Zoom Consent and Maintaining Community: April 14th Update from Mr. Borkowski

Dear Parents,

Week 2 of online learning begins today!  Congratulations and thank-you for your participation and cooperation so far.  I have been blown away by the level of engagement we have seen in online learning.  Many of the classes have had live, class-wide meetings and lessons with 100% participation!  I know what a commitment this is for everyone; students, teachers, and parents.  Thank you for you help and dedication.

Zoom Security and  Consent

The conferencing format that we are using for live lessons and meetings is Zoom.  Zoom has been in the news quite a bit lately; both for good and bad.  Rest assured, the CCS staff is taking extra security measures to assure the online safety of our students.  All meetings are secured with a password and, when possible, teachers are admitting participants one at a time to validate their identity.  Users in news reports who previously experienced security issues were not being so cautious.  We have been, and will continue to be, vigilant in this regard.

If you do not wish for your child to participate in Zoom lessons and meetings, please let me or your child’s teacher know by email.  Please email any such request no later than Friday, April 17th.  If we do not hear from you, we will take this to mean that you give continuing consent for your child to use Zoom.

Maintaining Community

Beyond teaching kids reading, writing, and math, school is an important place for building community.  Parents and children alike benefit from being connected.  Here are some tips to helping the students stay connected to the school community:

1)      Participate in live class events- whether it be prayers, a class meeting, or a curricular lesson, teachers are providing live opportunities for students to gather during the week.  I understand it can be challenging to make it every time, but please try to have your child join in whenever possible.

2)      Participate in teacher office hours- teachers are hosting office hours at least a couple of times a week.  Parents are welcome to drop by and ask questions or just say hello.  No question is too small.  Even if you don’t have a question, office hours are an opportunity to see and hear from other parents about how we can help the kids make the most of learning at home.

3)      Each day I am posting fresh content for parents and kids to feel up to date and connected to the community.  Daily Announcements includes a segment called “Student Submissions.” Please send in work samples and fun videos and pictures of what you are doing at home, and I will share them.   Storytime with Mr. Borkowski are 5-minute videos to share a book with primary children (tip: use it at bedtime so you can relax!)  5 Minutes With… is a new feature in which I interview and laugh with a school community member. 

4)      Family Phone Calls- I will be calling each family beginning tomorrow.  Please be patient.  With over 200 families to call, it is going to take me at least a couple of weeks to reach you all.

Thanks again for your great response so far and please feel free to contact me anytime.

Sincerely,

Mr. Jason Borkowski

Principal