Methacton School District

August 21, 2020

Dear Methacton Families,

School starts in just a few weeks. In preparation for the start, I have a number of matters to share with you.

MATERIALS DISTRIBUTION SCHEDULE

Note: Materials include books and supplies other than technology devices.

Methacton Schools are arranging for students to pick up materials on September 2^nd and September 3^rd. Families will receive specific dates, times and procedural information from their student’s school Principal. Please mark your calendars with these dates for materials pick up at each school:

COMPUTER DISTRIBUTION AND INTERNET ACCESS

Please know that separate communications will come from the District Technology Office that addresses Chromebook and other technology device pickup schedules and procedures.

In terms of Internet access assistance, please see this page for assistance.

BACKPACK PROGRAM

The Methacton Backpack program aims to close the gap in meals between Friday lunch and Monday breakfast by providing food for children over breaks during the school year, such as weekends and longer holidays. Backpacks provide food for one child and typically contain nonperishable, easy-to-assemble meals. If your child is in need of participating in the backpack program for the 2020-2021 school year, please use the link below to sign up. Once registered, distribution dates and pickup arrangements will be emailed to you.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YJ63SVJ

SCHOOL MEALS INTEREST SURVEY

The district will be making breakfast and lunch meals available for families to pick up while students are participating in the virtual learning environment. Please complete the survey HERE by Thursday, August 27 by 1pm to assist in their planning for meals distribution. Note: This is an interest only survey, not a registration form.

NORTH MONTCO REOPENING PLAN

Click here for the reopening plan announcement from North Montco Technical Career Center.

COVID-19 CHECKLIST FOR FAMILIES

Click here to download the COVID-19 Daily Screen Checklist for families. This is required under the approved Health and Safety plan for any on campus activity.

WEBSITE ROLLOUT ANNOUNCEMENT

As we continue to prepare for the 2020-2021 School Year, our staff has also been working over the summer to refresh our entire family of Methacton School District websites. The rollout began on August 1. We hope you are pleased with the improvements.

As with any new website launch, there are bound to be minor matters that will require intervention. Should you come across a broken link, missing information or any other issue, we ask that you complete this quick form so we can quickly address the matter.

Our innovation does not end with the development of these new websites. Over the next several months, our Technology and Communications departments will work with Blackboard to launch a new mobile app. We will share additional details with you as we get closer to the rollout.

ARROWHEAD FORWARD UPDATE

While we are preparing for the start of school, there are a number of other matters that are progressing forward. One of them is the process to determine the construction of a new Arrowhead Elementary school. The next step in that process is called an Act 34 hearing where residents can make comment for the record on the proposed project. Please go here for more information. Please know that the hearing will be on September 8, 2020 starting at 7PM and will be accessible virtually as well as on premises. There will be opportunity for public comment from either medium and comments will be accepted by electronic submission as well. Click here to review ACT 34 Hearing documents.

SAMPLE SCHEDULES UPDATE

The district provided high level sample schedules for parents at each level about a month ago. In order to gain a better understanding of what a specific period of time might look like within a day, please see sample ELA (English Language Arts) block from 1:25 PM to 2:40 PM below:

To learn more about the online experience and to learn how you can best support your child during the Methacton Online learning, please go to the newly released Methacton Parent Center.

Lastly, please be on the lookout for communications from your child’s building Principal over the next several weeks as specific details with teacher letters, schedules, etc. will be released.

Sincerely,

Dr. David Zerbe

Superintendent of Schools