Happy 4th of July weekend, everyone!


On Thursday, Wake County Public Schools sent an email about plans for the 2020-21 school year.  I know many of you have read the document and found it overwhelming (well at least I did).

The Wakefield Elementary School PTA created a great summary of the 4.5 hour board meeting for their families. A parent shared this summary with me and I'd thought I would share with all of you.

• WCPSS voted to move forward with Plan B with students rotating on a schedule of 1 week in person, 2 weeks remote learning for ALL grades.

• This is all is pending the governor's call.  Wake county can always have a more conservative plan but not less conservative.  If the governor says that we must go with Plan C (remote learning), Wake County must use Plan C.  If the governor calls for Plan A (in person learning), Wake County can continue with plan B or they can go to plan A.

• The first 2 weeks of school will be one day in class and NO remote learning.  This way, every student will meet his or her teacher and receive an orientation.

• Students in each class will be assigned to a cohort A, B, and C.

• Cohort assignment priority will be given to siblings.  They also have to make sure they spread out the bus riders evenly amongst cohorts.

• Traditional calendar will remain traditional. Year round will convert to Track 4 so that year round doesn't end up with 12 different tracks.

• Child care facilitated by the YMCA will have staff trained and resourced to help facilitate students in online learning.  Costs of this child care will be announced soon. 

• Regardless of whether the county uses Plan A, B, or C, WCPSS Virtual Academy is an option for all families. 
  • This is the remote only option.  This will be different than the remote learning this spring and will include live sessions, grading, attendance, and accountability to meet all state and district standards.  There will be a paper component for K-2 and hopefully all grades.
  • All WCPSS Virtual Academy teachers are certified teachers.
  • All core subjects will be included. Depending on the number of enrolled students, additional subjects will be added.
  • Students in the Virtual Academy will still be students at their current school and can participate in activities as if they were participating in Plan B.

The PTA Executive Board (Deb, Sarah, Dana, Lauren, and I) will be meeting this week to discuss plans for the next year.  As Superintendent more said in her email, this will be a school year like no other.  We can still be #BrighterTogether. We just might have to think out-of-the-box on how to celebrate so many of our annual traditions.  If you have ideas on how we as a community can shine bright together this year, please contact any PTA officer.  We'd love to hear from you!

Also, if you need help or have questions, just ask! We are here for each other.

Remember: If you know an incoming Kindergarten family, have them watch our virtual orientation at https://sites.google.com/wcpss.net/sceskorientation/home.  Also, if they are interested in signing up for the weekly PTA email, they can sign up at https://forms.gle/jjHE5jQoy85MVLMj7.


Stay safe and have a wonderful week!
Your PTA Executive Board
Marie Dexter, Deborah Killion, Sarah Wohldmann, Dana Boyer, Lauren Nicholls

Hello everyone,


I want to make you aware of a virtual meeting that will occur tomorrow at 9am.  This is a public meeting, so if you are interested in attending, you are welcome.


Dr. Martin is our district's representative on the school board.  Each school board member is having a meeting with principals and representatives in their district.  (Each school in the area has a representative.  I am currently our school's rep.)  Parents and community members are always welcome to these meetings, although the 9am time makes it challenging for many to attend.

At tomorrow's virtual meeting, Wake County schools will be talking about reopening schools in the fall. 

At the very least, I will share my notes from this meeting on our PTA website, so if you cannot attend, you can at least get a sense of what was discussed. (See http://swiftcreekeswcpssnetptahtml.weebly.com/bac-district-5)

If you plan to attend, please sign up using the link below.  The link for the Google Meet is also provided.

If you have any questions, please let me know.  I am happy to help!
Marie




Dear  District 5 BAC Members.  

Thank you for responding to our Doodle Poll to determine the best time for a BAC meeting to discuss re-opening.  WCPSS staff will help facilitate this meeting and has selected June 23, 2020, 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM as the preferred time from our list.  

More details for an agenda will be forthcoming, as we anticipate more information to share after the Board Work Sessions Monday and Tuesday of next week.
 
In preparation for the meeting we ask you to do the following:

1) Please RSVP to the Google link below: This google link will give stakeholders an opportunity to RSVP for the meeting.  As individuals register, Central Services' staff members will be able to get a break down of which levels (elementary, middle, high school, community group) are represented during the discussions throughout the district. 

BAC RSVP

2) Google Link to the meeting: http://meet.google.com/yqx-djhc-jxr 
This google link will give you access to the Google Meet session. Norms and procedures will be discussed at the beginning of the session. 


Like our in-person BAC meetings, this is a public meeting.  You are welcome to share information about this meeting with others in your school or community.


We look forward to our discussion.

Best,

Jim Martin
District 5 Board of Education
Marie Dexter
District 5 BAC Board Chair

Hello everyone,


What a week!  I know so many tears were shed in my house this week as we grieved not being able to say good-bye to friends and staff in person.  It sounds like many households were the same, especially in 5th grade. 

Thank you for your perseverance and support during this unusual year!  Although it has been challenging, I think we have shown the strength of our community by being there for each other and by supporting our incredible staff.  Boy, do they deserve a nice restful summer!!!

During the summer, this weekly email will slow down to about once a month.  Information about how you can add families to this email list or remove yourself from these emails is at the bottom.

We wish you a safe summer!
PTA Executive Board
Marie, Deborah Killion, Lauren Nicholls, Delores Ragsdale



Tuesday 4-6pm: Final Day for Picking Up Student Belongings
Thank you to everyone who came and picked up their student's belongings this week.  Your final opportunity will be this Tuesday, June  16 from 4-6pm.

When you arrive, please note the following:

• 5th, 4th, and 3rd graders, use the front entrance. Your bags are in front of your classrooms.
• 1st & 2nd graders, your bags are in front of your classrooms in the lower hall.
• Kindergarten -- use the back entrance to the Kindergarten building.  Your bags are in the hallway in front of your classroom.

Friday, June 19: Deadline for Ordering School Supply Kits for Next Year
You can order your supplies online through June 19.
www.shopttkits.com
Swift Creek's account number: 38021


If you have questions about this program or want to be the committee chair for this program next year, please contact Marie Dexter mariecdexter@gmail.com.

Recap from Last PTA Meeting of the Year

Thank you to everyone who attended the PTA meeting on Tuesday night.  Here are the minutes from our meeting.  

Thank you to Sarah Lewis and the nominating committee for helping us elect these officers for the next school year:

• President -- Marie Dexter
• Vice President 1 -- Deborah Killion deborah.killion@gmail.com
• Vice President 2 -- Sarah Wohlmann swohldmann@hotmail.com
• Treasurer -- Dana Boyer dmg294@gmail.com
• Secretary -- Lauren Nicholls lauren.nicholls1@gmail.com

Congratulations, ladies!  If you have any concerns or questions about the upcoming school year, please feel free to reach out to any of these individuals. They look forward to representing you and helping your family succeed in the next school year.

We Want to Hear from You
Survey from Mr. Propst

Digital learning is not likely to disappear from your child's learning experience. Please help us in creating the best remote learning experience possible. I welcome your feedback about how we did this spring. Please take a few moments to complete this short survey about remote learning. Thank you in advance. Click this link to take the survey - https://forms.gle/ram4tf884AGKnXqWA.  



Wake County Public Schools -- Thought Exchange

To help inform this important planning for the new year, WCPSS Superintendent Moore is asking all families to join us in a virtual conversation about reopening schools.
You can participate here: www.wcpss.net/thoughtexchange
You'll be asked to respond to one open-ended question, consider and assign stars to some of the ideas shared by others and learn what's important to the group.
Your thoughts and stars are confidential. You can come back as often as you'd like to participate and rate ideas. We’ll use these ratings along with results from last month’s Remote Learning survey to help us understand the most important areas to focus on as we work on plans for the new school year.
Participation will be open until June 19.


Did You Forget to Order a Yearbook?
Interested in a yearbook?  You can still order one and have it shipped directly to your house.
tr5.treering.com/createAccount/101528124184100 


If you have questions, contact yearbook chair Sarah Wohldmann at swohldmann@hotmail.com.

Virtual Orientation for Rising Kindergarteners
Do you know of a family with a rising kindergartener? Let them know that registration will take place all through the summer. You are the key to convincing new families to joining the Swift Creek community. Our kindergarten team has put together this virtual orientation which you may share: https://sites.google.com/wcpss.net/sceskorientation/home
Note: A link is also available from the PTA Website: 
http://swiftcreekeswcpssnetptahtml.weebly.com/


Summer Food Drive for Our Backpack Buddies
Over the summer, we will continue to help some of our families with food donations.  These families are identified by our social worker, Mykeia Smith.  If you know a family who is in need, please have them contact her at msmith13@gmail.com.

We will continue to update the PTA website with
needs: http://swiftcreekeswcpssnetptahtml.weebly.com/how-you-can-help.html 
 
You can also subscribe to be on the weekly Backpack Buddy email list. (I will be sending my first email today, so if you didn't get one, you aren't on my list.) Manage your subscription at  https://tinyurl.com/scesPTAEmails

You can drop off food donations on Saturdays from 8-10am at Macedonia church.  
You can still donate online in these ways:

• Amazon Wish List: http://tinyurl.com/scesFood
  
• Venmo account: www.venmo.com/Marie-Dexter-1
  
•  Purchase online and deliver (or ship) to Marie Dexter at 4021 Brook Cross Dr, Apex, NC 27539
  

Unsubscribe? Know of a Family Who Wants to Receive These Emails?
Is your family leaving the Creek this year?
Or do you know of an incoming family who'd like to receive our weekly emails?
Manage your subscription at 
https://tinyurl.com/scesPTAEmails

Hello everyone,


You are invited to join us online for TWO awesome SCES traditions this Friday, June 12.


2:00 5th Grade Showcase (aka Talent Show)
On the last day of school, ALL our Swifties gather in the gym around 2:00 to watch the 5th grade Showcase (or Talent Show).  Our 5th graders never cease to amaze us with their talent. This year we have even more creative entries since we had to go virtual.

Join us as we watch these videos live at 2:00pm.  If you cannot attend, don't worry.  All the videos are available on FlipGrid.  We will share that link in a future communication.

Google Meet:  
https://meet.google.com/gnu-kwje-vvz


3:30 Dancing the Cha Cha Slide
If I remember correctly, this tradition started over 15(?) years ago.  At 3:30, all the students and staff gather in the halls and dance to the Cha Cha Slide as it is broadcast over the intercom.

We simply cannot break that tradition!

So join us at 3:30 this Friday and get ready to dance the end of the year away.

Google Meet:
https://meet.google.com/cmz-qtow-pzb

Live Stream: If you cannot get into the Google Meet, you should be able to live stream the event.
https://stream.meet.google.com/stream/288ee307-45e4-4aae-bc7c-09825620f3de

Join by phone
‪(US) +1 615-813-0056‬ PIN: ‪425 099 549‬#

This information will also be available from our PTA website and FB, if you need it or want to share.


See you on Friday!