer to your wireless source in your house. Sometimes the farther you are from this source, the weaker the signal and that can translate to a poor audio and/or visual experience.
My audio, video and/or chat is not working.
- Teachers will be turning the audio, video and/or chat features on and off during the session in order to manage the class.
My default browser is not Chrome.
- Launch Chrome
- Paste the following into the URL window chrome://settings/defaultBrowser
- Click Make Default
- If prompted to choose an app, click Google Chrome and close the window
If none of these tips are helping to fix your issue, you may want to consider restarting your computer. We ask that you do not note your issue in the chat section or ask the teacher to problem solve while they are teaching. If the above tips do not work, please email your classroom teacher after the session.
Here is information about accessing technical support during distance learning: Information on technical support is available online.
Positivity Project - Week of May 4th
This week’s character strength is Leadership. You show this when you value each member of your group and inspire people to do their best. This character strength’s focus is on the personal qualities of leaders, rather than the practice of leadership. These qualities include the ability to understand others and inspire them toward a common goal, the capacity to mitigate conflict and mold consensus, and the desire to lead other people.
This Coming Week's Character Strength: Leadership
We will review all 25 character strengths over the remaining weeks of school.
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