Family Letters from Mr. Berkenwald
December 7, 2020
Dear Community,
I hope you enjoyed a picture-perfect weekend. I know I did,
as I soaked up some natural vitamin D by spending 6 hours outside on Saturday
and taking a hike on Sunday. Here are the updates.
Remote Recess Options: For those that did not
read last week’s communicator, we expanded our remote recess offerings for all
grades last week. All staff facilitators reported that this was a
positive experience for them and the students in attendance. One issue we
are working to support is getting the links below from this parent email onto
school devices. We are asking teachers to copy the links and share them
on TEAMs/Seesaw/Schoology. Encourage your children to invite a friend or
peer to the recess as we are happy to facilitate any friendship building we
can. As these will occur during lunchtime, students are free to eat during the
gathering. We have a list of fun activities and will work with students to add
to the list.
Town Hall: As a reminder, we will
host a Town Hall Night on Wednesday, December 9th at
5:30PM. At the Town Hall, we will host a Q&A session. Feel free
to write questions by clicking THIS SURVEY. Please join the meeting by
clicking this Loyal Heights Town Hall link or by
phoning in at +1 206-800-4125 (Toll) and using
Conference ID: 583 691 250#.
Great New Programs and
Offerings:
- Theme of Lights: Our assembly committee is
creating a winter assembly for next week based on the theme of
lights. This will connect to the festival of lights that occurs
annually in Ballard, and which our PTA is creating an event for on
December 19th.
- Student Council Winter
Drive: Student Council is up and running with a number of
efforts. One effort begins tomorrow. They are running a
“Winter Clothing and Blanket Drive” from December 8th to
18th to support the shelter Mary’s Place. Teachers
will send out details about this drive including what is included and
where you can donate in bins in our main lobby in a socially distanced and
safe manner. Thank you student council leaders.
- Mentoring Program: This year, we have
begun a program that pairs students furthest from educational justice with
mentors that are leaders from Nathan Hale’s Black Student Union.
The mentors have worked with LHE staff and named the program “Racial
Equity Mentors”. We look forward to expanding our offerings to
support additional students as needed as we continue to strengthen this
program.
- Virtual Field Trips: Thank you for
providing feedback in the recent joint School/PTA survey. Based on
feedback, we are creating a list of virtual field trips that grade
teachers can sign up for. There are some great opportunities for
tours and visits and remote learning with experts from institutions such
as zoos, museums, aquariums, science centers, state parks, and more.
We look forward to bringing these opportunities to students.
- Check and Connect: This week, we are
beginning a Check and Connect program for students recommended by
teachers. Staff, including administration, counselor, specialists, and
others will meet up to two times/week to build connections with students.
Parents of recommended students will receive an introduction letter
this week. The program is designed to support students who, despite
individualized arrangements between teachers/parents/students, continue to
struggle to engage in class meetings and with work. If you do not
receive a letter but feel this program might meet the needs of your child,
please reach out to your teacher.
Thank you for reading this email. As is always the case,
please reach out to your teacher, the administration, or any other staff member
if you have questions or needs.
Sincerely,
Principal Michael Berkenwald
www.loyalheightses.seattleschools.org