Marshall Elementary Weekly E-News

November 20, 2020

A Peaceful, Productive, Healthy, and Happy Community

The mission of Marshall Elementary is to work as a community to achieve higher levels of thinking and learning by empowering every learner everyday.

School News and Information

Happy Friday!  Another week of Remote Learning, Face to Face, and Quarantined learning has come and gone.  Anyone else realize that we are currently running 3 versions of school?  Thank you for doing your part to help keep us safe while learning face to face.  And a big THANK YOU for all of your grace and understanding as things constantly change - you have been great! 

During these last two week we had a few confirmed and probable cases that caused classrooms to be quarantined.  While I know that most of us want our students to be at school, we all need to do our part to help prevent the spread so that we can stay open.  Classroom quarantines are part of this but so are individual quarantines.  If someone in your house is showing symptoms of covid, EVERYONE should stay home until the sick person has a negative covid test or an alternate diagnosis and certainly if a student has been directly exposed to a positive case the student should stay home.   

Please see this Returning to School form for more information.  Also if you missed the video earlier this week check out this video about trying to understand all of the terms and situations that may occur regarding Covid-19. Questions and Answers

School Fundraising Opportunity for families that order from Shutterfly.  We have a storefront for Marshall through Shutterfly and if you order through this storefront 8% of your order comes back to Marshall.  We thank you for your support.  http://thisismetsd.shutterflystorefront.com/

Breakfast and Lunch Program

Please see this flyer about the breakfast and lunch programs in TSD.  All breakfast and lunches are free for the 2020-21 school year.  

Elementary Lunch Menu- Updated for November

Please see this new flyer for the Food Distribution Program

Fees

School fees & Chromebook insurance for face to face learners can be paid on the Talawanda website via EZPay or you can send your check, payable to Marshall Elementary, in with your student.  Remote learners can pay Chromebook insurance through EZPay or you can drop off or mail in your payment.  Any questions, call the office at 273-3600. 

Update from the Health Department

Public Health Commissioners in Butler County Strongly Encourage Staying at Home, Whenever Possible

“We are at a critical point in the response to the coronavirus pandemic," says Jennifer Bailer Health Commissioner for the Butler County General Health District (BCGHD).

Hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients in Southwest Ohio have increased by 67% over the last 2 weeks and COVID-19 patients in the ICU have increased by 50% over the same time. Butler County has had a surge in COVID-19 cases and visits to the hospital since the beginning of October. “We had been setting records the last two weeks with around 200-250 cases reported each day. However, over the weekend Butler County had over 900 cases reported from Friday to Sunday, with a new record of 376 cases in a single day,” said Jordan Luttrell-Freeman, Epidemiologist. The City of Hamilton and City of Middletown Health Departments report similar trends.

"When the pandemic began in March, we were concerned about our medical facilities having enough PPE. Now it is the people. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities have been working tirelessly since March and feeling the impacts of staff shortages. They too are impacted by COVID and many need to stay home because they or their families are ill or in quarantine. We must protect our healthcare workers by doing our part and staying at home as much as possible, especially if you are sick, in quarantine or isolation, or waiting for test results," states Bailer.   

I live in Butler County, what should I do?

• If you are sick:
• Stay home for 10 days. After 10 days if your symptoms are better and you have had no fever for 24 hours without medicine, you are considered recovered and can go out.
• If you are waiting for a test result:
• Stay home! Do NOT go out, to school or to work while you wait!
• If you have been exposed to a positive COVID-19 case, or think you have:
• Stay home for 14 days! Do NOT go out, to school or to work!
• If you are positive for COVID-19, notify all your close contacts to stay home for 14 days.

What else can I do?

• Avoid gatherings, limit contact with people outside of your household, and reconsider holiday plans
• Keep six (6) feet of distance from others
• Wear a mask
• Including while inside around non-household members.
• Wash your hands

People with questions about COVID-19 can call the Ohio Department of Health COVID-19 Call Center, 7 days a week from 9AM – 8PM at: 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634) or contact their local health department.  Butler County residents call 513-863-1770

Remote Learning Decisions for THS & TMS Due to Staff Shortages

Talawanda officials have made the very difficult decision to fully transition THS and TMS to a remote learning plan from now until January 18, 2021.  Students would return on January 19,  2021, pending updated data as we continue to monitor the spread of Covid-19. Talawanda is currently experiencing a severe spike in the number of Covid-19 quarantines and positive cases.  All districts in Butler County are experiencing a shortage of substitute teachers, educational assistants, and cafeteria workers due to Covid-19.  Talawanda has already exhausted the small number of workers (including administrators and members of our curriculum team) that we have available to reassign to assist where we need help the most.  Specifically, we have become unable to operate our kitchens at the secondary level this past week due to staff quarantines.  Talawanda plans to keep the elementary schools/face-to-face school going as long as we have the staff available to operate them.

By moving secondary schools to remote learning, we hope to utilize some employees from THS & TMS to assist with the staff shortages we are also experiencing in our elementary schools.  We understand that childcare for younger children is a big issue for our families, and we hope to alleviate this stress by doing everything we can to try and keep our elementary schools open.

We wish we could continue to operate in person in all of our schools, but Covid-19 is making an impact and we have made a decision that we believe is the best one, for now, considering the circumstances we find our district in.  The health and safety of both our students and staff are among our very highest priorities and are a primary factor in the decisions made this week.

Quarantined Student

If your child is a Face to Face student and is sent home and quarantined, we are providing materials to work on from home.  Please continue to check SeeSaw (grades K&1) and Google Classroom(2-5) for work.  Teachers may also prepare hard copies of materials to be picked up.  Our school social worker, SRO, or principal can also bring materials to your house and drop them at the door if you are unable to pick up.  Please also look for emails from your child’s teacher.

If your child is quarantined and you are not receiving any work or need assistance, please contact your child’s teacher or Mr. Hinton.

Important Reminder for All TSD Parents:

Talawanda School District needs your partnership in keeping our students, staff, and families safe during the pandemic we are experiencing.  It's critical that parents do a wellness check on each child every day before school.  If your child exhibits any symptoms for COVID-19, please keep your child home from school.  See the checklist below.

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of reported symptoms – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Symptoms can include:

Fever or chills

Cough

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Fatigue

Muscle or body aches

Headache

New loss of taste or smell

Sore throat

Congestion or runny nose

Nausea or vomiting

Diarrhea

Symptoms of Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Please look at this flowchart from BCESC on when you should keep your child home.

COVID-19 TRAVEL ADVISORY & SELF QUARANTINING

We understand that families may be traveling during the holiday season.  The Ohio Health Department & the Butler County Health Department recommend that people self-quarantine for 14 days upon returning from a state that is listed as a hotspot for Covid-19.  A hotspot is a state that is reporting positive Covid-19 rates of 15% or higher.  Please see the link to the map, as the states listed can change.

Travel Advisory States from ODH

People United for Self Help- PUSH

PUSH has funding for furnace and water heater repairs or replacements. Grants are available to low-income, homeowners in the Talawanda School District for critical and emergency home repairs. Call Jeanne or Sabrina at 513-523-8100 for more information

Talawanda Community Events Page

Please use this link for the Talawanda Community Events Page.

Skating at Goggin December Flyer

Skating at Goggin Thanksgiving Flyer

Enjoy the weekend and have a nice Thanksgiving break! Stay healthy and stay safe!

Chad Hinton

Principal

Calendar

November 25-27- Thanksgiving Break

December 16 - Picture Retake Day

December 21 - January 1- Winter Break

January 18 - MLK Day- No School

February 12 - Teacher Professional Day- No School

February 15 - President’s Day- No School

March 15 - Teacher Work Day - No School

March 16 - Conferences

March 18 - Conferences

March 22 - 26 - Spring Break - No School

April 2 - No School

May 4 - Teacher Work Day - No School

May 26 - Marshall 5th Grade Graduation 7:00 PM THS

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