November 2, 2020

Dear Upper School Families,

It was good to see so many of your children enjoy Friday’s dress down/costume day in addition to getting Halloween treats (compliments of upper school PACA parents). Who doesn’t love some chocolate as a late morning pick-me-up?

As we prepare for the weeks ahead, here are some reminders to guide your schedule and navigation of parent-teacher conferences.

  • Monday, November 2nd: Senior Parent Coffee at 8:15 a.m. (Zoom link)

  • Tuesday, November 3rd: Election Day and Family Night – students will not have homework due or required studying for Wednesday. This allows them the chance to build their evening around time with family, engaging with election news or having free time.

  • Wednesday, November 4th: US Parent-Teacher (Virtual) Conferences from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

  • Thursday, November 5th: Half day of school with classes ending at noon, followed by US Parent-Teacher (Virtual) Conferences from 1:00 to 8:00 p.m.

  • Friday, November 6th: No classes for students; Parent-Teacher (Virtual) Conferences from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Note: all conferences will be conducted via Zoom. Registration is now closed, so please contact a teacher directly via email if you need to add/change or cancel an appointment.

Zoom links will be provided in reminder emails sent later today (Monday, November 2nd). Be sure to save the emails for your conference days/times. Please identify yourselves by name when logging in so teachers can recognize you and admit you to the Zoom rooms at your scheduled times, and also turn on your video during all conferences.

  • Tuesday, November 10th: Teacher Collaboration Day – no classes for students. Upper-schoolers will have asynchronous work for their classes, but they will not need to Zoom for this.

Here are some additional topics to keep you informed.

Attendance
Now that you are pros at using SchoolPass for daily wellness checks, please explore the attendance reporting feature. We would like to transition to reporting all attendance information via SchoolPass, including unexpected absences, tardies and early dismissals. Families needing to inquire about multiple-day absences should still contact the US office or me directly first before listing dates in SchoolPass.

Additionally, any time your children will not be on campus during the regular school day when they are scheduled to be there (between 8:05 a.m. and 3:20 p.m.), we need to hear from a parent or guardian. The up-to-date information is critical in case of fire or lockdown emergencies.

Lastly, if you have a student driver in your household needing to book “in-car” driving sessions, please try to refrain from scheduling those during CA’s class time. With in-class instruction at a premium right now, teachers would appreciate having students in real time.

Lunch
Prior to the dining hall announcement made last night, we had managed to shorten our lunch lines, and they were moving along at a pretty good pace. In addition to those logistical changes, we had also labeled over a dozen classrooms and lounges with “lunch-capacity seating” so students can find additional spaces in our buildings to eat in small groups, and that should help during these next two weeks as well. Know that your children may also bring in lunches to school if that is desired.

On occasion and with faculty oversight, advisories, clubs or a grade-level may decide to order out and get food from off-campus. Students on their own may not order food for delivery to campus during the school day.

We appreciate everyone’s patience as we’ve navigated the challenges from COVID-19 and the constraints of time and space. Every day we learn how nimble and resourceful our community can be.

Finally, with temperatures continuing to drop, please impress upon your upper-schoolers the importance of dressing appropriately. Footwear suitable for mushy grass and puddles along with waterproof jackets are a real plus.

Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact the upper school office at langej@columbusacademy.org or 614-509-2281.

Warmly,

Head of Upper School