Time is surely flying by. As we say goodbye to January 2021, we need to realize that the remainder of third and fourth quarter are going require some heavy focus!  We're going to blink and the school year will be coming to a close.  How we focus and the work we put into the next four months is crucial.  Unfortunately, we're faced with a monumental task when it comes to academic growth.  The "COVID-Slide" is real and our students are not showing the growth we saw a year ago at winter benchmark time.  Parents, guardians, teachers, tutors, aides, and our admin team need to collaborate and work together to help our kiddos catch up!  I want to personally to thank you for all of your hard work and support of our students and programs. Your endless hours of reading, organizing, donating, and doing everything you can to support our students—both at home and at school,  has not gone unnoticed and is greatly appreciated!

Remote Learning Days -   On February 11 and March 11, all K-12 students in the district will have remote learning days.  This will allow our teachers and staff to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.  The Southwest Local School District is grateful to Mercy Health and the Harrison Fire and Police Departments for partnering with us to facilitate this process, and encouraged that the vast majority of our staff have elected to receive the vaccine.  At the elementary level, students enrolled in our virtual platform - Accelerate Education will be connected to their virtual teacher and learning the same as they have all semester.  For our current face-to-face students, the "remote learning days" will be structured a bit differently.  Each teacher will create packets of work with directions for completion.  We are not issuing student devices for the remote days, therefore will not be requiring digital learning or hosting any video conferencing or live lessons via Google Meet (k-4th grade) or Microsoft Teams (5th grade). There will be optional online enrichment and activities shared by the teachers, at their discretion.  AM Kindergarten students are short on hours in session due to our 2-hour delays.  AM Kindergarten students will receive a full day of work from Mrs. Ard on our remote learning days rather than a half.  This will help us make-up the hours remotely.  We will be tracking attendance based on completed packets.  Please reach out to your child's teacher if you have concerns or questions about the structure of our remote learning days on Feb. 11 and March 11.  

Conferences -   Our teachers hosted conferences via Google Meets & ZOOM video conference calls last week.  If you were unable to connect with your child's teacher last week, please email the teacher or call the office and we will get a make-up conference scheduled for you.  Parents are an integral partner in the educational process.  Thanks for making academic and social growth a team effort!

Data Meetings -   For the next two weeks, our grade level data teams will be meeting to review winter benchmark assessment data and analyzing results.  Our teachers, instructional coach, school psychologist, instructional aides, and principal take a deep dive into grade level, classroom, and building level data to drive instructional decisions.  Since we no longer have to contract trace due to COVID exposure in a classroom setting, we will be going back to our more traditional RTi (response to intervention and enrichment) and Skill-building model to provide small group interventions to help close gaps in learning and challenge our students.

National School Counselor's Week - We're wrapping up National School Counselor's week.  Thanks to Mrs. Gieringer and Mrs. Enderle for providing support to our students and staff.  Social emotional learning and well-being is the foundation of our school.  Our guidance counselor and school-based therapy team help our students connect, make them feel safe, secure, and ready to learn!  

Lifetouch Yearbook Sales-   Our 2020-21 Whitewater Valley Yearbook is on sale now!  Use the link ybpay.lifetouch.com and code 14271821 to order your child's all color yearbook.  Sales will continue through March 15th.  Kudos to Mrs. Tricia Tracy & Mrs. Doreen Reese for helping us capture the memories from the year and designing the page layouts.  

First Semester Awards-   Whitewater Valley Elementary presents awards for first semester academic achievement to third, fourth, and fifth graders. The awards were presented by classroom, since large group gatherings are still prohibited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our teachers were looking for a safe way to celebrate our student’s successes from first semester & our mission was accomplished!  Kudos to Mike Morris, SLSD's Director of Communications and Facilities, for being our videographer and creating the impressive video which can be found HERE.  We are proud of our student's accomplishments and love to see them working hard to live our mission each and every day!

Parking Lot-  Please use the front lot and main entrance for arrival and dismissal if your child is a car rider.  There is a designated carpool lane and marked parking spots for parents to use in the front lot.  Several parents have started to use the side gym lot that is reserved for staff only.  This is a safety concern, as we have staff members arriving and leaving at the same time as our students and students should not be running through the side lot and along the bus lane at that time.  

New Elementary Boundary Map-   The boundary lines for the three new elementary buildings have been adjusted to account for anticipated growth in the northern portion of our district in Crosby Township.  Please use the map attached HERE to view the attendance area map to verify which school your child will attend, based on your area of residence.  The new Harrison Elementary is behind the current Harrison Elementary building on Broadway St.  The new Crosby Elementary is located behind the existing Crosby Elementary on New Haven Rd.  Miami Whitewater Elementary is being built behind the High School on West Rd.  Miamitown Elementary will no longer be a school building in fall 2021.  The current Whitewater Valley Elementary will be renovated into the new district Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC) and District Office space.  The new Junior School is located behind the current JS and next to Miami Whitewater Elementary.   All new facilities will be opening in the fall of 2021.  For updates on construction and photos of the progress, please visit southwestschools.org/facilities. 

Building Farewell Open House Information–  Our school district is anxiously preparing for the grand opening of new buildings!  Open Houses will be held to say goodbye to our current buildings.  You can find information HERE.   

Spring Break Clarification-   The dates for spring break were not correct on last month's purple newsletter.  We will be on spring break from March 29-April 2.  We love our wildcats and know everyone will need a break, but don’t want to send them away for two whole weeks!  Sorry about the mistake!

UPCOMING DATES:

Feb. 1 - Kindergarten registration begins

Feb.  10 - Valentine's Day parties

Feb. 11 – Student remote learning day - no school in person

Feb. 11 - Teacher & Staff COVID Vaccination day #1

Feb. 12 – No School, Conference Release day

Feb. 14 - Valentine's Day

Feb. 15 – No School, President’s Day

Feb. 16 - PTA Meeting - via Google Meet 7:00

March 8 - Preschool registration begins

March 11 - Student Remote Learning Day - no school in person

March 11 - Teacher & Staff COVID Vaccination day #2

March 12 - End of third quarter - no school for students

March 16 - PTA meeting - via Google Meet 7:00

March 26 - Third Quarter Report Cards available in ProgressBook

March 29-April 2 - Spring Break