 Coates Families,
What a week! The Presidents’ Day holiday was followed by our new, later schedule, and then we actually got a “snow day.”. It’s hard to get into the new rhythm when we have these starts and stops, but thanks to your work at home and the teachers’ efforts, we had a really good first week. Many students met new teachers and classmates, and attendance was great overall.
Next week, our kindergartners return to in-person school (if their parents chose this program), and we’re excited to see more kids on campus. Kindergarten parents, thanks for your patience in waiting for the bus schedule. You will be receiving it via email today (sender is CoatesES@fcps.edu ). If you have any questions, reply to the email or call the office (703-713-3000 – open every weekday). Parents of 1st-6th graders, if your child is returning to in-person school in March, you will receive the bus schedule during the week prior to your child’s return.
We want to thank our PTA & staff volunteers for running our annual spelling bee last week. After two epic battles (kids were up late because competition was hard to beat!), we are sending a great champion onto the regional bee. Check Coates social media for more details.
Across FCPS, most school programs are not open to in-person learning on Mondays, and students have independent (asynchronous) work in lieu of a full day of live lessons. At Coates, all students will have a live lesson with their teacher at 9:45 on Mondays. During this short lesson, the teacher will get students prepared for the independent work ahead. Some students will continue to have small group lessons or conferences on Mondays on an intermittent basis.
You will also notice that teachers may ask students to meet with them during their “asynch” times on Tuesday-Friday. This is our attempt to support students as much as possible with their work. If your child’s teacher wishes to hold a group time with your child during the “asynch” or independent time, s/he will let you know on Talking Points. Our intention is not to overburden your child or you. We just want to help as many students as we can as often as we can.
In recent weeks, we’ve received several requests from parents to change their original choices for their child’s program once s/he returns to school. We have been able to honor most requests, but we may not be able to make changes from online to in-person at some grade levels due to current class rosters (already changed this week), state class size caps, and physical size of classrooms to maintain social distancing. I would never discourage any Coates parent from making a request in the best interest of your child. We are your partners, and I will accommodate when possible. Realize that we are at capacity in some places.
Any parent that requests a change from in-person to online, should also speak to me ASAP. We can surely honor these requests but moving any child to another program affects class sizes in more than one class. We appreciate your advanced planning and proactive communication with us. Questions and requests should go to jkraft@fcps.edu and jaking@fcps.edu .
If any students would like to meet up with friends in their grade level in low-stress, unstructured online environment, we invite them to come to Monday Meetups over the next 3 weeks. Coates staff moderate these short sessions, and students may request to talk to friends in breakout groups. We encourage students to make connections that can be maintained, with parent approval, outside of school. We also hope this gives children a chance to see some friends who are not in their regular class. Links will be sent via teacher Talking Points texts prior to each meetup.
Feb. 22 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th 11-11:30 / K, 1st, & 2nd 11:30-12
Mar. 1 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th 11-11:30 / K, 1st, & 2nd 11:30-12
Mar. 15 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th 11-11:30 / K, 1st, & 2nd 11:30-12
Tues., Feb. 23 Kindergarten Returns
Fri., Mar. 5 Early Dismissal
Mon., Mar. 8 Teacher Workday (Student Holiday)
Tues., Mar. 9 1st & 2nd Grades Return
Mar. 10 & 11 Teacher Prep Day for 3rd-6th Grades (students have independent work)
Tues., Mar. 16 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th Grades Return
Fri., Mar. 26 End of Third Quarter
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