Coleman Elementary School

We are so looking forward to having students return to in-person learning on January 25th, 2021. This will include all of our students who are currently remote as well as those who were in the Online Learning Academy and are coming back to in-person. To be prepared for the second semester, it is still important to wrap up the first semester. Please remind your children the importance of getting all of their work turned back in this week and completed. Grades can be seen in the Parent Connect system, but please remind your child if they just completed things, it will take a bit for teachers to get those things graded. Some of those things, especially at the Jr./Sr. High grade level may be past due and not receive full credit as those students are older. Those who submit all their work at once instead of when it was due, may have to wait a bit to have it graded. Should you or your child have ANY questions at all, please reach out to your child's teacher or the school office. Chromebook Devices and Chargers can be returned/checked-in at the dates and times below. If you are unable to drop them off due to work, students can bring them back to the office first thing on January 25th. The more devices we can bring in on Jan. 21st and 22nd, the quicker we can get them checked in, wiped down and cleaned and in to the classrooms for use by the students. Devices should NOT be returned until your child has submitted all of their work for the 1st semester. ​Devices can be turned in at the elementary or jr./sr. high, regardless of which school your child attends. Times/dates for return are: Thursday, January 21st Jr./Sr. High or Elementary 1-3:00 p.m. Friday, January 22nd Jr./Sr. High- 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Elementary- 8:45 a.m.-3:00 p.m. ​

The marking period ends at the end of next week, and grades will count! Make sure your students have turned in all assignments and, for those taking exams, make sure they have what they need to prepare. Please contact teachers or the school office ASAP if you have concerns.

Elementary yearbooks are available online only this year. Orders can be placed at the link below anytime. http://www.geskusphoto.com/?YB=1918

Please take time to look at the letter in the link below which shares follow-up information regarding remote learning and the survey that went out earlier in the week: https://5il.co/of2c

This is a friendly reminder if you have not filled out the survey sent yesterday, please do so by tomorrow, Wednesday, January 6th, at this link: https://forms.gle/WUWhbrywvghT5WKk6 . Even if you don't have a strong opinion or are comfortable with whatever district decisions are made, we would like you to complete it and check "no preference" in the survey. If you have already completed the survey, thank you! Please do NOT fill it out twice. If your child(ren) are in the Online Learning Academy (OLA), please do not complete this survey.​ We are taking this opportunity to elicit feedback from Coleman Schools' Parents with regard to the remote learning currently taking place and things we may be able to do to assist them.It will also be used as we plan going forward in conjunction with all other important information as shared yesterday. The information and input we get from some families may be directly opposite to what we receive from others and all of these factors must be weighed as decisions are made. For this reason, the final few questions about mental health and other hardships have been added so we can find ways to assist you. We are currently scheduled to be remote through January 22nd, 2021. If there are any changes, that will be communicated as far in advance as possible to all families. Please complete the survey by Wednesday, January 6th, 2021. Thank you!

Would you like to positively impact Coleman Schools? Here’s your chance! With all students receiving free meals, families may feel it is not important to return a free and reduced application or Household Information Report. Free & Reduced applications and Household Information Reports are used for more than just Food Service. Students and schools both benefit from approved free & reduced apps/HIR on file. Students that are approved for free or reduced priced meals may be eligible to receive help with home internet, college applications fees and financial aid, etc. Students also benefit when the schools benefit! Schools depend on free and reduced applications and HIR to determine the amount of funding they receive from a variety of State and Federal supplement programs like Title I, At-Risk, Title II, E-Rate, etc. These programs have the potential to offer support and services for our students including but not limited to: ● Technology (Chromebooks, internet services, etc.) ● Instructional support (staff, supplies & materials, etc.) ● Non-instructional Services (counseling, social work, health service, etc.) ● Professional Learning for staff ● Parent and Community engagement supplies and activities - such as field trips Even if your child/children do not intend on eating meals from our food service department, it is still critical that families return a free and reduced application or HIR. By doing so, you are helping your family and helping all Coleman families. Elementary Parent- Please fill out the HIR (Household Information Report) Jr/Sr High Parents- Please fill out the free and reduced application If you have students in both buildings you will need to fill out BOTH forms. Free and reduced applications and HIR are confidential. You may fill out an application online through Lunchapp.com, or you may pick an application up at your child’s school. It was also included in your Comet News from August 2020. If you would like an application mailed to you or have any questions about the application, please call 989.442.1997 or email Melissa Gohl at mgohl@colemanschools.net.

We are taking this opportunity to elicit feedback from Coleman Schools' Parents with regard to the remote learning currently taking place. Link is at the bottom. If your child(ren) are in the Online Learning Academy, please do not complete this survey. Information received in this survey will be reviewed to help assist families. It will also be used as we plan going forward in conjunction with all other information: e.g. safety of our students and staff, consistency for parents/family planning, other feedback from stakeholders, staffing levels, knowledge of quarantine timelines following holidays, attendance levels, ability to provide a consistent and solid instructional program for all students whether in-person or remote while supporting the Online Learning Academy students, information from the Health Department, State orders and knowledge of upcoming press releases, direction from Michigan Department of Education and other details. The input we get from some families may be directly opposite to what we receive from others and all of these factors must be weighed as decisions are made. For this reason, the final few questions about mental health and hardships have been added so we can find ways to assist you. At this time, we are scheduled to be remote through January 22nd, 2021. Should there be any changes, that will be communicated as far in advance as possible to all families. We would like to thank you for your input to this survey. Please complete the survey by Wednesday, Jan. 6th, 2021 at: https://forms.gle/SrRn9SmyDkZ7QYWQ6

Some clean-up has been taking place this fall. If you are interested in making a donation to the school general fund for any of the following items, please contact Kerry at 989.465.6060 or kberthume@colemanschools.net with your offer and what you would like. We will contact you to set it up with the highest donation. We would like these items gone by the end of next week. Available: 2 basketball backboards/hoops, 2 basketball steel poles, file cabinets (no locks) 3- drawer and 4-drawer.

The Elementary Student News is back and online! Check out our students from their remote learning environments. https://doc-08-bc-docs.googleusercontent.com/docs/securesc/3omtg886g2k4bqtmrvqifh9li6pp71cd/i267gfu9258cpdnljcrecshm50imdl9g/1607359275000/04305605437836591141/01059012132698451530/19v-KHZw66d9er1kridQ7yWQec1nkluIA?e=download&authuser=0

Coleman Elementary would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Russell and Nancy Pnacek of Midland. The Pnacek's make regular donations to Coleman Elementary that are used to support students' reading growth. This time around we utilized the Pnacek's donation to put together literacy kits for the 3rd grade Online Learning Academy students. The Pnacek's contribution made it possible to give each student 5 books along with various other literacy materials like a dry erase marker and pocket, retelling cards, sticky notes, reading strategy bookmark, etc. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Pnacek for supporting our developing readers!

​Good Afternoon & Happy Thanksgiving! I just wanted to end the week with a couple of pieces of information for all of you. First of all, THANK YOU to our students who are doing an amazing job signing on to the Live Streams/Google Meets and completing assignments during distance learning. We have been highly impressed with attendance and your energy. Keep it up! Please remember that all teachers will have all grading up to date on Dec. 4th in Skyward for your child. If you have not already, please read through the Grading Guidelines During Distance Learning that was sent in the packet last week. Students must keep in contact with their teachers and lack of participation in their chosen method does not excuse them from completing assignments. It details information about when assignments need to be submitted based on whether they are online or paper copy learners and the amount of credit a child will lose if turned in late. We have also been able to make arrangements starting Monday, 11.30 for those who typically have bus routes and ordered food (through the survey link in the packets). These buses will also deliver paper copies for those already assigned paper copies. Students cannot change to paper copies at this point. The buses will leave the Jr./Sr. High at 12:30 p.m. each Monday during the distance learning and arrive at homes between 12:30-2:00 p.m. Someone should be watching for the bus and this will be a contactless drop-offs where items will be left on a porch or in a driveway. Those without a typical bus route and Online Learning Academy families will continue to pick up both food and school work at the side entrance of the Jr./Sr. High on Mondays from 3-5:00 p.m. Have a fantastic weekend!

Elementary In-Person students will be bringing home additional information today to lead you through the Distance Learning while we are on a pause from In-Person through January 22nd. You can also find the information here: https://5il.co/n81a

NO SCHOOL for Coleman Elementary students - both in-person and online students - tomorrow, Friday, November 20. Instruction will resume Monday, November 23 at 8:15 a.m. Enjoy the weekend!

An important letter regarding Remote Learning Detail for parents will come home tomorrow with your child(ren). Please take the time to read through it completely. It is also at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MgxsHPMefwH2l4LuO61KbeX5QZyeeQRP/view?usp=sharing

No school for students today, Monday, November 16. We will plan to see students tomorrow. Have a good Monday!

Please read the letter at this link for updates and information. There is also information for parents to complete: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LLIqbSnX2hQO3CeOZpLEfM5eYHbaeSnU/view?usp=sharing

There will be no school for our K-12 students Monday, Nov. 16th. All students will return to school on Tuesday, Nov. 17th. This is following the Governor's announcement at 6:00 p.m. tonight. Staff will still report tomorrow in order to address the new order, determine plans for our Jr./Sr. High and our Elementary students. The last day in-person for our Jr./Sr. High students for at least 3 weeks will be Tuesday, Nov. 17th and they will move to remote learning on Wed., Nov. 18th. We will make determinations on how we will proceed with K-6 in-person learning tomorrow. Further detail on both will be shared with you as soon as we are able tomorrow. Please listen to your voicemail for more detail.

Mr. Nate from the Chippewa Nature Center had our 4th graders acting squirrelly! 4th graders learned how animals have to adapt to changes in the season for survival by being squirrels and hiding corn. Unfortunately, many didn’t survive because they couldn’t find their food stash or another squirrel took it. They also learned the differences in food needs for carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores.

Morning drop off is at 7:55 AM when adult supervision begins. Please schedule your students' arrival as close to 7:55 as possible.

Please complete the survey that was sent out recently. That information is important to us in our planning should we need to return to virtual learning at some time in the future.