Riverview Grade School

6/10/2020

Good Afternoon Riverview Families

As we plan for the reopening of school this fall, we greatly appreciate your understanding that there is no playbook to follow regarding this fluid and rapidly changing situation. We have learned to expect the situation to constantly change...the plan we have today will likely need to be revised and adjusted in the future. That said, we also want to keep our families informed about where we are at in the planning process and provide information that can assist your planning at home. School districts throughout Wisconsin will be sharing their plans over the next 2-3 weeks and while there will be many similarities with district plans, there will also be differences based on school staffing, technology, facilities, structure and academic philosophy.

CLICK HERE for our Draft Riverview Reopening Plan. We would appreciate your feedback and questions regarding the draft of our plan as we seek to finalize preparations by the end of July. At the end of the Draft Plan is a link for Comments and Questions. Thank you for your partnership as we move toward the start of what will certainly be a unique and challenging school year!

For comments and questions please use this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc8EXqt3JgWTDnw1tvO0oljy_IjPADp6NEldgXw0f9ZKp8XHQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Jon Schleusner

District Administrator

_

5/26/2020

Good Afternoon Riverview Families

We hope you had an opportunity to enjoy the great weather this weekend!

We are sending out a few reminders today

With the school year coming to a close, we would like to communicate the procedures for returning school items.

We will begin on:

Tuesday, June 2nd for grades 4K, Kindergarten and 1st

Wednesday, June 3rd for grades 2nd, 3rd, and 4th

Thursday, June 4th for grades 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th.

Note: If your child needs to utilize a Chromebook, textbook, etc. beyond the scheduled drop-off date that is fine. We will work with you to make other arrangements.

The time frames for drop off will be 9:00-10:30AM and 2:30-4:00PM each of those days. We are asking that you drive through the School Street parking lot bus lane and hand your items out the window to a staff member. Please have your child's items in a bag labeled on the outside with their first and last name. If you are dropping off more than one child's items, please place each child's items in a separate bag labeled with their name. If you have children in multiple grade levels, you may drop off their items on the same day.

Items that will need to be returned are:

* Chromebooks (if not purchasing them)

* school library books

* classroom textbooks (this does not include workbooks that your child uses to complete work in)

* teacher's classroom library books

* school purchased items (scissors, rulers, protractors, calculators)

* school owned band instruments

* drama members - scripts for the play

* any sports' uniforms (volleyball jersey, cheerleading uniforms)

As a component of the end-of-school year activities this year, we will be having our teachers hold a short conference with their students' families. We want to utilize this time as a chance for feedback to learn about challenges, celebrations, and concerns with distance learning from the viewpoint of our families.

Our last day for Grab-n-Go Breakfasts and Lunches will be on Friday, May 29th. for those families interested. Pick-up is between 10AM-11AM.

Many families have contacted us regarding purchasing Chromebooks and we have sold nearly 100 to date. We will be following up this week on specifics for payment. If you are still interested, please sign up by Friday, May 29, 2020. Once we have collected Chromebooks in early June we hope to have a second sale later in the summer.

8th Grade Graduation for the 2019-20 School Year

Date: Monday, June 8, 2020

Time: 4:00PM - Virtual slideshow, administration speeches, and awards presentations

5:00-6:00PM - Drive-thru presentation of diplomas

Have a great week!

Jon Schleusner

District Administrator

__________________________________________________________________________________________

5/22/2020

Good Afternoon Riverview Families

With the school year coming to a close, we would like to communicate the procedures for returning school items.

We will begin on:

Tuesday, June 2nd for grades 4K, Kindergarten and 1st,

Wednesday, June 3rd for grades 2nd, 3rd, and 4th

Thursday, June 4th for grades 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th.

The time frames for drop off will be 9:00-10:30AM and 2:30-4:00PM each of those days. We are asking that you drive through the School Street parking lot bus lane and hand your items out the window to a staff member. Please have your child's items in a bag labeled on the outside with their first and last name. If you are dropping off more than one child's items, please place each child's items in a separate bag labeled with their name. If you have children in multiple grade levels, you may drop off their items on the same day.

Items that will need to be returned are:

* Chromebooks

* school library books

* classroom textbooks (this does not include workbooks that your child uses to complete work in)

* teacher's classroom library books

* school purchased items (scissors, rulers, protractors, calculators)

* school owned band instruments

* drama members - scripts for the play

* any sports' uniforms (volleyball jersey, cheerleading uniforms)

We will be providing Grab-n-Go meals through May 29th, available 10am-11AM in our School Street parking lot. We will not be serving meals on Memorial Day, May 25th.

As a reminder, the Riverview 8th Grade Graduation will take place on Monday, June 8th. Administration speeches and awards will be shared via a link at 4PM, with a drive-thru presentation of diplomas from 5-6PM at our School Street parking lot.

Kid's Club is looking at possibly reopening daycare services at Riverview beginning June 1st. Contact their main office at 262-945-3547 if interested.

Updated information on COVID-19 in Kenosha County and available resources can be found at the following link:

https://kenosha-county-covid-19-response-kenoshacounty.hub.arcgis.com/

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Jon Schleusner

District Administrator

_______________________________________________________________________________

5/19/2020

Good Afternoon Riverview Families

We have been following guidance from DPI, the Kenosha County Health Department, and other resources regarding how to honor our 8th grade graduates while doing so in a safe and socially responsible manner consistent with COVID-19 safe practices. Our Board approved the plan last night, and the Kenosha County Health Director reviewed and approved of the plan this morning. Following is an outline of our 2020 8th Grade Graduation:

8th Grade Graduation for the 2019-20 School Year

Date: Monday, June 8, 2020

Time: 4:00 - Virtual slideshow, administration speeches, and awards presentations

5:00-6:00 - Drive-thru presentation of diplomas

Procedures:

• At 4:00, we will post the slideshow of the graduates’ pictures. A link will be shared for this portion of the ceremony.
• From 5:00-6:00, graduates and their families will have the opportunity to come to the school to receive their diplomas and awards.
• Everyone will be expected to stay in their cars.
• Cars will line up in the School Street parking lot and proceed around the bus drop off lane. (Details will be shared at a later time).
• Those handing out diplomas and awards to graduates through the car window will be wearing masks and gloves.
• Staff are encouraged to line the sidewalk (keeping social distance) to congratulate the graduates as they drive by.
• The Parent Committee will be allowed to decorate the drive-thru route.
• We will request the presence of the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department to control traffic on School Street.
• Additional details will be shared next week.

We will be distributing two sets of Grab-n-Go Breakfasts and Lunches on Friday to those families interested. No meals will be distributed on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25th.

Many families have contacted us regarding purchasing Chromebooks. If you are interested, please sign up by Friday, May 29, 2020. Once we have collected Chromebooks in early June we hope to have a second sale later in the summer.

We plan to share information on the return of materials and Chromebooks at the end of the school year by the end of the week.

Congratulations to our Kindergarten through 4th Grade Young Authors and Illustrators participants of 2020!!

https://www.powtoon.com/c/eU5erJs91fO/1/m

Congratulations to our 5th through 8th Grade Young Authors and Illustrators participants of 2020!!

https://www.powtoon.com/c/c4owGjymlDk/1/m

Have a great week!

Jon Schleusner

District Administrator

__________________________________________________________________________________________

5/15/2020

Good Afternoon Riverview Families

As we move on to the second half of May, I want to thank our families again from all of us at Riverview for your hard work and support these past months.This has been such a difficult stretch...our community could not plan for or anticipate what March, April, and May brought us. Your perseverance and positivity has been wonderful and as we progress through these last weeks of the school year know that we feel blessed to work with you and your children.

We sent out information last evening on the opportunity to purchase the Chromebooks your children are currently using for at-home learning and have had a great response. If you have any questions regarding this process feel free to email me at jschleusner@silverlakejt1.k12.wi.us or Julie Strasser at jstrasser@silverlakejt1.k12.wi.us. We anticipate having additional chromebooks available for sale (not sure how many) at the end of the school year.

With the Governor's Safer at Home Order being overturned by the Wisconsin State Supreme Court late in the day on Wednesday, there has been a flurry of activity as governmental units and school districts work to understand guidelines and best practices moving forward. These changes will not impact the overall School Closure portion of the order which extends to June 30th and closes the physical school for instruction and extracurricular activities. It does, however, potentially impact other school functions including Summer School and we plan to offer a Summer School program beginning August 3rd. We are reviewing recommendations from a host of resources, including legal counsel, our district liability insurance carrier, and government agencies to work through next steps.

Typically, we would have finalized 8th Grade graduation plans months ago. However, COVID-19 and the issues the pandemic have brought on have made this process difficult. Our intent is to finalize a graduation plan at our Monday, May 18 School Board Meeting.

We will be providing Grab-n-Go meals through May 29th. Breakfast and lunch meals are available for pick up Monday-Friday between 10-11AM in our parking lot off of School Street.

Kid's Club is planning to resume providing daycare services at Riverview beginning Monday, June 8. Please contact their main office if interested.

Late next week we plan to share updated information on returning items to school and the end-of-year process.

Have a great weekend!

Jon Schleusner

District Administrator

__________________________________________________________________________________________

5/12/2020

Good Afternoon Riverview Families

We are working to provide an opportunity for interested families to purchase the district Chromebook their children are currently using at a discounted price. We have a few logistics to finalize and will be sending a flyer out later this week. We have three different models of Chromebooks that have been distributed for student use and the pricing will be different based on the age and specs of the machine.

For those families that do not wish to purchase a Chromebook, we will have a Chromebook return date(s) in early June where these items can be returned to school. We will also be sharing information in the next 10 days regarding the return of library books, textbooks, and other school materials to Riverview.

After further exploring graduation options and receiving some additional feedback from the county health department, we decided to survey and see if 8th grade families preferred a June drive-by graduation (where diplomas are handed out to students, and students and family members remain in their vehicles) rather than an early August option where we would have an increased chance of being able to utilize the school building for pictures, etc. We appreciate the feedback from our families and the willingness of Kenosha County DIrector of Health Jen Freiheit to work with us on this process. We will finalize a time and date and share additional information regarding graduation over the next week. We will notify our families of the plan no later than Tuesday, May 19th.

Riverview will be providing Grab-n-Go meals through May 29th. Breakfast and lunch meals are available for pick up Monday-Friday between 10-11AM in our parking lot off of School Street.

We are receiving additional guidance this week from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on Summer School which should aid our planning. As soon as we have all the pieces compiled we will share that with you.

Have a fantastic week!

Jon Schleusner

District Administrator

__________________________________________________________________________________________

5/8/2020

Good Afternoon Riverview Families

We hope you have had a fantastic week!

The Kenosha County Fair contacted us this morning. They will not be having an Education Building at the fair this year and will not be displaying student work. A decision on whether or not to have the fair will likely be made in the next few weeks.

DPI and the Wisconsin Department of Health have issued recommendations relating to spring and summer graduations. Following is the link:

https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/schools.htm

Guidance at this time, and what is anticipated for over the summer, is large group gatherings will not be permitted. A graduation party/dance is almost certainly not going to be an option, nor will a ceremony with even restricted attendance. On Friday afternoon I listened in on a statewide meeting with a representative of the Wisconsin Department of Health regarding the possibility of hosting a graduation recognition//ceremony. Mrs Zackery and I have been reviewing options and will share ideas with the Board at our meeting on Monday, May 18th. Our thought at this time (assuming it is allowable) would be to provide an opportunity on August 5th where we could in some way recognize/celebrate graduation at Riverview. Can we have pictures and provide the diploma in person to students and individual families? At school? Deliver to homes? Other options? We are not sure at this point what might be feasible. Any graduation activity on August 5th would be adjusted based upon what would be allowable by this date. We will share more as we learn more and define a plan...know that we are aiming for something on August 5th.

We anticipate being able to provide information on Summer School by June 1st. We plan on the first day of Summer School beginning Monday, August 3rd and extending through August 20th. We hope to have both virtual and in-person offerings (if allowed).

We have loaned out approximately 250 chrome books to Riverview students this spring and would like to provide an opportunity for families to purchase these machines at a discounted price. Look for information on this opportunity to be shared next week.

We plan to continue Grab-n-Go Breakfast and Lunch through the month of May. Pick up times are between 10-11AM in our parking lot off of School Street. These meals are available for all students.

Planning across the state is ramping up for the start of next school year. I will be working with a group of Southeast Wisconsin District Administrators looking at scheduling options, brainstorming, troubleshooting, etc. and the group will start meetings in the next week or so. We will be planning for several scenarios. Those districts that have transportation provided by Dousman (including Riverview) will be meeting with representatives from the company next week to learn about transportation recommendations/protocols and find out the guidance transportation companies are being provided. Food service programs (or restaurants/grocery stores for that manner) will no longer have self-service salad bars in at least the short-term. We have begun exploring PPE and cleaning equipment purchasing and will likely be utilizing cooperative purchasing arrangements with other school districts to better access supplies and competitive pricing.

One last note...many of our students were curious about our staff pets after we sent a staff video out a few weeks ago. Just for fun, our Dean of Students Danielle Dunham put together a new video focused on our staff pets. We hope our students enjoyed it...following is a link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMJsGjQi3E0&feature=youtu.be

Have a wonderful weekend (dress warm...it will be chilly!) and we will be back in touch next week!

Thank you!

Jon Schleusner

DIstrict Administrator

__________________________________________________________________________________________

5/5/2020

Good Afternoon Riverview Families

A little shorter than normal note today...we are waiting on updates to a couple items and will share that information on Friday.

We have just a few families that have not made arrangements for the return of student items from desks and lockers. We can have the materials available for pick up or can deliver to your home...feel free to contact our office at 262-889-4384 and we will be able to assist with the process.

Open Enrollment for new students interested in attending Riverview remains open through May 29th. If your children are already open enrolled you do not need to reapply. Following is a link to the DPI website if you know of anyone interested: https://dpi.wi.gov/open-enrollment

We have received word from our yearbook printing company, Josten's, that they are experiencing a backlog in printing yearbooks due to COVID-19-related factors. Our yearbooks may not be received here at school until July. We will let our families know more as we receive more information from the company.

We are anticipating additional guidance on graduation ceremonies by the end of the week from the Wisconsin Department of Health and will share that information when it becomes available.

Have a great week!

Jon Schleusner

District Administrator

__________________________________________________________________________________________

5/1/2020

Good Afternoon Riverview Families

Thank you to all of our families who stopped by school to pick up materials the past two days. We returned items to well over 90% of our students. If you were unable to come at the pick up times please contact the school office and we can make arrangements.

We are anticipating beginning Summer School offerings on Monday, August 3rd. We have pushed the start date back by three weeks to increase the possibility of being able to have some in-person instruction available and allowable. We will update you in the weeks to come and distribute class materials as we learn more.

We are waiting on guidance from the state regarding being allowed to have an in-person graduation in July-August. We will share that information when it becomes available.

There is increasing discussion regarding what the start of next school year might look like. We are preparing for multiple scenarios, as we likely won't have a clear understanding of the latest procedures and protocols to follow until August 1st. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has put together a draft document for the reopening of schools and other facilities. The draft document can be viewed in the link below and many items will certainly be adjusted...the information shared provides some ideas on what we should expect.

https://context-cdn.washingtonpost.com/notes/prod/default/documents/5c0a7b41-2997-4a9a-ad3a-7d2ff788fc8e/note/8c6cbafb-bc04-4d78-9f15-cf27fc7c4b4d.#page=

Kid's Club is now aiming to reopen at Riverview on June 8th. If you are interested in their summer daycare program they can be reached at 262-945-3547.

The Sharing Center in Trevor is a great resource for families in need. Following is their contact information:

Food Pantry Hours

Mon: 11am - 1pm

Wed: 11am - 1pm

Office and Donation Hours

Mon: 9am- 1pm

Wed: 9am- 1pm

Fri: 9am- 12pm

Location

25700 Wilmot Rd.

PO Box 172

Trevor, WI 53179

Phone: 262-298-5535

Fax: 262-922-4411

director@TheSharingCenter.net

We continue to offer Grab-n-Go breakfast and lunch for all of our students. Pick up times are Monday-Friday from 10AM-11AM in our parking lot off of School Street.

Enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend and stay safe and healthy!

Jon Schleusner

District Administrator

__________________________________________________________________________________________

April 28, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Now that we officially know that we will not be returning this academic year, we would like to communicate next steps for grading, virtual instruction, and the end of the year. The administrative team has been discussing options and ideas surrounding these topics and monitoring ideas and plans from other districts, as well as guidance from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. This unprecedented time dictates changing traditional practices. We all know that virtual learning is not the same as face-to-face instruction and it has been a difficult transition for some of our students. Our goal is to create a “no harm” approach for the challenging times our students and staff are facing.

Instruction

Teachers will be concentrating on solidifying the concepts/skills they have introduced in the 3rd Trimester (started March 9). The end of our academic calendar is Tuesday, June 9th and we are continuing school activities through that date. Staff will be reaching out in person (phone or Google Meet) to students that have not completed assignments/tasks or did not do well on these items. They will also continue to move forward in the curriculum and with grade level standards. We are proposing to continue with new instructional activities through May 29th. June 1st - 9th will be utilized for the following tasks:

* continuing to meet with students to help them move from incomplete to passing.

* supplemental learning activities for students,

* setting up virtual parent conferences to provide feedback and wrap up the school year.

Grading

For the third trimester only, we will move toward grading being a Pass or Incomplete for grades 4th-8th that typically assign letter grades. Teachers will still be entering assignments into Skyward as they typically have (total points/percentage). Rather than the cumulative points being calculated to equate to a letter grade, it would calculate to either CP (COVID Pass) or CI (COVID Incomplete). Parents would still see the individual assignments and how their child scored on that assignment. The difference would be the overall score showing as CP or CI (this is what will show on the report card for Trimester 3). Staff members will be reaching out to students receiving low grades on assignments to help so that corrections can be made.

For grades 4K-3rd that use standards-based grading, teachers will continue to use the report card to communicate how your child is performing on each skill (beginning, developing, secure, exceeds) if this skill has been assessed. They will indicate if a skill has been introduced online and not assessed. Teachers will also indicate if your child has not engaged in on-line learning activities.

It is important that you continue to monitor and encourage your child to access and complete tasks that are being assigned by the teachers. Students receiving incompletes in grades 4-8 and students in grades K-3 not engaging in on-line tasks will have further stipulations and follow-up activities.

End of Year

The first week of June, we will have “School Materials Return” days and times. We will be designating certain days/times for grade levels. We will communicate this schedule to you later in May. Parents will need to return school issued chromebooks, textbooks, any items borrowed from a teacher (classroom books, calculators, etc.) and library books at that time.

We will continue to monitor State mandates to determine if we will be able to have a graduation gathering. We know for certain that no large gatherings will be able to happen in May or June. Many surrounding districts are moving toward a “virtual” celebration. We will have more information as we move through May.

We will also be monitoring the potential of having a summer school program. We do know that it has been recommended by State officials to plan to have no face-to-face programming until potentially August. We will keep families posted about summer school programming.

In closing, we would like to thank all of our families for the support, encouragement and effort you have shown during this difficult time. Continue to reach out to staff with any questions or concerns. Together, we will get through this and we are proud of our student's efforts.

Andrea Zackery Jon Schleusner

Principal District Administrator

**Reminder on Student Pick-up Days Wednesday, April 29 and Thursday, April 30

Following will be our procedures for curbside pick-up of student materials for next week's pick-up days April 29 (12:00-3:00PM) and April 30 (3:00-6:00PM):

• Pick up areas will be located by Door 8 in the parking lot off of School Street and Door 15 in the parking lot off of Prosser Street. Families are welcome to use either location.
• Parents will drive up with a sign in the window with their child's name and grade level - they are not to get out of their vehicles.
• Riverview staff will radio into the cafeteria with the student’s name/grade. Staff volunteers in the cafeteria will place the student's bags on a cart and wheel it to the outside door. Our school health aide will have marked the bags if the students have medications to be returned. The medications will be placed in a bag and stapled to the student materials bag.
• The bagged items will be carted out to the exit doors and delivered to the parent's vehicle. District staff will be wearing gloves and masks during the pick-up process and following social distance and safety guidelines.
• If your family is unable to make either of the two pick-up times, please contact our school office at 262-889-4384 and we will make alternate arrangements to get the materials returned to you.