Sunday, November 22, 2020

11.22.2020 Principal Notes

 Dear McKelvie Families~

This next week is a short one!  I hope everyone enjoys the Thanksgiving Break!

Parent Resources:

K-8 Hybrid Calendar                     Daily Health Screening 
MIS Hybrid Parent Guide            Bedford Reopening Pla
MIS Remote Parent Guide           Bedford Metrics Website

School Schedule-November 23rd-24th:
A-K at MIS on Monday
L-Z at MIS on Tuesday

Important Dates:

November 23rd-Picture Retake Day
November 25th-27th No School-Thanksgiving Break


From the Health Office:
Please notify the school nurse of any upcoming travel plans outside of New England to determine dates of quarantine and confirm a return to school date.  HERE is additional information. 

Reminder of Picture Retake Day:
Picture Retake Day will be Monday, November 23rd. Remote and Distance Learning students will have their pictures taken between noon and 2:45.  Pictures will be taken at McKelvie in Room 17.   A parent/guardian may walk their child to the Main Office (Fully Remote and Distance Learning students) and students will then proceed down to room 17.  In-person students (A-K) will have their pictures taken during the school day.  Please see THIS FLYER from Geskus, with instructions on how you can pre-order student photos if your child did not have pictures taken earlier or if you need a retake.

Library News:
Click HERE to read the McKelvie Library News blog for the week. Stay well and safe! ~Mrs. Cote

Chop Chop:

Looking for something fun do do over Thanksgiving break?  Check out Chop Chop Kids, a fun online program for kids to learn about nutrition and cooking!


A Shift in Contact Tracing:

NH DHHS has informed us that they are no longer able to do contact tracing for positive COVID cases that originate outside of school.  It is now up to schools to assist with the tracing and set the return date for students in these cases.  As such, we are relying heavily on parents/guardians reporting positive cases of family members or others with whom their child has had close contact to our school nurses.  We greatly appreciate you working with us to keep our schools a safe place to teach and learn.


Governor's Mask Order:

Yesterday, the Governor issued a mask order for NH.  Click HERE to see that order.  While K-12 schools are considered exempt from that order, the Bedford School District will be adhering to it in the areas where we had not been before.  The rationale behind this decision is two-fold.  1.  An added layer of mitigation is prudent given the rising cases of Covid and transmission rates around us.  2.  This additional measure supports our ongoing effort to keep our schools open.  Thank you for your support during these challenging times.  


Hybrid through the Holidays:

The Bedford School District will remain in our hybrid model of education through the holiday season.  Our layered approach to mitigate Covid has proven successful since the start of school.  While we have seen many individual cases throughout the district, we have not experienced transmission, clusters or outbreaks.  Bedford would consider a move to fully remote learning under 3 conditions:

1.  Governor's Order

2.  Transmission in a school or schools that we are unable to contain

3  Lack of staffing to keep a school open


Holiday Travel:

The CDC  recently recommended that families DO NOT TRAVEL for Thanksgiving.  Please keep in mind that individual decisions made by all members of our community can have a direct impact on one another.  The Bedford School District humbly asks that each of us do our part to stay safe, flatten the curve, and maintain open schools.


PTG News:
HANNAFORD COMMUNITY BAG PROGRAM: During November, the PTG will receive a $1.00 donation for each purchase of the Community Reusable Bag (cost of bag is $2.50) at the Hannaford store located on KILTON ROAD.


AMAZON SMILE: Make a purchase on Amazon and support the PTG! Visit AmazonSmile, and select "Bedford NH PTG" as the organization that you wish to support or simply go to Bedford PTG's unique link HERE. Bookmark this unique link as only purchases made at smile.amazon.com are eligible for donations. Now every time you shop at Amazon a percentage of your purchase price is donated to the Bedford PTG!


HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM THE PTG: We wish you a Wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday! We are thankful for the amazing support we receive from families, staff and the community.


Have a great week!
Jen Asdot