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Pre-K Kindergarten 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade Specials
Dear Dent-Phelps R-III families,
As you know, our school is closing this week starting on
Wednesday, March 18th through Friday, April 3rd,
with our first day back scheduled to be Monday, April 6th.
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 17th
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 23rd, 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?
Where Can I Access These Learning Opportunities?
Students who attended school on March 17th 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 18th, 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
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