Dear Parents and Guardians,

Many of our K-2 students returned to school this week and I am pleased to report that all went very well! We will continue to work together as a team to balance the needs of all our children- both those in school as well as those at home. Thank you for all of the positive notes and emails! We are proud of how well our opening has gone under these very unusual circumstances.

Back to School Night will take place next week on September 30^th. We will be sending links to the various portions of the evening in a separate email. Parents will have the opportunity to meet virtually with their classroom and special teachers as well as with the small group instructors their children see such as BSI, GT, ESL and guidance.

We have also scheduled additional “Meets” for the children to come together with their homeroom classes in a socially distance way. The sessions will be held outside and we will use this opportunity to send home additional materials. These meetings with your child’s teacher/peers are not required.  However, we do feel all of the children will benefit from the experience.

Parents of children who are fully remote and are unable to attend their scheduled meeting should contact their classroom teacher to arrange contactless pickup of materials.

Oct.  1^st           1:30-2:30 4^th  Materials Exchange/Lesson Pickup Lower Blacktop

                        2:00-3:00 5^th  Materials Exchange/Lesson Pickup Upper Blacktop

Oct. 2^nd           2:00-3:00 3^rd  Materials Exchange/Lesson Pickup

Oct. 6^th            2:00-3:00 2^nd Materials Exchange/Lesson Pickup

Oct. 7^th            2:00-3:00 1^st  Material Exchange/Lesson Pickup  

Oct. 8^th            2:00-3:00  Kindergarten  Material Exchange/Lesson Pickup

While we are not hosting full school events this fall, we are planning a few socially distanced grade level events. We decided that with a little creativity we can still give the children the opportunity to experience some of our traditional events ! These include a FUN RUN and a Halloween parade activity. More information will follow soon.

Thank you for your support!

Warmly,

Mrs. Healy

A message from Mrs. Caulfield, Media Specialist

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Though students will be unable to visit the Harrison School Library this fall, I am excited to share the news that books from the media center will soon be coming to them!  Here are the specifics:

Students will request books via the forms attached here.  Please note they are grade-specific.  For children in grades K-2, please use this form.   For children in grades 3 - 5, please use this form.   Please complete by Friday, September 25th.  Thank you!

I will do my best to find books that match their requests.  To begin with, each student will receive one requested book.  I will also choose a “bonus” book that I think may spark their interest.   A silver lining in the present circumstances may be that children will try books they may never have noticed before!

For this initial check-out, books will be placed in the bags (with classroom materials) that you will be picking up for your children according to the schedule below.  Details regarding book return will be forthcoming.  For now, just enjoy the books!

It is so important that children have actual print books to read (in addition to online ebooks and audiobooks) and I look forward to sharing wonderful stories, poetry, biographies, and nonfiction texts with your children.  And I ask for your patience as this new system is implemented.  I will do my best to find “just right” books, check them out, and get them to you in a timely manner (after this first go-round).  I will also be following the latest scientific protocols as I “quarantine” returned books before they are safe to be checked out again.

Happy Reading!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Coleen Caulfield, Media Specialist

Pick-up Schedule:

Oct  1^st       1:30-2:30 Grade 4 

                  2:00-3:00 Grade 5 

Oct  2^nd       2:00-3:00 Grade 3 

Oct 6^th        2:00-3:00  Grade 2/SE

 Oct 7^th       2:00-3:00  Grade 1/SE  

 Oct 8^th       2:00-3:00  Kindergarten/SE

Hello Parents!

We will be welcoming our K-2 Hybrid students back next week! 

Monday 9/21 and Tuesday 9/22 are for Cohort A.

Wednesday 9/23 and Thursday 9/24 are for Cohort B.

Friday 9/25 is Cohort B

IMPORTANT 

All parents must complete the daily COVID form which will be sent to you early each morning. 

We are asking that Kindergarten families walk their children to the Kindergarten Door (see Door Map here).

Please read additional information regarding Hybrid Procedures here.   

We are looking forward to another great week! 

Warmly, 

Mrs. Healy 

Dear Harrison Families, 

A message from our Specials Teachers:

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We are so very excited for the beginning of school!   We are looking forward to seeing the children (whether live or virtual) and know it will be a wonderful year filled with meaningful lessons and long-lasting relationships.  We, the Specials, feel fortunate that we are able to interact with all the children and accompany them on their journey through Harrison School.

This is a unique year, and we are all navigating it together.  We will be teaching according to our normal six-day rotation.  Please don’t stress, and assure your children we are always there for them.  Here’s to a great year!!

Sincerely,

Brandee Adams, Physical Education

Roxana Bello, Spanish

Coleen Caulfield, Library Media

Ria DeVito, Physical Education

Linet Martes, Spanish

Michele Matten, Music

Emma Stein, Art

Dear Parents and Guardians,

You will receive correspondence from your child’s teacher regarding Tuesday’s remote schedule and opening. Please see the information below regarding technology.

Educational Technology

Grades K-2 

Students will be using SeeSaw which is a new, child-friendly, learning platform.

Please review this tutorial. SeeSaw

Specialists will also be posting directly to your child’s homeroom SeeSaw account.

The platform is user friendly and will allow students to be more independent, engage in learning activities and create responses using different mediums.

Grades 3-5 

Students will be using Google Classroom.

All students who attended Harrison last year should be familiar with this platform.

Quick Facts

Both platforms will serve as a "one stop shop" for teachers to post all classroom assignments, materials, links, videos, etc.

There will also be several other educational web applications such as RAZ-Plus, Epic, Freckle, Words Their Way and more.

Teachers will spend the week of September 8th helping students get familiarized with the tools, platforms and websites.

Parents and Guardians will receive their childs login and access information.  This will allow them to join their teachers’ SeeSaws/Google Classrooms.

Classroom Structure

Each homeroom teacher will have an opening and closing meeting, as well as two live lessons and rotating small group instruction sessions each day.

All LPS elementary schools will follow the same building schedule.

Core academic subjects will be taught in the morning and conclude at approximately 12:30pm.

Students will have a lunch break, where movement is encouraged, before returning for a combination of small group sessions and asynchronous or "on demand" assignments in the afternoon.

BSI, ESL, GT, Special Education will have pull-out small group rotations during this time  depending on students' needs.

General Procedures

This year, the daily agenda for each class will not be emailed to you, but rather posted directly to your child's learning platform (SeeSaw/Google Classroom).

Since each class has a morning meeting, this will be the perfect opportunity for the teachers to go through the day's learning activities and schedule.

Attendance will be taken via participation at the morning meeting. Parents will not need to email the teachers as we did in the Spring.

Students who are unable to participate in school (either hybrid or remote) should continue to use the Call for Safety (973-535-8000 x 7103).

Children should be dressed and fed by the start of the virtual school day.

We appreciate your continued flexibility as we navigate this unusual start to the school year! We are confident that our school community is so much more than a building or a computer. Together we will make this a wonderful year for the children!

Warmly,

Mrs. Healy