Crosby Families,

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday break. The rest and relaxation has been welcomed and well deserved by all.

As we look to the start of second semester, we continue to work with the Hamilton County Health Department to assess the impact of COVID-19 in our district. It is imperative that you continue to report when a student receives a positive test or becomes a close contact, even over break. This will allow us to work with your family to ensure that return dates are accurate, as well as help our school make the best decision about staying open. Our goal is always to keep our students face-to-face, but in order to do that, we need families to be honest with us. Please send the following information to joanne.aghotte@southwestschools.org and tessa.freel@southwestschools.org when you come in contact with a COVID-19 situation. 

Positive Student: Name of student, date of first symptom, test date

Student Close Contact: Name of student, name of close contact, last date of contact with positive person, if close contact lives in the household- can the student isolate from the positive person (not use the same bathroom, positive person does not prepare food for student, stay in separate areas of the house)

Face-to-Face Updates:

• Transportation letters were sent home with students in December for EVERYONE using SLSD transportation for the second semester. There have been changes to both bus numbers and times for many students, so please to be sure to check the information! If your child did not bring home the letter, you can log in to Final Forms for route information.  All trip summaries are also posted to the SLSD website for parents to view at: southwestschools.org/transportation. 
• Morning drop off will continue to take place from 8:00-8:25 a.m. in the rear of the school. For those of you returning from virtual, cars make two rows once you get to the corner of the building. Students should exit the car in the CONED AREA ONLY! Students will get their temperature taken and hand sanitize before entering the building at the side cafeteria door. 
• For car riders returning from virtual, Ms. Patty should have contacted you about a pick-up time at the end of the day. If not, please call the office to arrange a time. Due to the increased number of car riders this year, we have multiple pick-up slots.
• We will be outside for recess as long as the temperature is above 32 degrees and it isn't raining or snowing. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the winter weather with a heavy coat, hat, and gloves. I highly recommend labeling your child's winter gear in case anything gets lost. 
• If your child was virtual first semester and is switching to face-to-face in January, please send their device and charger to school on January 4th.  We will be collecting them in the office.

Virtual Updates:

• Workbooks are available for pick-up in the office during regular school hours.
• Mark your calendar for Jan. 7th.  This is the anticipated date for our virtual parent "Boot Camp".  This session will help you learn the basics of guiding your child as a learning coach, the assignment expectations, and much much more!  We will send out a school messenger update with details closer to the date.
• The K-5 virtual teaching assignments for Semester 2 are as follows:
• K - all schools: Allison Williams
• Grades 1 and 2: Stephanie Hale
• Grades 3 and 4: Allison Decker
• Grade 5: Dana Stafford
• Virtual Intervention Specialist: Anna Bryant

Have a great remainder of your break. We look forward to seeing you on January 4th!

Joanne Aghotte
Principal
Crosby Elementary