January 19, 2021

Dear Frost Lake Families,

The last year has been filled with challenges and changes.  As I observe our students, I feel a mixture of pride and sadness regarding the resilience that they have had to develop throughout this time.   Your support of your student and our Frost Lake community is an important piece and I want to say to all of you, THANK YOU!  We have learned that we are stronger together and as we transition to the next phase of our school year, our continued partnership will continue to be valued.

There is no school the week of January 25-29th as we work on transitioning to in-person instruction.

On February 1st, some of our community will continue in Virtual Learning for the remainder of the year while many will be returning to in person learning here at Frost Lake.  All students will be experiencing a change in their classmates.  No class will remain exactly the same due to the different enrollments.  And some students will be assigned to a new teacher.  To help ease this transition, your student’s current teacher will be holding classroom discussions around these changes.  New teachers will be announced by current teachers on Wednesday, January 20.  We will be holding a virtual Open House for students and families to meet their new teacher on Tuesday, January 26 from 6-7pm.

All new classrooms will start on February 1st.  Students in grades PreK-2 will return to school in person on Monday, February 1st.  Students in grades 3-5 will return to school in person on Tuesday, February 16th.   

For those families who have students returning to in-person learning, there will be some important changes in procedures to protect the health and safety of our staff and students that I will outline here.

• All students ages 5 and older will be required to wear masks. Handwashing and social distancing will be enforced.  Students will receive three cloth masks to be kept at school should they forget their mask.  Disposable masks will also be provided for students.
• The building will open for students at 9:15am.  Walkers and students being dropped off should not arrive earlier than this time as they will wait unsupervised outside until the doors open.  Students should be dropped off on the Idaho side by the playground.
• While we are in person, no visitors will be allowed in the building.  This means that unfortunately, parents will not be allowed to enter the building to walk students to class or to pick up their student.  Students arriving late should enter Door #1 on Hoyt.  They will be buzzed into the office for a pass.  Please call from your car if you are picking your child up early.  Your student will be walked to Door #1 to meet you.  (Please note that the horseshoe is not available for parents to park after 3:45pm as our busses are arriving at that time.)
• An extra set of clothing should be sent for young students to keep on hand should the need arise.  We do not have extra clothing available as we have had in years past.  Please make sure that all clothing is labeled as we will not be having a lost and found as in previous years.
• Basic individual school supplies will be provided for each student so there is not a need to send these to school with your student.
• All students will carry their iPad back and forth to school each day.  Charging bricks and cords and hotspots should remain at home.  Please make sure that your student charges their iPad overnight and brings their iPad to school each day fully charged.

It will take all of us working together to make sure that our students and staff stay healthy and safe during this time. We will be following strict health and safety protocols during this time. 

Please screen your students at home each morning and if your student is experiencing any of the following symptoms we ask that you keep them home from school and fill out our online COVID reporting tool at spps.org/frostlake

• fever greater than or equal to 100.4° F
• new onset and/or worsening cough, difficulty breathing
• new loss of taste or smell 
• sore throat
• nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
• chills, muscle pain, excessive fatigue
• new onset of headache
• new onset of nasal congestion or runny nose

Also, if your child has come into close contact with anyone who has tested positive for COVID or is waiting for results or has tested positive themselves, please fill out the form and keep your child home.

Once you fill out the online form, a nurse from SPPS will reach out to you with next steps. 

The district’s complete COVID-19 Student and Family Guidelines can be found at www.spps.org/reopen2020.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call me at 651-293-8930 or email me at melissa.kalinowski@spps.org

Thank you for supporting your child, and Frost Lake.

Sincerely,

Melissa Kalinowski, Principal

Frost Lake Elementary School

Karen

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