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Online Resources

The link below has information about a new Coronavirus benefit for families.

Family First Coronavirus Response Act

Notice of Special Board Meeting About Change in Start Date

4th Quarter Grading Policy

New Accelerated Reader Access Link

Dear Dent-Phelps R-III families,

As you know, our school is closing this week starting on Wednesday, March 18^th through Friday, April 3^rd, with our first day back scheduled to be Monday, April 6^th. This closure is in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that is effecting our communities. While the decision to close school was based off of recommendations from local health officials, the choice was not an easy one, and was made out of an abundance of caution.

Our teachers have been working diligently over the past few days to put together a variety of learning opportunities for our students to engage with while home during this time. Our goal is to keep students engaged in a learning mindset during this closure, and to help them maintain some of the essential skills that we have worked so hard this year to build.

Our strategy during this time is to provide students with activities for them to engage in during this break. We designed these activities for students to complete them independently and without technology access. Students who were present at school on Tuesday, March 17^th also left with four library books so that they would have plenty to read during this time.

Our goal is simple, we would like for students to engage daily in these learning activities centered on Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. Our request of parents is to work with your child to ensure that they:

1) Read for 30 minutes each day

2)     Engage in a writing activity, as outlined by the grade level expectations that we have set.

3)     Engage in some type of practice of key math skills, as outlined by the grade level expectations that we have set.

During this time, it is very important for you to help your child establish a routine in which each content area has a dedicated time during the day for the learning to take place. We know that our scheduled spring break is coming up on March 23^rd, but we would encourage families to start settling their child into this routine early, and keep with this routine through this break time as well.

Why is Daily Practice so Important?

We know that practice of skills is essential for not only the initial gaining of skills, but also for the continued retention of these skills over time. Basically, by having your child practice every day, you are helping ensure that they stay sharp with the skills that we have helped them to learn. Without this daily practice, students are far more likely to forget these key skills, making it much harder for us ensure that they have met priority learning targets at the end of the year.

Where Can I Access These Learning Opportunities?

Students who attended school on March 17^th will have received these learning activities from their teachers, and should be bringing them home with them. Additionally, all students in attendance were allowed to check out 4 library books to take home with them during this closure time.

Starting on March 18^th, our district website and our schools Facebook page will begin pushing out information to parents and families related to the learning opportunities that we are providing to our students. Each grade level will have a landing page linked to our website where parents can access all of the learning activities that were sent home with students, and also access online learning activities that students may engage in if they have the appropriate internet access at home.

This information will be updated regularly by teachers and administration. Teachers will also use Classroom Dojo and other communication tools to continue to communicate directly with parents during this time.

Please stay tuned into our schools Facebook Page for continued updates from our school during this closure. 

Is This Work Required?

To be clear, what we are providing is not virtual schooling, but rather learning activities that students can engage with while they are on break. Students who complete these activities will receive incentives from their teachers, and any student who completes their grade level reading expectation will receive a reward upon returning to school. However, this work will not be taken for a grade, and is not mandatory for students to complete. With that being said, we would like to again stress the importance of regularly completing this practice during our break so that students retain these skills.

What Should I Do If I Have Questions About the Work?

Parents are encouraged to ask any questions they have related to their students work by messaging directly with the Dent-Phelps R-III Facebook page. Additionally, we have set up an email address at questions@dentphelps.k12.mo.us for parents to email their questions in. All of these questions will be answered as soon as possible. Additionally, parents may continue to communicate directly with their classroom teachers by using Class Dojo and other classroom communication tools.

We would also like to take this time to thank our parents and community for working with us during these uncertain times. We understand that our school being out of session can create hardships on our families, and that this closure will inevitably create many short term inconveniences. In the end, it will be impossible to know if we over-reacted or did too much, but it will be quite apparent if we under-reacted or did too little. Through this process, we believe that the best in us shines through as we work together as a community to meet these new and different challenges. We appreciate our parents and family working with us to continue the learning for our students. 

We know that by working together, we will all be able to get through these new few weeks, and we will return to school ready to continue with the great learning that has already taken place this year.

Mr. Kevin Creighton

Principal

Dent-Phelps R-III