Welcome Back!

When I start to think about school resuming in just a couple of days, I have a hard time putting into words how much I am looking forward to it.  I know our teachers feel the same way, and I'm betting our students and their families are feeling that way as well.

Many of you may have read the poem earlier this summer by Leslie Dwight about 2020 being the year we needed.  As a staff, we read this poem together last week, and we considered its implications for our students.  If you have not seen it, here is a link to that poem.  2020 has been a challenge so far, but our jobs, as educators, is to take that challenge and inspire our students to make real changes in the world.  So as we are entering into this next phase of 2020, and I believe that this is where we have the greatest opportunity as a Deer Park Community to make 2020 "the year we've been waiting for."

Shane Hartley
Principal, Deer Park Jr/Sr High School
hartley.s@dpccsd.org 

What's New?

Basic Reminders: Monday/Tuesday are our "A Days," and Thursday/Friday are our "B Days."  For all students who have chosen in-person education

• A Days are for students with last names: Ackerman-Langdon.
• B Days are for students with last names: Lange-Young
• All students will need to wear a cloth mask to cover their nose and mouth 
• All students will need to report to their Entry Locations (see below) and get a temporal non-contact thermometer check upon entry.

Entry Reminders: Doors open and temperature checks begin at 7:55am.  PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY FOR INCLEMENT WEATHER.  Students and parents are encouraged to arrive at school as close as possible to 7:55 a.m.  Other reminders:

• Students will need to socially distance themselves while waiting in line for temperature scans.  There are marked locations at each entry to help. 
• Students will report directly to 1st Bell, though students will be able to report to their lockers after 1st Bell.
• Entry Locations:
  7th Graders - Back doors by cafeteria/band room (South West corner)
  8th and 9th Graders - Front doors by auditorium (South East corner)
  10th Graders - Breezeway gym entrance doors (West)
  11th and 12th Graders - Front main doors (East)
• Parents are suggested to drop their students off around the back of the building or at another close location.  The front gate by the auditorium will be closed for student drop off.

Dismissal Information: Unless with a coach or a teacher, students will need to leave the building by 3:10 p.m. each day.  In addition to this, we are asking all students to leave the school grounds in order to help with social distancing and gathering of groups.  The front gate by the auditorium will also be closed off after school for student pick up.  Not only will this help us reduce students gathering while waiting for a ride, but it will also help with the safety of students and cars in this area (as we have had several near misses in the past).

Homeroom/1st Bell Locations: For students' first day of classes, homeroom rosters will be posted by grade level lockers.  Teachers will also be in hallways helping students find their 1st Bell locations.  7th Grade students will be entering the hallway by their lockers, and will be directed to the 7th grade hallway.  For 7th grade students and new students, please check out (if you haven't already), this FlipGrid with more information, including a virtual tour of locations around the building.

Wednesdays: Over the course of the first two weeks, teachers and administrators will be meeting on Wednesdays review processes and procedures.  If any adjustments need to be made and communicated out to our families, we will be sure to do so!

After Labor Day, teachers will be in the building holding "office hours" and offering instructional learning opportunities for students.  Students are expected to be engaged in their learning on Wednesdays as well.  Please see this document for more information as it relates to Wednesday Processes and Schedules.

Masks: As stated above, all students are expected to wear masks throughout the day.  Many of you have also seen the press release from the Ohio Department of Health regarding the Director's Order for facial coverings in schools.  If you believe your student may qualify for one of the few exemptions, please download this document, complete it, and return it to the front office at the Jr/Sr High School as soon as possible.  Please see the bottom of this document for the specifics of the order to see if your student may qualify.

Schoology: Deer Park Community City School District is excited to continue our partnership with Schoology.  Schoology is an integrated learning management solution (LMS) that provides support for district and school-wide communication. Schoology enables our parents and teachers to engage with learning materials and their school community from the classroom and beyond.  We believe that Schoology streamlines teacher, student, and parent communication while providing a user friendly and intuitive LMS for all users.

You should have previously received login credentials. However, if you need your parent access code, please reach out. If you have not signed up for Schoology, we encourage you to do so before school starts.  With Schoology, you can review grades, receive announcements and more, just by logging in to the website or checking the app on your smartphone. It is important that as a parent, you access Schoology through the parent code and not your student’s code, as each platform receives different information.

Website: www.schoology.com
Deer Park Parent Schoology Guide

If you have questions, please feel free to contact us at 513-891-5995.

Apex Learners: Extra Activities! We know that our Apex learners may feel less connected to their peers through their online experiences.  In order to help bridge this gap, our Apex teachers (Ms. Hibbett and Ms. Apke) have designed opportunities for further connections to be made!  Please see the links below for these activities.

Middle School Links and Extra Activities

High School Links and Extra Activities

In Case You Missed It

A Day in the Life

Wonder what a typical day will look like for a student this year?

• Here is what A Day in the Life of a student who will be attending A/B Days may look like!
• Here is what A Day in the Life of a student who will be attending virtually may look like!

General Safety Information

While details for cleaning and maintaining a safe environment has been shared through previous press releases, we want to overall remind families that our school will follow many cleaning and safety procedures, including: Signs reminding students to wash hangs and wear masks, closing off of drinking fountains (though water-bottle fill stations are still available), socially-distanced and grab-and-go lunches, eliminating shared school supplies in classrooms, and routines for regular cleaning of student desks.

Hybrid Learning: General Reminders

For students who are attending school "virtually" to start this school year, please see this press release from a few days ago (in case you missed it).

For students who are attending in person, we want to be sure to inform families that Fall 2020 IS NOT going to be the same as Spring 2020.  In the spring, our main goal as a school was to keep students engaged in their schooling.  Some students were able to continue their learning, and that was great.  But there were also many simple "completion" assignments and extended due dates.

Starting this school year, we know that students must continue to learn!  This is a critical partnership between our school and our families!  Teachers are working hard to create lesson plans that are more creative and more engaging for students, and we will be expecting students to do what they need to do outside of school in order to be successful.  Please know that we are always available to help our students, and we will be developing routines to help students get as much assistance as needed, especially on their non-attending days.

Hybrid learning is a challenge for all of us.  Teachers are re-thinking traditional lesson planning, and students are more responsible for their work outside of the building.  As always, please reach out to us any time you feel the need, and we are committed to communicating as clear and consistent as possible.

Counselors' Corner

Our Weekly Counselors' Corner went out earlier this week.  If you missed it, here is a copy!

Staying Connected

There are multiple ways to stay connected to Deer Park Jr./Sr. High School. Please see the attached flyer for ways to stay connected through Email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Text Messages.

• E-Mail: If you are not already signed up, please register for the e-mail communication. To register, simply go to www.deerparkcityschools.org and click on the button on the left side of the page that says “Subscribe to District News”. From there, you will send an email requesting that you be added to future email communication from the district.
• Twitter: Follow Deer Park Jr./Sr. High School for the most up-to-date news and happenings! @DeerParkHS, @DeerParkSchools and @dpcounselor.
• Facebook: follow us at Deer Park Community City Schools and Deer Park Jr/Sr High School