December 10, 2020

Messages from Dr. Kasmarick

Last night, the School Board voted to return to a blended modality next Monday, December 14th. Schedules for full virtual classrooms will not change. Blended classrooms will return to the blended instructional schedule. 

Additionally:

• Blended students will participate in small groups in person rather than virtually.
• Encore lessons will be posted, and blended students will meet for Encore in person.
• Music is the only synchronous Encore workshop that will take place, as music classes are not being taught in person. There will be one asynchronous lesson per grade level posted each week. The time of the synchronous workshop will be communicated by classroom teachers and posted in students’ Encore Seesaw/Google Classroom.

Blended students may choose to remain in the full virtual mode through the end of Quarter 2 (January 22nd) and will remain assigned to the same class for this time. These students will not be able to participate in small groups as the teachers will be working with students in person. These families will need to pick up materials on the established full virtual pick-up dates of December 16th, January 6th, and January 20th. We will very much appreciate you completing this form by noon tomorrow if you choose to remain fully virtual.

All families will be asked to make a modality selection for Quarter 3 by January 15th. While we will strive for consistency in teacher assignment for Quarter 3, some classroom assignments may change based on family preferences and our need to balance classroom sizes. Please watch for a Google form as that date approaches for families who want to change modality.

Incoming 2021-2022 4K Virtual Visit: January 7th and 8th:  Whitefish Bay Resident families of students who turn four on or before September 1, 2021 are invited to a Virtual 4K Overview of Richards School. This event will be hosted through Zoom by Dr. Kasmarick and will include a welcome from the 4K teachers, a short story with Mrs. Roberts, and time for questions and answers. More information and an opportunity to sign up for one of the two virtual event sessions at Richards are included in the attachment below.  Spread the word to friends and neighbors! 

Virtual Author Visit for K4- 2nd Grade Students: Boswell Book Company and Richards School present a virtual author visit with Milwaukee native Sarah Williamson! Ms. Williamson will chat about Elevator Bird, a quirky book about kindness, friendship, and a team coming together to make one bird's dream come true. All K4-2nd graders are invited to this afternoon event on Friday, December 18th from 2:30-3:00.

Boswell Book Order Link & ZOOM INVITE

Student Council Update:  Richards Student Council has been hard at work!  We are celebrating the release of our first edition of the Tiger Times Newsletter. Enjoy this summary of committee plans and shared learning that has already begun, written by our newly formed Newspaper Committee. Mark your calendars for the December School Spirit event taking place on Friday, December 18th.  Pajama Day will be in full force.  Watch this short video to get in the spirit and make plans to be cozy and comfy with your Richards School Community!

Winter Break: School will not be in session from Wednesday, December 23 through Friday, January 1 for Winter Break. School will resume for all students on Monday, January 4.  Please see the Blended Calendar detailing AA/BB Cohort days the week of December 21.

From the PTO

Dine and Donate at The Bay: This Friday! The Richards PTO is partnering with The Bay for three Fridays in December to raise money for the Richards PTO. On December 4th, 11th and 18th – 15% of pre-tax sales will be given back to the Richards PTO between the hours of 11am and 9pm. If you are dining in, you must print the attached coupon and present it upon payment. If you are ordering out, you must mention the fundraiser upon ordering and if you have the printed coupon available, present it at pickup. Please note that during the hours of 5:30-7:30pm, pick-up times could be a little longer so please place your orders accordingly. Gift certificates also count towards the fundraiser and you also will receive an “after the holiday bonus coupon of $10” for every $50 in gift certificates purchased. Questions? Contact Kristen at lafond19@yahoo.com or Erin at erin.haan@gmail.com.

Holiday Cookie Kits: Tomorrow is the last day to place your order! Are you looking for some sweet family fun this December? The Richards PTO has partnered with Matilda Bakehouse in River Hills and put together do-it-yourself boxed cooking decorating kits that can be enjoyed by all ages. Smiles guaranteed! Sugar Cookie kits and Ginger Cookie kits are available. All kits cost $30 with 10% going back to the Richards PTO. Ordering is going on until tomorrow, December 11th. To place your order, visit www.matildabakehouse.com. Don’t forget to use the code “RICHARDSPTO” when you place your order. For more details, please visit the Richards PTO website. 

LEGO Club is back...virtually! Great news for our LEGO lovers who have been missing LEGO Club! A new weekly challenge will be posted each week. You’ll have until each Friday to submit your best creation! Photos of the creations will be shared on the Richards PTO Facebook page. All grades can participate in any or all challenges and no sign up is required. Photo submissions and any questions can be sent to Allison Roth at richardslegoclub@gmail.com.

Amazon Smile: The holidays are upon us and holiday shopping is in full swing! Amazon Smile purchases earn money for the Richards PTO! Keep Amazon Smile in mind this holiday season (and all year) when you are placing an Amazon order. Visit smile.amazon.com in your web browser. Make sure you select “Richards School PTO” as your charity organization. Shop and earn money for Richards at the same time!

Miltown Eats Offer Has Been Extended! The Richards PTO is partnering with Miltown Eats – a local home meal kit service. Richards families will receive 25% off the first delivery and the Richards PTO will receive $20 per family referral bonus for signs up who receive a meal. Visit their website miltowneats.com to browse what you would like to order and enter the code RichardsPTO to get the 25% off. This is a great way to make life a little easier for our families during these unusual times and also raise money for the Richards PTO! Questions? Contact Kristen at lafond19@yahoo.com or Erin at erin.haan@gmail.com.

School Photos: If you signed up for an email alert indicating when your photos are ready for viewing/ordering and haven't received the email yet, please be sure to check your Spam folder. Search for any of these phrases: Visual Image Photography/support@vipis.com/school portrait is now available/ OR:

• Go to www.vipis.com
• Type in Richards Elementary School for the school name
• Select School Portraits Grades 3K-12
• Search for your child's photo. If you don't know your student's ID number, login to your Family Access account. Click on Student Info. The Student ID number is in the Other ID field.

If you are unable to find your child's image, please contact Visual Image Photography at 262-375-9633 or send an email to support.vipis.com. If you have any other questions, please contact Kristin at richards.yearbook@gmail.com

Picture Retake Day: Did your child's photo not turn out exactly as you had hoped? The good news is that our photographer can retake the picture! Retake day will be held on Wednesday, January 20th from 3:00-4:30 pm in the Great Hall. A signup link will be coming soon!  Can't make Retake Day? Please call Visual Image Photography at (262) 375-4457 to set up an appointment to have your child's picture taken at their studio in Cedarburg.

District Announcements

COVID-19 Data Metric Dashboard: In an effort of transparency and communication with our staff and families, the District has created a COVID-19 data metric dashboard and weekly District update letter. Each week the District will publish a status update of active cases and those in quarantine due to exposure or presentation of COVID-19 like symptoms. Please note that information relative to any individual’s health is HIPPA protected and private, so we are taking steps to secure the anonymity of individuals. Student numbers will be published at a school level and for the district as a whole. In any school in which the number is <5 we will post an ** to avoid the likelihood of exposing the identity of an individual. We will provide a summary number for the district as a whole.

The dashboard on the COVID-19 website page and the Weekly Metrics Reports show the current week's data. All letters will be located on the Communications to Families page. It is our goal to update the dashboard and letter at the beginning of each week.

Updated COVID-19 Quarantine Parameters: please see the attached letter regarding reduced quarantine periods for close contacts.

Emergency School Closings: Click here to view the District Emergency School Closure policy.

WFB Public Education Foundation: Thank you to those who have already donated to the WFB Public Education Foundation Annual Appeal! There is still time for you, your friends and associates to fund innovation in the WFB Schools by donating at https://www.educatethebay.info/donate/. Please open this brochure to learn more about the mission and impact of the WFB Public Education Foundation.

Young Rembrandts Afterschool Drawing is on the schedule for the Winter/Spring 2021 season! Classes will be held at the Lydell Community Center, Room 24 from 3:30 - 4:30pm. COVID-19 protocols will be followed and class size is limited to 9 registrants for the January session.  Click here for more details.