Author: monique.jacobs

In honor of National School Board Appreciation Week, Oct. 19-23, 2020, Fort Plain recognizes the seven dedicated members of our Board of Education for their volunteerism, service and commitment to our schools, our students and their future.

The Fort Plain Board of Education helps guide the district to achieve its mission of providing each student with the opportunity to develop intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically in a safe, orderly and positive environment, and to prepare every student for success beyond graduation.

Dear Fort Plain Parents and Guardians,

I’d like to thank you for your ongoing support of our efforts to provide a positive environment for all of our children to learn and grow. In view of the incidence of positive COVID-19 cases in surrounding regions, this is a friendly reminder that in order for us to keep everyone safe and healthy, we request your continued due diligence in keeping your children home if they are sick.

The New York State Department of Health has created a Pre-K-12 COVID-19 Toolkit to assist parents and guardians in making decisions when their children are ill. Especially helpful are the toolkit flowcharts for “Can my child go to school today?” and “My child has COVID19 symptoms. When can they go back to school?” These step-by-step guides will walk you through the decision-making process. Images of these guides appear at the end of this letter. In addition to these guides, the full toolkit offers other resources.

I would also like to remind you of our district’s protocol should a positive COVID-19 case be confirmed. In the event of a positive COVID-19 case connected to the Fort Plain Schools community, we will work with the county health department and will issue a notification to families as guided by the health department.

Please note that while notification of a positive case will indicate the school the individual is connected to, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and other privacy laws restrict the district from disclosing or confirming any personally identifiable information, and we cannot identify anyone who has tested positive.

The county health department will reach out to all contacts of the individual confirmed to have COVID-19 and advise on the need for quarantine and testing of those exposed.

I’d also like to note that to keep the Fort Plain community informed, we regularly post important updates and resources related to COVID-19 on our district website’s School Reopening/COVID-19 Updates webpage.

In closing, I’d like to say that as always, we trust our parents and guardians will continue to use your best judgment when making decisions about keeping children home from school. I appreciate your understanding and thank you again for your cooperation. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
John Bishop
Superintendent of Schools

All students enrolled in the Fort Plain Central School District, regardless of family income, receive free breakfast and lunch during the school year because the district is part of the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the National School Lunch Program.

New York State is sending EBT cards to all Fort Plain Central School District families as part of the CEP program, and all families are receiving the EBT benefits, regardless of whether they usually receive EBT or SNAP benefits. The EBT card can be used at the grocery store. The card comes with instructions to set up a PIN and then can be swiped at the store, the same as a debit or credit card.

For more information please check out the Frequently Asked Questions for the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) Food Benefits .

Fort Plain Learning Expectations for in-person and remote learning have been designed to give students and families a clear vision for academic success.

Fort Plain students will be using Google Classroom as a consistent format to promote engagement and minimize confusion across all content areas.

It is important that students and families understand their responsibility and take ownership for their learning by engaging with academic routines on a daily basis. The expectations listed below expand on the expectations that are outlined in the Fort Plain Code of Conduct and the Attendance Policy.

Remote Learning Expectations:

• Create a quiet space to work at home.
• Follow your daily class schedule.
• Arrive on time to Google Meets.
• Camera should be set to “ON” and student should be in camera view.
• Microphone should be set to “mute” unless otherwise directed by faculty.
• Stay on topic (no side conversations).
• Type your questions in the chat box.
• Complete all assignments on time.
• Participate and be attentive.
• Practice appropriate online etiquette.
• Wear appropriate attire (Dress Code still applies).
• Exit Google Meets when dismissed.
• Do not hesitate to reach out to school staff for help to:
  • Teachers, Counselors, Principal, etc.
• Charge your school device nightly.
• Please adhere to the Code of Conduct for the 2020-2021 school year.

In-person Learning Expectations:

• Mask should be worn properly by covering the mouth and nose at all times when social distancing is not possible or when otherwise directed by your teachers.
• Be on time and prepared for in person instruction.
• Bring a fully charged school device everyday.
• Please adhere to the Code of Conduct for the 2020-2021 school year.

Attendance for the Hybrid Model:

• During this time of heightened awareness for wellness, we encourage families to keep children home if they are ill.
• Students with a temperature of 100 degrees or higher will not be allowed to attend in -person learning.
• In order for students to be successful, it is important that they attend their classes whether in-person or remote following their hybrid schedule.
• NYSED mandates attendance to be taken daily whether in-person or remote. For remote learning days, teachers will take attendance via Google Meet. During in-person learning days, attendance will be taken as normal.
• If a student is sick or unable to attend their remote learning classes, an excuse or doctor’s note should be sent to the school just as you would for an absence during in-person learning.
  Please adhere to Board of Education approved Attendance Policy for the 2020-2021 school year.

The Fort Plain Central School District will begin using a new app called ParentSquare for parent notification calls and messages, to replace the district’s current emergency notification and information sharing system.

ParentSquare is a parent engagement tool that helps teachers and staff easily communicate and collaborate with parents. In the past, we have used Remind and a variety of other tools to communicate with school families.

ParentSquare will help align communications procedures from the district level to the classroom. It will give our families a single platform to receive information in their preferred method. We are excited to provide our families with a communications tool that has more robust engagement features, an app for mobile users, language translations, and more.

Families will receive a welcome text and email message from ParentSquare on Monday, Sept. 28. The message will direct users to download the FREE ParentSquare App and create an account. Once enrolled, your children will automatically be linked to your account, and you will be able to receive school communications that pertain to your children.

If you do not receive a ParentSquare welcome message by Tuesday, Sept.  29, please notify the main office at your child’s school:
Harry Hoag Elementary School 518-993-4000, ext. 3059
Fort Plain Jr./Sr. High School 518-993-4000, ext. 2124

During the 2020-2021 school year, ParentSquare will be used for communications from administrators, principals and teachers. We believe you will find ParentSquare to be an effective, user-friendly communication tool. Please stay tuned for those offerings as we begin using this service throughout the school district.

Resources for families
ParentSquare webpage
Parent 101 and video English/Spanish

September 24, 2020

Greetings Families of Harry Hoag,

I trust that my letter finds you and yours doing well this September! I want to thank each of you for your ongoing support of the reopening of Harry Hoag. Our team has truly enjoyed the reunion with our learners and I proudly report that our academic year is off to a great start!

As we continue to reflect on the many changes that we have made to our routines, I want to share with you some adjustments that we will make starting on Monday, 9/28.

Our students have adjusted well to the new ‘norms’, but we are seeing many tired faces each morning. I encourage you to remain committed to early bedtime routines to ensure that your child is well rested for the weekdays.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns, my door is always open!

Proud to be your Principal,
Mrs. Crisman