4-27-20

Dear 3rd, 4th, & 5th Grade Parents,                  

We wanted to share with you how the grading process will work, as we take grades for the 4th and final quarter this school year, using the new Odysseyware program. 

The overall grade for all of the work in this time period will be added to the grade book for each of the 4 subjects of ELA, Math, Science, and History/Social Studies.  The final grade for each subject will be the average of the assignments completed during the 4th quarter if that grade is higher than what they earned in the 3rd quarter. If the average of the work done at home is lower than what the student earned in the 3rd quarter, the 3rd quarter grade will also be their 4th quarter grade.

Please make sure your child is logging on to the Odysseyware program and completing the assignments so their grades can be recorded for each subject area.  

We know everyone is worried about their child being ready for next year.  We want to assure you that by completing the work in Odysseyware, your child will learn the new skills necessary to prepare them for moving onto the next  grade.  

The support you are giving your child at home is appreciated and we thank you for the extra time you are devoting to make sure our students continue learning during this unusual time. As always, please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher or myself if you have any questions. 

Thank you,

Dr. Sally Perano

McNair Principal

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Message from Special Area Teachers:

Parents, so that students may submit videos or turn in work, Special area teachers created Google Classrooms and calendars for the remaining month of school. You may submit your work there and we can see it and make comments.  We would love to see your projects, singalongs, or exercise activities.  If you do not wish to join the classroom, the calendar will still be available on the schools’ website.  

April 15, 2020

Good Evening McNair Families!

I hope you are all doing well.  At this time we have made a change in the distribution of materials for students in Grade K-2 and for those students in grades 3-5 who do not have internet access for efficiency and timeliness. In preparation to deliver further instruction to your child, we have developed another plan at McNair for picking up essential items. These items include chromebooks, chargers, hotspots, medications, and instructional materials for Kindergarten through second grade and also for those students in Grades 3-5 who do not have internet access.

We will implement a “drive-thru” strategy for our pick up. We would like for all parents to enter the school parking lot using the main entrance by the marquee and pull up to the school by the main entrance using the lane closest to the sidewalk. Please stay in your car and a staff member will greet you, ask for your child’s name and grade level, and note the items you need and then bring these to your vehicle and drop them into your trunk.  There will be no need to get out of your car. 

Please be patient with us, as we are not yet aware of the level of volume we will experience at different times of the day and we will have limited staff on hand in order to observe current CDC restriction guidelines on group gatherings.

Please see the pick-up days/times below.

Friday, April 17th, Tuesday, April 21st,  and Wednesday, April 14th

Each day from 12:00-4:00pm

During times like these, it is so important that we all come together as a community and please know that we most assuredly appreciate all of your support.  Please continue to take good care of you and yours.

Dr. Sally Perano

McNair Principal

Dear Hazelwood School District Parents:

We’ve heard your feedback and as a result, we will return to the original plan on how learning materials, Chromebooks, and medications will be distributed. In an effort to get learning materials to students in an efficient and timely manner, we are asking you or a member of your family to pick up these items from the school. 

Please expect a call from your building principal with dates and times available for picking up these materials for your child. For your convenience, your principal will be available on multiple days to reduce traffic and adhere to social distancing. They will also share instructions for the line-up process in front of the school for motorists or those traveling on foot. Medication and Chromebooks will also be available for pick up if this is relevant to your child.

By Friday of this week, we will place a list of all pick-up dates and times on the District’s website and we will send via PeachJar. We appreciate your patience and cooperation during this unprecedented time. Thank you for your time and attention.

Dear Parents of 3rd-5th Graders,

I hope you all are doing well and staying healthy.  I know I speak for the McNair Staff when I say that we are deeply saddened that we are not connected with your children on a daily basis.  Please hug your child(ren) and let them know that we all miss them! 

Beginning next Monday, April 20th, Hazelwood School District will be launching e-learning with Odysseyware for all third, fourth, and fifth grade students.  While your child’s teacher will support your child through this process, I have attached a step by step guide to navigating the Odysseyware website to this email for your convenience.  Your child’s username is their 6-digit student ID and their password is HSDmmddyy (of their birthday).

While the teacher will plan & assign learning activities in reading, math, science and social studies, your child should work on 2-3 content areas a day as scheduled by the teacher.  Odysseyware includes videos to assist students and will also read the lessons and follow-up questions for additional support.  Each academic lesson is chunked into manageable sections, which allow your child to work at his/her pace.  The program also allows students to type questions for the teacher directly on the website alerting the teacher to the child’s comments.  For our EL learners, lessons and directions can be translated to the preferred language of choice.  For our students receiving additional support for various reasons, you may also reach out to those teachers for academic support.

To help balance the academic learning provided by Odysseyware, we are encouraging students to also:

1. Read for at least 20 minutes each day.
2. Practice multiplication facts for 10 minutes each day
3. Choose a special area activity to participate in or complete each day.  (You can find these activities on the McNair Elementary School Website)

I am aware that what we are all experiencing can be stressful for adults and for children.  While we want students to participate in learning Monday-Friday, please help support your child’s learning by also providing daily brain breaks of fun, preferred activities.  Classroom teachers will continue to provide support through Google Classroom, Dojo, email, and for some, Google Meets.  We are all in this together...and together we will come out better and stronger than ever!

Your partner in education,

Dr. Sally Perano

Principal