Buzzing Bees
Greetings Parents and Community Members,
Things are going absolutely swell at Morris Brandon and we cannot thank you enough for your patience, support and most importantly, following our safety guidelines. Parents have done an incredible job of self-reporting, keeping students home that are experiencing symptoms, and supporting the school’s decisions for quarantine. Furthermore, I would be remiss if I did not give a shout out to the real superstars, our students, who have done an INCREDIBLE job of wearing their masks, social distancing, and for bringing joy and energy back to our buildings. I’m not going to lie, with each day comes a new challenge, but like I said in August, we will get through this together, and we are!
I also want to give a special shoutout to our virtual learners. Over 150 students at Brandon have chosen the virtual learning option and are showing up each day, with a smile on their face, ready to engage with their virtual classmates. I want to remind everyone that the declaration window for Q4 is currently open HERE. If you are happy with your learning environment, no action needs to be taken. The intent window will close on March 8 and Q4 will begin on March 22. Remember that families who choose virtual learning will finish the year that way but we are super excited about all the virtual engagement activities that will happen between now and May including Read-a-Thon which is right around the corner!
As we inch closer to the start of March, I want to touch base with you around transportation for our face to face learners and those that will be returning. First of all, like many important jobs in our society, APS Transportation is not immune to COVID quarantines which have trickled down to our school. Some routes are having to double and even triple up. I understand this is not ideal and we are working with transportation to notify and inform parents if this is the case. This is so you can make an informed decision on whether or not you would like to carpool to school or find another mode of transportation. Either way, buses are important and this service will always be available to our students. I also have adjusted our AM pickup times to allow for less idle wait time in the mornings. I felt students were on the bus too long and arriving too early. Please pay careful attention to the new pickup times if you are a bus rider; we have posted them on our website HERE. If you ever have any questions or concerns, be sure to reach out to our office staff for assistance. These new times will go into effect starting tomorrow morning, February 25.
I also want to remind everyone that AM carpool ends at 8:00 am sharp! Since we are in a much better place now with afternoon carpool dismissal (thanks to PikMyKid), beginning Monday, March 1, carpool will begin at 2:20pm at both campuses and will run until 3:00. Buses will continue to be released using their route times.
Lastly, are you a medical professional that is willing to help us vaccinate our teachers? If so, please consider signing up HERE to help! To determine if you have the authority to vaccinate, click here to review the DPH list of healthcare professionals who are authorized to administer vaccinations.
Again, thank you for all you do to support our wonderful neighborhood school. Remember, my updates will now be bi-monthly but should you ever need anything, please feel free to reach out to myself or a member of our team for support.