It was brought to our attention tonight that KHQ News was listing positive COVID cases for Selkirk Middle School. That is not OUR Selkirk Middle School. Believe it or not...there are two schools with that name...ours and a Central Valley School District middle school located in Liberty Lake just outside of Spokane. That is the school with positive cases. Please be assured that if there were positive cases in our districts, our staff and parents would be notified prior to the news outlets! Take care and feel free to contact us with any questions you have!
We do plan to hold school tomorrow but there will be no outside recess (K-5) or outside PE (high school) because of air quality. If parents are not comfortable sending students to school we'll mark them parent-excused. It is simply that the Monday/Tuesday group only had one day last week also, so, we'll be there ready to teach the students who do arrive!
At the elementary, we'll hold lunch recess in the gym without masks and elementary teachers will have a extra long breakfast so students riding buses get a good break from masks.
High school and middle school will have only inside lunch until the air quality improves.
We are hoping for a little rain this week which should clear the air a bit!
Today was a successful "First Day of School" for the Wed/Thurs group of students! Even with the personal safety restrictions, it has been great to have students in the building and on the playground this week! Hoping that families are adjusting to the schedule as we get the year started. Remember, Monday, September 7 is a holiday so no school for the Monday/Tues students that day.
It has been a great first day of school for the Monday/Tuesday group! Can't wait to do this again on Wednesday for Wed/Thurs students! Thanks for sharing your children with us today!
We are looking forward to the first day of school on Monday, August 31 (Mon/Tues group) and, again, on Wednesday, September 2 (Wed/Thurs group)!! Parents, please remember to log on to Skyward to complete the health attestation each day! Thank you!
The finalized copy of Selkirk School District's Reopening Plan, approved by the board of directors, is available at this link: https://5il.co/k4pt. Looking forward to seeing students soon! Please exercise safe practices to help us reopen and get students in schools!
Here is a link to the second video in our Reopening series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_dd47JYPZ0
A draft copy of the full plan can be found under the NEWS section on our website. Looking forward to seeing students on August 31 or September 2!
After much debate, research, and planning, Selkirk School District will be reopening for in-person classes beginning August 31! Half of the students will attend on Monday/Tuesday and half on Wed/Thursday. There will be some at-home work time in this schedule, but this was the best option that allowed us to start safely and work through any issues that arise. The district developed a phased in approach which will be posted on our website on Friday with plans to move to full in-person when possible. Parents in grades 6-12 will be invited to small group meetings next week to get details and student schedules while teachers in grades K-5 will be contacting parents to explain information and share the schedule for your child. By Friday we hope to have a short video posted explaining important safety information regarding face-coverings, health screenings, and other issues. Looking forward to seeing our students after 5 1/2 months!!
Selkirk would like to share some resources that you may find helpful as we deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage you to take a moment and review this information and share it with your student or your family.
https://www.selkirkschools.org/page/covid-resources
We know there are lots of back-to-school questions and we hope to have an announcement regarding Selkirk's Reopening Plan by next Tuesday (August 18). Please know that we are still planning for an in-person start. It may be only two days per week for the first couple of weeks and if we can go without an outbreak, we will gear up for the full 4-days per week. As much as we'd like to start full-time from the first day, it is not looking like we have much support from the health department. NETCHD is worried about their ability to assist schools if there is an outbreak considering the increase in cases in the three counties (PO, Stevens, Ferry). The best thing we can do as a community is to wear our masks and exercise social distance so we don't contribute to a community outbreak!
Check out Selkirk Re-Opening Update...Straight from the Source! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5lm2CQLvdM
Check out our new web page (www.selkirkschools.org)! While the site is still under construction, you can find updates regarding Selkirk's Reopening Plan for 2020 under the NEWS section! We'll be launching our own app soon, too!
The good news is that OSPI informed all school districts today to plan on in-person classes for next fall!! However, once again we ask for patience and grace in unpacking the recently released guidelines. While we know there will many regulations that can easily be accommodated (temperature checks, extra cleaning, etc.), there are some that will definitely be more difficult. For example, the guidelines released today indicate that all students (except those falling under certain health or disability categories) will be required to wear masks on buses and in schools. There are two points that we'd like to share with you today on this topic. The first is that as the summer progresses, that mandate may be modified especially in communities with no COVID-19 outbreaks. The second is that we desperately want to be back to in-person education so if the guidance does not change, know that Selkirk will work hard to make it workable for families so that we can have your students back in class with our teachers who miss them very much! Just remember the start of next school year is 2 1/2 months away....much can happen in that time.
Get help with groceries this summer! All students attending Selkirk Elementary (where meals are free to all kids) are eligible or if your child is in 6th-12th grade and your family qualifies for free and reduced meals, there is a new program this summer to help families buy groceries! Check out the details for the Pandemic EBT program can be found here: program https://medium.com/@waOSPI/what-is-pandemic-ebt-a7a086fcaf94
The high school graduation ceremony on June 13th will be live-streamed. Stay tuned for the YouTube link!
Remember to stop by and pick free meals today for children 0-18 years old! This week's learning packets for K-5 are available at meal sites!
Remember to use your "What's for Dinner" certificates! Local businesses benefit when you redeem them!
Live feed test
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Thank You for all you do!
Be sure to check out our new Android and iOS apps! (links on the bottom-right of the page)