Principal’s Update 11/23/20
I understand that the move to a hybrid schedule is not what everyone wanted to do. I’m proud of our staff and students for being able to go 73 days of school before having to make the change. The recent increase in positive cases exponentially impacted the number of students who had to stay home due to contact tracing. By going to the hybrid schedule, students will be able to distance themselves in class, so the number of students who are contact traced should be considerably lower. Please carefully read the attached letter from Dr. Olin about the hybrid schedule, calendar and student expectations. Thanks for your support!
Attachments:
News:
- Weekly lesson plans posted by teachers.
- If you are interested in a change of placement for your child (from virtual to onsite or vice versa), you must complete this form by November 24. The change will be effective January 4, 2021. If we do not hear from you by November 24, we will assume you and your child are happy with the current placement. If you are interested in making a change, all you have to do is fill out the form. This will provide us with the necessary information to work with your family and create a schedule for your child for the second semester. If you want to know more about virtual learning, see our webpage and click on the GCJHS-Virtual School button.
- Please check in with your child and their Powerschool grades to make sure they are where they need to be. Reach out to your child’s teacher if you have questions.
Virtual School Information:
The move to a hybrid schedule does not affect your child’s schedule. Everything is status quo for virtual school students.
- For our parents of virtual students: Some students who are struggling in a virtual setting will be transitioned to onsite learners after Winter Break. We will make these decisions with teacher, counselor and administrator input, and notify families after Thanksgiving break.
- If you are having technology trouble, email our tech team at [email protected]
- All students should be logged into Google classroom every day. We ask parents to check Powerschool and help to encourage your child to log in to Google Classroom daily, and complete all assigned work. Here is the daily schedule for students.
Upcoming Dates:
November 24th: Deadline to request change of placement for second semester.
November 25th: Teacher Flex Day for P/T Conferences (No School)
November 26th/27th: Thanksgiving Break (No School)
November 30th: Hybrid Schedule begins
December 21-January 1: Winter Break (No School)
School Counselors:
Need assistance with a class? We encourage you to reach out to your teachers if you need some help with a class. Other options might include:
- Math tutoring after school each Wednesday, from 3:30-4:30pm.
- Please reach out to your school counselor for a copy of the corporation
tutoring list.
- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Ask Rose tutoring services 7pm.-10pm, Sunday through Thursday 1-877-275-7673 or AskRose.org.
- Indiana Retired Teachers Association, 1pm.-5pm., Tuesday through
Thursday 1-877-457-8839
Athletics:
1. After discussions with the Hancock County Health Department, Greenfield Central Jr. High is making changes to its spectator limits for winter sports. Starting November 16, only parents/guardians will be allowed to attend home athletic events. Spectators must wear masks at all times. Admission remains $4/person. Concession sales will be limited to drinks and candy, which are all pre-packaged items. Please maintain distance from other households.
2. Girls’ basketball try-outs will be held November 23-24.
3. Information about the GCJH swim team, organized through GCAT, will be available soon. Questions can be directed to Coach Nagel ([email protected])
4. Our competition schedule is available here. This schedule still continues to change: http://gcjhsathletics.weebly.com/team-schedules.html
5. Contact Mr. Jeff Sincroft with any ECA/Athletics questions. [email protected]
COVID-19 Information:
The COVID-19 Parent Screening for Parents provided by the Indiana State Department of Health lists the following symptoms that will result in a student being sent home, or signal for a parent to keep a student home:
- Temperature of 100 or chills
- Sore throat
- Runny nose
- Congestion
- Cough or shortness of breath (especially new onset, uncontrolled cough)
- Diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, abdominal pain
- Headache (particularly new onset of severe headache, especially with fever)
- New loss of taste or smell
- This list does not include all possible symptoms. Other symptoms may be considered when determining when a student should stay home.
Symptomatic students or staff members may return to work/school per the ISDH Return to School Guidance. The simplified version is that symptomatic students and staff may return when:
- Symptoms are improved for 24 hours, fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing agents, and a negative COVID-19 test. Documentation of the negative test is required.
OR
- Ten days have passed since the onset of symptoms, symptoms have improved for 24 hours, and fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing agents. No documentation is required from a healthcare provider.
OR
- Alternate diagnosis given by a healthcare provider. Documentation from the provider must give a return date and state that his/her illness was “not related to COVID-19” or “Cleared to return to school/work”.
If a student or staff member is identified as a close contact to a non-GC related confirmed COVID-19 positive case (for example, spouse, grandparent, non-GC co-worker, etc.), documentation must be provided by a health department or healthcare provider indicating the first date of return. GC is not responsible for initiating or conducting contact tracing on non-GC related exposure. This documentation must have the student or employee’s name on it and their earliest return to work/school date.
If your student is asked to stay home for 10 days by the clinic, which is following CDC guidelines, he/she will be coded in PowerSchool attendance as VIRT- COV — Virtual Temporary due to COVID -19. This is the coding that the Indiana Department of Education has asked us to use. This coding DOES NOT mean that your student has been moved to our corporation’s virtual program.
Please understand that only staff members see this information. Also, it does not necessarily mean that your student has COVID-19, it just means that your student is absent due to a COVID-19 situation. If your student is asked to quarantine, he/she should reach out to his/her teachers via email and/or Google Classroom so that your child can stay connected and working during the absence.
Connections:
We have multiple ways for you to obtain information regarding what’s happening at GCJHS.
Website– http://gcjhs.gcsc.k12.in.us/
Twitter- @GCJHS_principal
Facebook – Greenfield Central Junior High School
Instagram– gc_jhs
Email- You can sign up on our webpage to receive the GCJHS Parent Newsletter email weekly with news, information, and upcoming important dates.
PowerSchool App- Get up-to-date grades for your child, missing or incomplete assignments, attendance and school announcements. Search for “PowerSchool Mobile” in your App Store. Once you download the app, you can search by school or type in school code 3125.
If you would like to be removed from this email list, please email “Stop” to [email protected]
—
Dan Jack
PrincipalGreenfield Central Junior High SchoolTwitter: @GCJHS_principal
