Distance Learning

As the school year is wrapping up we want to say thank you to all our students and families for your kindness and compassion. This spring has been difficult for everyone and you have all shown a great deal of tiger pride and for that we are grateful! Here are a few items to share today:

Memorial Day. Just a reminder, there is no school on Monday, May 24 for Memorial Day. Meals that would normally be given out Monday will be distributed with weekend meals tomorrow, Friday, May 22.

Summer Meals. Starting week of June 1, we will be distributing meals on Tuesdays and Fridays ONLY due to food safety concerns during the warmer summer months. Tuesday meals will have 3 days of meals & Fridays will have 4 days of meals. Meal pick up times at High School from 7:30am-11:00am

Remote meal sites will be at Souls Church, Blue Hill and Intermediate School ONLY Remote meals site pick up time is 9-10am. Please see the distance learning portal for full details.

Device & Materials Collection. Device collection begins tomorrow for Seniors, and throughout next week for all other students. Please see this flyer for dates and times, procedures and reminder of what to bring with.

Tiger Club. We are now accepting registration for summer Tiger Club. Summer care will start June 1 and will be running at a 1:9 student to teacher ratio per social distancing guidelines. You may register for full time care for 4 or 5 days, or be placed on a waiting list for Part Time care. Visit the Tiger Club page on our district website for more information or to sign up.

SEL #7. This week’s SEL article focuses on the topic of Hope. Hope keeps us strong. Hope is a renewable power source within each of us that we can also share with the people around us. Read more of this inspirational message and more in the SEL Toolkit on our distance learning portal.

Thank you and have a great weekend. Together, we are Tiger STRONG.

Good afternoon

We have just a few updates to share with families today:

Weekend Meals. Just a reminder that weekend meals will be distributed with Friday meals. Please see the Nutrition Services page on the Distance Learning portal.

Device, Property & Equipment Collection. Distance learning has been a time of flexibility and accommodation while keeping the health and safety of students, staff and parents a top priority. With this in mind the district has developed an accommodating and flexible plan for the collection of student chromebooks, hotspots and iPads, library books, textbooks, and all other school district property.

To help us maintain social distancing and accommodate a quick drop off process for all, we recommend families drop off devices at the building their child attends on the dates listed below.

Each school will contact students with more information as we get closer to the collection dates.

Friday, May 22nd (8am-3pm)
Seniors at High School

Tuesday, May 26 (7am-7pm)
K-2 at Primary School
3rd Graders at Intermediate School
6th Graders at Middle School
9th Graders at High School
*Note: all buildings will remain open until 7pm on May 27 for families who are unable to drop off devices during the hours of 8am-3pm on any of the days.

Wednesday, May 27 (8am-3pm)
4th Graders at Intermediate School
7th Graders at Middle School
10th Graders at High School

Thursday, May 28 (8am-3pm)
5th Graders at Intermediate School
8th Graders at Middle School
11th Graders at High School

SEL Toolkit. Unresolved anxiety doesn’t just disappear. It needs to be resolved. Helping someone respond to their anxiety requires mutual cooperation and a number of interventions. Gary Loch’s latest article offers suggestions for coping with anxiety. Find this and more information on the SEL toolkit on our distance learning site.

Thank you,

Princeton Public Schools

Last Day of Distance Learning. The last day of instruction and distance learning for students is on Friday, May 22. There will be no new assignments for students after Friday, May 15. Students will have May 18-May 22 to complete any previous work as flexible time. Students attending ALC will be contacted directly about material returns.

Device, Property & Equipment Collection. Distance learning has been a time of flexibility and accommodation while keeping the health and safety of students, staff and parents a top priority. With this in mind the district has developed an accommodating and flexible plan for the collection of student chromebooks, hotspots and iPads, library books, textbooks, and all other school district property.

To help us maintain social distancing and accommodate a quick drop off process for all, we recommend families drop off devices at the building their child attends on the dates listed below.

On Tuesday, May 26th all buildings will remain open until 7pm for device collection, this is open to all families who are unable to drop off devices during the hours of 8am-3pm on any of the days.

Each school will contact students with more information as we get closer to the collection dates.

Friday, May 22nd (8am-3pm)
Seniors at High School

Tuesday, May 26 (7am-7pm)
K-2 at Primary School
3rd Graders at Intermediate School
6th Graders at Middle School
9th Graders at High School

Wednesday, May 27 (8am-3pm)
4th Graders at Intermediate School
7th Graders at Middle School
10th Graders at High School

Thursday, May 28 (8am-3pm)
5th Graders at Intermediate School
8th Graders at Middle School
11th Graders at High School

Grading. In an effort to provide a fair, equitable, and meaningful assessment and grading system for distance learning Princeton Public Schools has developed alternate grading systems for assessing and providing feedback to students during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Please see the grading system by clicking here: Tri 3 2020 Grading Methods

Kindergarten Safari. Our top priority is our students, families, and staff's safety. As a result of the current governor recommendations, Kindergarten Safari will be cancelled. We will be eagerly awaiting our new tiger cubs next fall as they join kindergarten! We thank you for your understanding during these unprecedented times.

In order to assist with planning for next year, if you have not yet enrolled your tiger cub into kindergarten, please visit isd477.org/district/enrollment. Together we are tiger strong and we'll roar together next year!

SEL Toolkit. Take the time daily to check in on your children to reassure them that we will get through this in great shape by believing and sharing our hopes, our faith, and our trust in each other. Read more in the SEL Toolkit, found here: https://www.isd477.org/distance-learning/family-resources

No School May 1 & 4. Just a reminder that there will be no school May 1 & 4 to allow staff to prepare for extended distance learning. Meal pickup and tier 1 & tier 2 childcare will be operating as usual. There are no changes to orange plan pickup.

Nutrition Services Update. There is a slight change in meals going out this Friday. We will continue to provide meals for Friday, Saturday & Sunday but instead of individual milk cartons, we will be handing out 1/2 gallons of milk. If possible, please leave the front seat open to place the bags of food and milk. This will be a change for all weekend meals going forward.

Friday is also School Lunch Hero Day. Feel free to show your support by making car signs to express thanks to these local heroes!

Teacher Appreciation Week. May 4 kicks of Teacher Appreciation Week and we’d love your help in showing your appreciation for our educators. If you would like, please send us a short video, drawing, picture or letter of thanks for us to share on social media. Use this link to submit: https://forms.gle/51LscjkyrmvGgULT6
Please note, you will need to log in with your email to access the form.

SEL Toolkit. With the Governor’s extension of the stay at home order, many people are experiencing increased levels of stress, anxiety and fear. We have prepared and collected many useful tools to help us all get through these unknown times with a sense of compassion and normalcy. Read our recent article by Gary Loch here and learn about resilience and compassion. Check out the SEL Toolkit on the Family Resources page of the Distance Learning portal.

Distance Learning Survey. Princeton Public Schools is participating in a survey being conducted in our school district and several other area school districts to help us understand the effectiveness of, and discover barriers to distance learning due Internet access. Participation is optional, but your response will help us provide better instructional opportunities for our students.

We expect this survey to take approximately 5 minutes to complete. Thank you for your participation!

https://bit.ly/20distancelearning

Midco internet services - Midco is extending its “Keeping America Connected” service through June 30, allowing families to stay connected if they are having financial difficulties during the COVID pandemic. Visit midco.com for more information.

Quaran-TUNES! Here is Bobbi Benner’s latest song, Google Only Knows What We Tell It. Enjoy!

As announced yesterday, distance learning will continue through the end of the school year. The governor's order has designated May 1st and 4th as non-student days to allow staff to prepare for extended distance learning. Although there will be no school for students on May 1 and May 4, meals will still be available at scheduled locations, and tier 1 and tier 2 childcare will still be open. Orange plan distribution will still take place as scheduled. Please contact your school with any questions, and have a good weekend.

District Learning Update. Today, Govern Walz and the Minnesota Commissioner of Education announced the extension of school closures through the end of the school year. Princeton Public Schools will continue to provide services to our students and families through distance learning, food service, and childcare. Our number one priority continues to be the health and safety of our students, families and school community.

End of Year Events. As a result of this announcement, all end of year school events are affected. Although not all details and decisions have been made at this time, please make note of the following:

• Prom is cancelled and will not be rescheduled.
• Senior awards night on May 13 is cancelled, and recognitions will be communicated to students in an alternative method.
• Spring sports and activities information will be shared after the MN State High School League holds its Executive Board Meeting
• The traditional graduation ceremony on May 29 is cancelled. The high school will prepare an alternative method to honor it’s graduates. Families of seniors, please look for a survey next week in regards to graduation preparation. Information on senior cap and gown pickup will be shared in the May 1 High School Weekly Update.

Please view this message for full details.

Nutrition Services. Just a reminder, meals given out on Fridays include meals for Saturday and Sunday. See our website for pickup times and locations. For food safety and storage reasons, we have had to freeze the milk and it may take a day to thaw.

F&R Food Service Applications. If you have recently lost your job or have had a change in income we encourage you to fill out a new Application for Educational Benefits (aka free & reduced lunch). Although we are serving free meals to all students now, our district would be eligible for more services which would benefit all families in the district. For more information, or to apply please visit the Nutrition Services page of our website.

SEL Toolkit. Gary Loch and our district’s climate and culture team continue to add to the SEL Toolkit on the family resources page of our website. Why the focus on social emotional learning? Multiple studies have found that unprocessed, negative emotions don’t go away. They linger and wait to disrupt life again. But the outcome of social emotional teaching and learning almost guarantees a positive, confident, and secure person. We urge you to visit the SEL toolkit and reach out to Gary Loch for further information, ideas or assistance.

Quaran-TUNES. Our next song from Bobbi Benner is called Hey, Let’s Write a Letter! Check it out and share some love!

You’ll Never Walk Alone. We say it over and over: Together, we are Tiger STRONG. We strive to weave this mantra into everything we do. Mr. Moe at PHS put together this touching video featuring our choir from 1968 reminding us that You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Thank you for your patience while we navigate these changes. Together, we are TIGER STRONG.

We are closing the books on our third successful week of Distance Learning. We continue to hear positive feedback from our students and families, so for that we thank you! Here are a few updates we would like to share this week.

Nutrition Services. Last week we served a record number of free meals, with almost 12,000 meals distributed last Thursday alone! Amazing! Thank you for continuing to trust us with feeding your children. Our Nutrition Services staff was featured in a national ad for Tyson Foods! Watch the video here: T is for Thank You

Severe Weather Awareness Week. This week is Severe Weather Awareness Week--like the rest of us you probably heard the extra tornado sirens yesterday! Our district safety committee suggests that all families take the time to review your family emergency procedures and prepare for weather-related hazards.

SEL Toolkit. We continue to add wonderful Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) resources to our distance learning portal. Check out this week's feature article entitled COVID-19 Vocabulary: A Social-Emotional Gateway to Hope!

Quaran-TUNES! Bobbi Benner is at it again! See her latest COVID / Quarantine inspired song here: The Best World We’ve Seen

Sharing Gratitude with our Seniors! In case you missed it, many of our staff members helped to put together a video honoring the Class of 2020. Check it out here: Message to the Princeton Class of 2020

As we wrap up our second week of Distance Learning, we continue to be impressed with the performance and dedication of our Tigers and their families! Here are a few updates for this week.

Spring Break & Nutrition Services. There is no School on Friday, April 10 or Monday, April 13 for Spring Break. When you pick up your Thursday meals you will also receive meals for Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Meal services on Monday will ONLY be available at the High School for drive up. No remote sites on Monday.

Website. You may have seen that we have reorganized our distance learning resources on our webpage. When you visit isd477.org you will now click on distance learning in the top right corner. To support our students, parents and guardians, teachers, staff, and our community, Princeton Public Schools has prepared a toolkit of social emotional resources and interventions for access through our website.

Access these resources by clicking on Family Resources on the Distance Learning portal.

The toolkit includes an article entitled Everyday trauma that helps us understand what we are collectively experiencing, as well as resources explaining why stress relievers like family dance parties or deep breathing are important for our emotional health.

The toolkit will support our efforts to live within a safe and healthy outlook as we daily confront the challenges of social distancing. This portion of the website will continue to evolve as we hear from you and continue to prospect for even more data-driven, time-tested supports.

Feel free to contact gary.loch@isd477.org with questions and suggestions.

If your family is in crisis, counselor phone numbers and other resources can be found on the Families in crisis button.

Bobbi! Here is another original song by our very own Bobbi Benner, entitled The World Has Gone Crazy. Enjoy!

Good afternoon,

This week was one that will go down in history for school districts throughout the state. Together we have changed the way our students learn. We faced many challenges and a whole lot of unknowns, but we know if we continue to show patience and compassion, we will come out stronger in the end. Here are a few updates we would like to share with you this week.

School Meals. Nutrition Services is now offering weekend meals at all pick up locations. When picking up Friday meals you will receive 3 breakfasts in one bag and 3 lunches in another bag. Please see the nutrition services website for heating instructions.

Spring Break. This is a reminder that there is no school on Friday, April 10 and Monday, April 13 for Spring Break and Staff Development. Distance learning will not be taking place on these dates. Please make note of the following:

• Tiger Club (Corona Care) will be also closed both days for Spring Break.
• There will be no meal service on April 10, but Nutrition Services will be serving meals on April 13 at the Princeton High School pickup location only.

School Board Meetings. Due to the health pandemic, the school board has determined that it is not feasible for at least one board member, the superintendent, or the school district’s legal counsel to be physically present at the regular meeting location. It is also not feasible for the public to attend at the regular meeting location due to the health pandemic. We will accept any citizen comments via email to be read by the board. Please email any comments to board-comments@isd477.org by 12:00 pm the day of the board meeting. Regular board meetings can be viewed electronically after the meeting on our YouTube channel.

Refunds. If you believe you are entitled to a refund for any spring activities that were cancelled or postponed, or are curious about the refunding of other fees, please read our refund procedure here.

Tech Help. Need assistance with your device? Please fill out a Distance Learning Tech Help request online and our tech department will contact you asap.

Wow. Just Amazing. The Middle School’s own Bobbi Benner is an amazing musical talent! She wrote and sang her own version of R.E.M.’s End of the World (for educators). See the video here and stay tuned for yet another musical premiere next week!

Thank you for sticking with us during this difficult time. Together, we are Tiger Strong.

Sincerely,

Princeton Public Schools

Greetings families!

We have missed you over these last few weeks! We have a lot of important information to share today so please read this letter carefully. Things are coming together very quickly, and we are excited to begin distance learning next Monday! But first, here are a few things you should know.

Distance Learning. Starting next Monday, March 30 Princeton Public Schools will begin distance learning. Distance learning will continue until at least April 30th. We know there will be some challenges as we all learn together in ways that are different from what we are used to, but we are excited to try our new plan out and make improvements along the way.

Students will be accessing teachers and learning through one of two plans.

• Tiger Plan - for connecting with teachers electronically
• Orange Plan - for connecting with teachers non-electronically

Teachers will reach out to students on Friday, March 27 to let students know details on how students and teachers will connect for distance learning. Monday, March 30 will be our first day of distance learning.

Unless we have spoken to you directly, students are currently enrolled in the Tiger Plan. For details on each plan and instructions for how to move from the Tiger Plan to the Orange Plan please see the COVID-19 portion of our website and click Distance Learning plan.

Here are a few tips to prepare your student for distance learning:

1. Help your child set a daily schedule at home so they understand what is expected of them.
2. Make sure you have a device (grades 3-12) and a plan to access the internet.
3. Designate a place in your home as a "learning space" to minimize distractions.

Kindergarten Safari. We are postponing our Wild About Kindergarten event that is scheduled for April 6, 2020. This is an exciting event and we were all looking forward to meeting our future tiger cubs, but keeping our students and families safe during these unprecedented times is our top priority. More information to follow in the weeks ahead. We appreciate your understanding and flexibility with postponing this event.

WIFI Availability. We understand that there are many families in our community that do not have access to the internet or reliable internet. Our buildings are not open to the public, but our wifi does extend into our parking lot areas to a certain range. Please follow this link to view maps to every school building in Princeton with orange highlights showing parking areas that have access to the Princeton Public internet wifi. Please feel free to park and use these areas at any time.

Now Registering for Tier 2 Childcare. We will begin to accept childcare registrations for families of Tier 2 workers on Wednesday, March 25. If you believe you are eligible to receive childcare as a Tier 2 worker, please click to read the full details here.

Nutrition Services Update. You can now view our grab-and-go menu on the COVID-19 information nutrition services website. We have also added important food safety information for your review.

A note to students & families. The next week or two starts a new chapter in public education. There is a huge learning curve that students and teachers will be navigating together!!

As we embark on this thing called “Distance Learning,” we ask that our friends who use social media platforms to refrain from publicly scrutinizing their children’s teachers/schools/district for the way they are teaching or the lessons they are assigning.

Please offer grace to your child’s teacher and other school personnel. I promise that educating your children is still their #1 priority.

They are about to navigate uncharted waters with little, to no prep time. This is a crisis, not a time to be playing armchair quarterback. They love our kids and will be doing their absolute best!

And fellow educators, YOU’VE GOT THIS! We believe in you! -author unknown

Thank you to our Families! We received this kind message from one of our teachers and we couldn’t have said it better: “I just wanted to share that my families have been very kind, supportive and understanding so far in the journey we have just been on and continue to be on! I have one family, in particular, who is very tech savvy, and they have been so helpful and receptive to answering questions I have about how things look on "their end" of whatever piece of technology I am trying, or want students to try. They are my practice ground, and my sounding board, and I am so thankful for them! When I asked if they would mind if I went to them with some questions along the way, they did not hesitate to respond, "Absolutely! We are glad to help in any way that we can!" It warms my heart to see us all pull together in what can be a scary, overwhelming, and ever changing situation.”

We are here to support you and we truly appreciate the encouragement we have received from you. Together, we are Tiger Strong.

Sincerely,

Ben Barton | Superintendent

Good afternoon,

As communicated yesterday, all Princeton Public Schools are closed for the coming weeks as part of the state’s COVID-19 pandemic plan. All COVID-19 related updates can be found on our website at https://www.isd477.org/covid19

We would like to share a few updates with you, keeping in mind that we may need to modify plans as more information becomes available to us. We appreciate your patience and understanding during these unprecedented times.

Medication Pickup. Earlier today you should have received a message regarding the procedures for picking up your child's medications. Please contact the health office at your child's school with further questions.

Childcare. We are prepared to offer Tiger Club for currently enrolled families, district staff, and emergency service workers. Full details can be found here: https://www.isd477.org/departments/health-services...

Food Service. We will be providing meals for students starting Tues, March 17, available for curb-site pickup at Princeton High School. Please fill out this one-question survey to indicate how many meals you will need. Visit our COVID (above) website for further instructions.

Student Technology. Chromebooks for all students in grades 3-12 were sent home today to allow students to access educational resources and connect with their teachers during the closure. Please visit our COVID website (above) for further care information.

Further Information. Just a reminder that all Community Education classes including early childhood and preschool are cancelled. All extracurricular events, sports and facility rentals are cancelled until further notice.

As our Tiger Pledge states, "Our Strengths get better when we work together" and we are asking you, our community, to work with us and rally together. Thank you for your continued support and we will provide more information as it becomes available.

Sincerely,

Ben Barton, Superintendent

Updated March 15, 2020
Princeton Public Schools Will Be Closed Starting March 17 until March 27.

Today, Governor Tim Walz and Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker announced that all Minnesota public schools will close to students starting Wednesday, March 18, 2020 with the plan to resume instruction on Monday, March 30, 2020. School and community leadership have decided that Princeton Public schools will remain open and in session through Monday 3/16/2020. Again, students should report to school on Monday, 3/16/2020. Students who are not ill can still safely come to school on this day, to obtain their supplies and communicate with their instructors on their educational plans going forward.

*We are recommending that students or staff who have any of the underlying medical conditions listed on the CDC website remain home effective Monday, 3/16/2020 until further notice. “Mild/Moderate Mitigation for Schools with COVID-19 Cases in their Community.”

Effective 3/17/2020 through 3/30/2020 school and all school activities will be cancelled. Tiger Club will remain open for child care of emergency personnel and school employees. Further information will be available by the afternoon of March 16.

During the school closure for students, Princeton Public Schools will be joining school districts and charter schools across the state to create plans to equitably distribute distance learning to our students should we need to close schools statewide for a longer period of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minnesota Department of Education is defining distance learning to mean that a student receives daily interaction with their licensed teacher(s) and appropriate educational materials. Starting March 30, 2020, per the instruction from the Minnesota Department of Education, student learning will continue for the rest of the school year.

As always, our first priority is the safety and well-being of our students. We also want to ensure every child has access to the education they need and deserve. Our educators will be giving thoughtful planning to our distance learning plan, offering careful consideration for students in a variety of areas, including students receiving special education services, multilingual learners, students experiencing homelessness, and students who rely on meals served at school.

Once our distance learning plan is finalized we will communicate the plan to families through Skylert, our district website and social media. There will be more information to follow as details become available.

At this time it is important to know there are NO confirmed cases in either Sherburne or Mille Lacs County. We encourage you to remain level-headed and talk with your children about the current state of affairs. It is very important to remember that children look to adults for guidance on how to react to stressful events. If parents seem overly worried, children’s anxiety may rise. Parents should reassure children that health and school officials are working hard to ensure that people throughout the country stay healthy. However, children also need factual, age appropriate information about the potential seriousness of disease risk and concrete instruction about how to avoid infections and spread of disease. Teaching children positive preventive measures, talking with them about their fears, and giving them a sense of some control over their risk of infection can help reduce anxiety.