Dear Betty Jane Families,
I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who came out to retrieve your child’s items on the pickup days. It was a very busy two days, but I am hopeful that our efforts allowed students to obtain their personal items and also obtain their Chromebooks so they may continue their academics at home. I know that there are a few families that were unable to make it to the pickup days, but many have stated that their children have computers at home that they can work from. If you do not have a computer at home and your child needs to pick up his/her Chromebook, please report to the building on Monday morning from 9:00-11:00. The next area of concern is a wifi connection. If households do not have wifi connections, please see if your cell phone carrier has a mobile hotspot for you to use without an additional charge to your data plan. You may also wish to check with local wifi carriers and find out if they are offering free wifi services during this unprecedented time.
Once children have their devices and Internet connection, they may log onto their portals to work on their i-Ready reading and math lessons. Please know that i-Ready is a program that automatically adjusts to student individual learning levels and it can be monitored by their teachers. Teachers can take this information from lessons and assign learning activities based on student needs. There are also choice boards on the Akron Schools Connected Learning Website, which should pop up automatically on your child’s Chromebook. I also encourage parents to explore all of the learning activities, online books, and resource tiles on your child’s portal.
During our pickup times, kindergarten through second grade students received paper packets of work labeled Week 2 and Week 3 as well. Similar lessons in paper format will be available for students in grades 3-5 at the lunch pickup table beginning next week. Many teachers have already been providing activities for their students to complete via Google Classroom. In the upcoming week of March 30th, please ask your child to log into their Google Classrooms and check emails daily to see lessons and teacher messages that will be posted.
As we navigate through a time when we are faced with situations that we have not experienced in the past, please know that we appreciate everything you are doing to keep our children safe and happy as they try to make sense of all of this. We appreciate your optimism as you step in to ensure that learning is not lost during this time. Our little learners have come a long way this year and it is important that we continue to see their growth and walk beside them as they complete work to advance to the next grade level. These times are new to all of us. Please know that I will strive to provide you with answers to all of your questions. You can stay updated by logging onto the district website at www.akronschools.com or the Betty Jane website.
We are all in this together, and we will prevail. We will surround our children together as a united front. All-call messages will continue and will hopefully shorten in length as time progresses and your questions are answered. Just remember, there is nothing more important than the safety, security, and well-being of our children and families. Take this time to embrace this extra family time and make it quality time. Please know that we truly miss our children and look forward to seeing each other again soon!
Sincerely,
Ms. Lucas
Betty Jane Community Learning Center
Office: (330) 794-4117
Fax: (330) 794-6970
Email: Ms. Lucas: jlucas@apslearns.org
Mrs. Schmidt: jschmidt@apslearns.org