Starkweather Public School Posts

The much-anticipated Christmas concerts are finally here! I appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we worked to get everything ready – it was definitely a learning curve for all of us!

The program is broken into three parts. The first is the play, featuring students in grades K-8:
https://youtu.be/qNtKUUAA9vw

Next is the choir, featuring students in grades 7-12:
https://youtu.be/duWHB-xuDuI

And last but certainly not least is the band. The first three songs are performed by students in grades 5-12, and the last three are by students in grades 7-12.
https://youtu.be/Bd1zAYXtenc

Enjoy!

Dear Starkweather Parents and Families,

In accordance with Governor Burgum’s November 14^th Executive Order, all Starkweather students and staff are now required to wear masks throughout the day to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep everyone IN school. Please send your child(ren) with a clean mask each day – we are not responsible for providing them. If you have any questions, be sure to contact the office.

As always, thank you for your support and cooperation as we all work to get through this together!

The week of November 16th-20th is American Education Week! This is when we would normally hold our annual Parent Lunch, but that just isn’t in the cards this year. Instead, we are going to celebrate American Education MONTH, and invite parents to sign up for a day during the month of November to join your child(ren) for breakfast! Please visit the link below to choose a day that works for you. One family (up to 2 adults) may sign up per day, and masks must be worn when entering and leaving the building. There will be a specially-designated table in the lunchroom for our visitors – you’ll know it when you see it!

Sign Up!

Picture retakes are scheduled for Thursday, October 15th at 8:30am for kids who were absent on picture day or would like their pictures redone. If you already received prints, please make sure those are returned to the school. If you need a new order form, give Julie a call and let her know!

Download (PDF, 68KB)

The following information was passed along to us from Lake Region District Health Unit:

Download (PDF, 116KB)

Our 2020-2021 K-12 Smart Restart Plan was officially approved by our school board on August 4th, 2020. The plan is available for download here, as well as in the “COVID-19 Resources” section of our website.

Download (PDF, 141KB)

Hello Starkweather families!

A lot has happened over the past week, and we wanted to make sure we keep you up to date! Our school’s Health and Safety Plan was approved by Lake Region District Health on Friday, July 24th. Next, it has to be approved by our school board. Once that step is completed, we will schedule separate staff and family informational meetings. The Health and Safety Plan will be distributed to everyone beforehand (sent through Snail Mail, and posted on the school’s website and Facebook group), so you will have time to look it over carefully and make note of any questions or concerns you may have.

I know many of you have questions or concerns already, so I would like to share a couple of key points in the plan *as of right now*:

1. The plan is a living document. It can (and probably will) change quickly and without much notice. We all know how fast things change in the World of Covid. Many times, us as teachers and administrators are hearing about those changes at the same time everyone else is! We will use our Instant Alert system, as well as the school’s website and Facebook group to get information out to you as soon as we can. Please make sure we have your most current contact information at all times, so that you don’t miss anything!
2. We are aiming for regular in-person school at this time, with the same start date of Wednesday, August 19th (our 2020-2021 school calendar is available for download as well). That being said, we will all need to be prepared to switch to distance learning quickly if conditions change. We will stick with the same platforms as we used this spring; ClassDojo for grades PreK-4 and Microsoft Teams for grades 5-12.
3. There will not be a Back to School Night this year.
4. Masks will be required for all staff and students riding the bus, but that’s it. If you personally feel more comfortable having your child wear a mask throughout the day, you are more than welcome to do so, but please make sure that the school is aware of that. We will not be providing masks to staff or students.

Attached to this post are welcome letters and supply lists. These will also be going out in the mail for elementary students.

The North Dakota Department of Health, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, and the North Dakota Governor’s Office have issued the North Dakota K-12 Smart Restart Guidance for the 2020-2021 school year. Together with our local public health unit and school board, we will be working to meet these expectations by updating our existing Distance Learning Plan, as well as developing a Health and Safety Plan. Both plans will serve as a compass of sorts, to help us navigate through the uncertainty of educating our students during a pandemic. Once these plans are approved by our school board, they will be published both in our Facebook group as well as our school‘s website. While it’s an incredibly overwhelming process, we are anxious and eager to begin developing a plan that will allow us to get our kiddos and teachers back into our classrooms where they belong! If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Download (PDF, 140KB)