Dear Genet Families!
Happy Friday and also Happy New Year! I sincerely hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday break. It is great to be back with all of our students and doing what we love to do best: teach! There are a few updates for everyone looking forward:
No School on Monday, January 18th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
SAFETY DRILLS
At the end of the month on January 28th and January 29th Genet will be holding two of our safety drills required by NYS Department of Education. The drills will be held in coordination with local law enforcement. If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
RECESS and RECESS ATTIRE
As a reminder to our school community, we strive to get our students outdoors as much as possible, especially during recess. This does require that students will need their appropriate outdoor attire for the cold weather. Please remember to send your child to school with the necessary clothing for outdoor recess as we try to take students outside as much as possible. Warm jackets, hats, gloves and snow boots/appropriate foot attire is required.
Each morning we review the local weather and make a determination if the air temperature outside with the wind chill is safe for our students to go outside. We notify students and staff if we are going out for recess prior to lunches. If the air temperature feels like 20 degrees or higher (with the wind chill) we take our students outside. If the air temperature is below 20 degrees, students will have indoor recess in their classrooms.
DAILY COVID-19 SCREENING TOOL
I would like to thank all parents for your diligence in filling out the daily COVID Screening tool. Please remember that when you fill out the form, you are doing so for your child and must enter their name when completing the screening tool. This must be filled out online everyday for each of your children. The COVID-19 Screening Tool link is: https://entry.neric.org/egcsd. Save the link on your phone for quick access each morning.
Updates from the Music Room by Mrs. Scolaro
Hello Genet families! The music classroom might look a little different this year with the health guidelines that are in place, but we are still having so much fun learning and exploring musical concepts together! In addition to students sitting in chairs that are 6 feet apart, each in person student has their own instrument kit that contains two rhythm sticks or pencils to use as rhythm sticks, one egg shaker, and one pair of scrapers. Students in grades 2-5 use these to read and play rhythms in class while students in kindergarten and 1st grade use them to keep a steady beat with songs played in class. Remote classes are asked to find objects at home to use and they really have come up with some creative ideas for percussion instruments!
All K-5 music students throughout the district this year have been utilizing an online music program to reinforce concepts taught in class. This program is called Music Play and students can access this program whether they are in person or remote. I am looking forward to seeing all of the ways that students will progress in music class this year!
Updates from the Gymnasium by Mr. Leyhane and Mr. Preston
Physical education looks very different these days, however our goals and objectives have not changed. Students are engaged in various exercise and motion activities while maintaining maximum social distancing. Each student has their own personal space to move around and exercise in which is twelve feet apart from the other students. At the conclusion of class, these spaces are disinfected before the next class enters the gym.
A variety of exercise and dance videos have been posted in the PE google classroom. These are available to students to do on a remote day if they choose to or any rainy day when they feel like getting some energy out. We will continue to add these videos as the year progresses.
On virtual Wednesdays, students will need a small space to move around and exercise in. A water bottle is also recommended as students may have a few water breaks during these classes. Virtual classes will take place during the regular scheduled PE time for that day. The links will be posted in the top of the classroom stream about two minutes before the class begins. Siblings are more than welcome to join in as long as it does not interfere with other school assignments.
I wish you all the best in this new year and thank you for your continued support!
Sincerely,
Wayne Grignon
Principal