Graham County USD 281

Ringneck Stadium will be lit up tonight at 8:20 to honor the Senior Class of 2020, all student of USD 281, their families, teachers/coaches, and the communities of USD 281. We are all dealing with these trying times and we are stronger together. Stay Safe Ringneck Country!!! #WeAreRingnecks

CLASS OF 2020 PARENTS! Please check with your senior and ask if they have sent their senior portrait AND baby/kid photo to me for the yearbook. If not, please help them do so by Thurs., April 16, to meet publishing deadlines. Send to kimpfeifer@usd281.com. Thank you!

As we all adapt to change, one thing that remains constant is the yearbook tradition of documenting the history of our students and capturing their school year forever. We are working hard to complete the yearbook and make sure it is printed. Order yours @ https://www.jostens.com

USD 281 would like to honor the Senior Class of 2020. We all know this is a trying time for all of them and their parents. #WeAreRingnecks

Information for parents regarding online learning at HCGS. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1muvYGuOV63JWXaESoKrYkzy4BgIej4zmwNgdANO-4Cg

Any current 6th and 7th grade girls interested in junior high cheer next year 2020-21 are asked to join the Facebook group Hill City Junior High Cheer.

Office hours for Hill City Jr./Sr. High School are limited. If you have any questions please email christykeith@usd281.com or alanstein@usd281.com. You may also call the office at 785-421-2117 and leave a message. Phone messages will be checked throughout the week. Thank you and Stay Safe!! #WeAreRingnecks

Any student in the 11th thru 8th grades interested in being a HS cheerleader for the 2020-2021 school year, please contact Melissa Lindenman at mslind@ruraltel.net or Mindy Bieker at mbieker@nex-tech.com. Please contact them by April 20. #WeAreRingnecks

Due to the current situation hours for the grade school are limited. You can email melaniekennedy@usd281.com or jongranberry@usd281.com as well as leave a message on the phone at 785-421-3425. Phone messages will be checked weekly and email will be checked daily.

New Hours for School District Office Due to our current situation the School District office hours will be shortened until further notice. The District Office will be open 9am - 3pm Monday through Thursday and 9am - 12:00pm on Friday. Face to face contact will be held to a minimum and you are encouraged to call or email with questions. We will have only 1-2 people in the office at a time so if you do need to schedule a face to face meeting please contact the office ahead of time so the person you are wanting to speak to will be here. 785-421-2135, nancylaw@usd281.com lannabucl@usd281.com rebeccarichmeier@usd281.com jimhickel@usd281.com Thank you all so very much for your support and understanding during these changing times.

Parents and Students - Education Update HCJSHS - Teachers are beginning to push lessons to students. This will increase throughout the week. Please be patient. Lesson expectations will be different. Do not expect to have a lesson every day. The number of lessons per week will vary by teacher and subject. Students should check their school email for notifications from teachers. If you have questions about lessons you are encouraged to email your teacher or Mr. Stein, alanstein@usd281.com HCGS – Teachers are developing and preparing lessons this week. Some may start communicating with their classes during this week but all should have something out by April 6th. Please check your school email for notifications from teachers. Again, the process and expectations will be different. If you have questions as this unfolds you are encouraged to contact your child’s teacher or Mr. Granberry, jongranberry@usd281.com

To all KDG - 2nd Grade parents: All iPads at the grade school are ready to pick up. I will be in the office until shortly after noon today, Friday March 27th. Thanks, Mr. Granberry

To Kindergarten - 2nd Grade parents: If you took a school issued iPad home, PLEASE return it to the school at your earliest convenience. We are having a software issue and it needs to be updated by our technology supervisor. Even if it is working, it will need to be reset at the school or it will soon quit working. If you cannot bring it back today by 4pm please call the office at 785-421-3425 to schedule a drop-off. My apologies for the inconvenience, Mr. Granberrry

Dear Parents and Students of Hill City Grade School, I hope this letter finds you well. We will be allowing students into the Grade School this Wednesday and Thursday, March 25 and 26th (whichever day works best for your family) starting at designated times based on the first letter of their last name. This will start at 8am with last names beginning with A, B, and C runs 1 hour at a time. This is in the hope to minimize exposure to family, students, and staff. We would appreciate it if you could come at the beginning of your hour. We will only be letting 10 students in at a time, please do your best to be on time. Please bring backpacks, bags, grocery sack or trash bag to clean out lockers and pick up needed supplies, and drop off all library books. You will be allowed to take home your students' computers/iPad. To do so, parents will need to review the attached technology agreement. We will only release the computer/iPad to students who are accompanied by a parent/guardian or trusted adult with a signed permission form. The person signing the technology agreement will be responsible for all damages or loss. The full schedule is listed below. At the bottom is the link to the Technology Agreement. Please review it in advance. Both Wednesday and Thursday, March 25th, and 26th 8-9am A-C 9-10am D-G 10-11am H-J 12-1pm K-M 1-2pm N-P 2-3pm Q-S 3-4 T-Z https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fm42vi-RsI02dq8LbJGRpy4XgbEQBnGj/view?usp=sharing If you need to reach the school please don't hesitate Mrs. Kennedy or Me via email: jongranberry@usd281.com; melaniekennedy@usd281.com Thanks, Mr. Granberry

I hope everyone is doing well. Starting Tuesday, March 24, students of Hill City Jr./Sr. High School will be able to come to the school to pick up books for classes, computers and charging cords, music instruments, and to clean/gather personal items out of their lockers. Please reference the schedule below for your date and time to come to the school. Your time is scheduled by the beginning letter of your last name. If there are multiple students in one household, please come at the time designated for the oldest student. I will meet you at the main entrance and will only allow one student in the building at a time unless; they are from the same family. If you have any questions, please reach out to me at alanstein@usd281.com. Sincerely, Alan Tuesday, March 24 9:00 AM - Seniors with the letters A-B-C-D-E-F-G 9:45 AM - Seniors with the letters H-I-J-K-L-M-N 10:30 AM - Seniors with the letters O-P-Q-R-S-T 11:15 AM - Seniors with the letters U-V-W-X-Y-Z Wednesday, March 25 9:00 AM - Juniors with the letters A-B-C-D-E-F-G 9:45 AM - Juniors with the letters H-I-J-K-L-M-N 10:30 AM - Juniors with the letters O-P-Q-R-S-T 11:15 AM - Juniors with the letters U-V-W-X-Y-Z 1:00 PM – Soph. with the letters A-B-C-D-E-F-G 1:45 PM – Soph. with the letters H-I-J-K-L-M-N 2:30 PM – Soph. with the letters O-P-Q-R-S-T 3:15 PM – Soph. with the letters U-V-W-X-Y-Z Thursday, March 26 9:00 AM – Freshmen with the letters A-B-C-D-E-F-G 9:45 AM – Freshmen with the letters H-I-J-K-L-M-N 10:30 AM – Freshmen with the letters O-P-Q-R-S-T 11:15 AM – Freshmen with the letters U-V-W-X-Y-Z 1:00 PM – 8th Grade with the letters A-B-C-D-E-F-G 1:45 PM – 8th Grade with the letters H-I-J-K-L-M-N 2:30 PM – 8th Grade with the letters O-P-Q-R-S-T 3:15 PM – 8th Grade with the letters U-V-W-X-Y-Z Friday, March 27 9:00 AM – 7th Grade with the letters A-B-C-D-E-F-G 9:45 AM – 7th Grade with the letters H-I-J-K-L-M-N 10:30 AM – 7th Grade with the letters O-P-Q-R-S-T 11:15 AM – 7th Grade with the letters U-V-W-X-Y-Z

Educational Update Since the announcement last Tuesday of closing school buildings, administration and teachers have been working on retooling to deliver instruction to our kids. Thursday, the Kansas Department of Education provided guidance to us for this process. Friday, principals met with teachers to begin discussion for developing our plan. Over the next two weeks, teachers and administration will be developing a Plan for Continuous Learning. The Department of Education is giving us two weeks to get our plan developed and begin instruction. Due to the limitations on face to face contact, USD 281 will be evolving to a digital instructional delivery model for our primary mode of instruction. This will require students to have access to the internet. In the event internet access is not currently available to the student, we are asking parents to try to get service through a phone hotspot, MiFi access point, or contact a service provider about providing temporary access. If you are unable to do so due to finances, please call your child’s school office and let us know. Working together we will figure it out. The next two weeks: Principals will be developing a schedule for children to get in the school, retrieve their personal possessions, and pick up their computers and books to take home for the remainder of the school year. Look for this in the upcoming week. Teachers will be lesson planning. When they are ready to start instruction, they will post it on the live feed or/and will be contacting your child through their district google email. 7-12 grade students – Teachers are working toward starting some instruction March 30 with the digital plan and be fully immersed by April 6. Communication will be through a variety of apps: Google Classroom, Google Meet, posting links provided through student email. K-6 grade students – Instruction will begin April 6. Communications through: Google Classroom, Class Dojo, See Saw, and others. Teachers will notify parents and students of the app to be used and prepare training videos if needed. Contact your teacher by email once instruction begins if you have questions. If a problem with technology arises, contact the teacher or principal and if needed the student will switch to an individual learning platform. We are definitely building this plane while flying. Please be patient with us. Teachers are working to do their best for your children. Jim Hickel Superintendent USD 281

Dear Parents and Guardians, On March 17, 2020 Governor Laura Kelly announced all school buildings will close for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. She did not cancel school services and we are obligated to develop a plan for continuous learning by the Kansas Department of Education. KSDE will be providing guidance to develop alternative learning opportunities for all students and we will share more information as it becomes available. The administrative team and teachers will be working diligently the coming days to develop a Continuous Learning Plan for USD 281. Education will continue but will not look the same as before. We will be looking at a combination of several delivery models; Online, Face-to-Face, and Learning Packets. We need to know about anyone that DOES NOT have WIFI access in their home. Please contact your child’s school office to let us know if you DO NOT have this access. Secretaries will not be full-time in the offices so please leave a message if no answer. If you know a neighbor that does not have access please let them know about this needed information. The School buildings, including the gyms and weight room will remain closed to the public until further notice. We understand the hardship this places on our families as well as the social and emotional impact it may have on our students. Kay Mitchell, Michelle Billips and team have developed a process to provide meals to students and will be providing information soon. We are also working on other critical issues, such as what this means for our seniors and how this will affect next school year. We will provide updates on these issues as soon as the information is available. We are committed to working together with County Health and community to support one another throughout these unprecedented times. Communication will remain a top priority. We will continue to provide updates via the live feed on the district web page. Please be patient and flexible as we work through this process. As a reminder, this school modification is in response to the current public health crisis. The focus should remain on preventing the spread the coronavirus, or COVID-19 as it is also referred. Please be mindful of the following: • Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. • Cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing (cough/sneeze into your sleeve or a tissue). • Please keep sick children at home. • Avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms. Follow additional guidance from these sources: • National Center for Disease Control (CDC)  • Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE)  Jim Hickel, Superintendent of Schools

I am reaching out to all of the students, parents and staff of USD 281, to let you know that I am thinking about all of you as we navigate these rough waters ahead. As many of you are aware, Laura Kelly, the Governor of Kansas, held a press conference today along with Dr. Randy Watson, the Kansas Commissioner of Education, to inform the public that all schools in Kansas will be shut down for the remainder of the school year. This is an unprecedented time in our state and nation. School officials will be meeting tomorrow to discuss this situation and to provide you more information as we move forward. Please take care of yourself and your family members. Sincerely, Alan

RINGNECKS! Good news for our HCJSHS KSPA state qualifiers! Even though the state competition at the KU campus has been cancelled, regional digital entries will be forwarded on to new judges as state entries! (Traditionally, new prompts were given and contestants were required to create all new entries for state.) On site contests will be REMOTELY available during a 24hr window period planned for late April. We will have more details on the latter very soon! Hang in there during these challenging times! #WeAreRingnecks Mrs. Kim Pfeifer Mr. Collin Pfeifer

Spanish students- It's finals week for La Locura de Marzo! You can still login and vote this week! I've also posted opportunities for extra credit, and if I have enough interest I will host a live Gimkit review on Wednesday at 2. Check your google classroom for updates!