McKelvie Principal's News: 02.07.21 New Updates/Principal Notes

Dear McKelvie Families~

Now that our district has gone green for the second week in a row, we are moving forward with the phases of reopening. What this means for McKelvie families is that both cohorts of kids will attend school on Fridays, beginning February 12th. A lot of time was spent at McKelvie this weekend, preparing the school for this next phase. Information related to preparing our school is listed below.

Distancing: We will now maintain 3 feet rather than 6 feet of social distancing for students. When contact tracing for DHHS, any exposed individuals within 6 feet will still need to be quarantined. As such, please do not send your child to school if they are experiencing any symptoms of Covid-19.

Lunches: Students will now be sitting at cafeteria tables instead of at individual desks. All of our desks had to be put back in classrooms, to prepare for full in Fridays. Students will be sitting up to four at a table, three feet from one another. We have purchased and set up plexiglass barriers at all cafeteria tables as a safety precaution to limit the spread of Covid-19.

As a reminder, if you plan on purchasing hot lunch for your child, lunches need to be pre-ordered. Please click this link for information on pre-ordering your child's hot lunch.

Recess: Students will continue to wear masks at recess unless standing at a designated mask break area. Beginning this week, students will have access to the entire playground and will no longer have to stay in designated areas by cohort. This will allow students to spread out more while at recess, which is especially important with full in Fridays.

Attendance: If your child is missing school, it is essential to call the attendance line to report the absence reason. Our school nurse has to track down all absences, and calling the attendance line helps reduce the length of time it takes to do that.

Drop off/Pick Up: Drop off and pickup locations are staying the same on Fridays. We expect lines to be long at both locations. Please do not block traffic by standing in the road. Drive past and circle back, rather than block traffic. Clogging the intersections will only increase pickup and drop off times.

Buses: I expect more students will be riding the buses on Fridays. Students will sit one to a seat unless there are not enough spots, and then they will sit two to a seat. Kids will continue to wear masks on the bus and windows will be open/cracked.

Principal Notes:

Parent Resources:

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

School Schedule-February 8th-12th:
A-K at MIS on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
L-Z at MIS on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

Important Dates:

February 12th:-First Full In Friday

February 22-26: Winter Vacation

March 9th: No School- Workshop/Voting Day

Library News:

HERE is the McKelvie Library News blog for the week. Did you know that we are just about 5 months away from the 4th of July? It sounds doable, doesn't it? The days are getting longer. The library is preparing for everyone being back in on next Friday, February 12th. We are excited to have all of the students together in the building again. ~Mrs. Cote

PTG Principal Notes:

LOVE YOUR SCHOOL - THIS VALENTINE’S DAY! From now- Feb 12th, “Love Your School” by donating to the Bedford PTG to help us continue our focus on organizing virtual programming and events, enhancing outdoor spaces, COVID mitigation supplies for teachers/classrooms, and assisting with student needs through guidance and nursing department support. Along with these efforts, a portion of funds raised during this drive will be used to do something special for our staff and administration at each school.

To donate via PayPal, click HERE or simply send a check made out to Bedford PTG (turn into your child's school or mail to PO Box 10077 Bedford, NH). Anyone who donates this week will be entered for a chance to win a $50 BVI or $50 T-Bones gift card. We appreciate your continued support!

BLUE RIBBON AWARD:The Bedford School District received the Blue Ribbon Award for each of our six schools.

“The NH Partners in Education (NHPIE) Blue Ribbon Award recognizes the extraordinary efforts of school volunteers for the achievements realized during the previous school year. The 2020 Blue Ribbon Award is given to successful and effective school volunteer programs during the 2019-2020 school year. This is a testament to the extraordinary job our school volunteer coordinators and volunteers do in each of our schools during the school year.”

COLOR BLAST FUN RUN: We're bringing the Color Blast Fun Run/Walk to your front door! Just because things are a little different this year doesn't mean we can't have any fun. Join us for a virtual Color Blast Fun Run/Walk over the week of May 22. We will miss throwing color at you but we'll make sure you have enough color to throw at your family. Registration opens March 22nd. Click HERE for more information.

If you have a business and would like to sponsor the Color Blast click HERE for how you can be involved.