September 9 Update

September 9, 2020

Dear KLSD Families,

Tomorrow is our first day of school for students, whether they are joining us in-person or learning from home.

Given the scope of all that we’ve been trying to accomplish, there is more information than usual coming to you on the day before school. In fact, there is an enormous amount of information. We wish that could have been otherwise.

As a result, we’re trying to combine as much of that information as possible into this one lengthy letter. Thank you for your understanding and for reading carefully all that follows.

Please know there will be bumps in the early days as we are all going through new experiences. Each day will get a little better. Please be patient and understanding, as we will be with our students. Thank you. 

This letter includes information on the following:

1. Mandatory daily health screener
2. Student log-in credentials (for use with KLSD devices, Schoology, Zoom, etc.)
3. Bus Transportation
4. School Lunch & Meal plan information (and please note there is a deadline of 9:00 pm tonight for students who wish to pre-order lunch for tomorrow – so read this section early).
5. How to access school from home if you’re learning remotely tomorrow
6. Additional information on setting up your school-issued iPad or laptop

And that is all for now. Take a deep breath. Get a good night’s sleep. And don’t forget to wear your mask. Each day will get a little better. We can’t wait to see our students.

Yours,

Andrew Selesnick, Superintendent of Schools

Every morning that a student is attending school in-person, the health screener must be completed on behalf of the student at least 45 minutes before the start of the school day.

You will receive a reminder email/text at 6:00 am each morning that will include the link to the screener. There are different screeners for each of our five schools – please make sure you complete the correct screener for each student. Completing the screener is a very quick process. The longest part of it will be taking the student’s temperature. If you have children in more than school, you will receive multiple email reminders – each one will include a link just for one specific school.

If the answer to any of the questions on the screener is “yes,” the student must stay home that day.

Please note that after answering all the screener questions, you will get to a final page with a large green check or a red x, telling you whether you’re clear for school or not. On that page, you must still scroll down to click a final box and hit submit for the screener process to be complete.

Following are the links to each of our screeners, in case you’d like to save them somewhere now. But again, you will receive the prompt by email each day.

John Jay High School Health Screener

John Jay Middle School Health Screener

Increase Miller Health Screener

Meadow Pond Elementary Health Screener

Katonah Elementary Health Screener

Each student will use these credentials to log into their school issued devices, and to log into various software applications loaded on those devices. Applications include Schoology, Zoom, and MS Office 365 (Microsoft Teams, Word, etc.)

2020-21 login credentials are now available on Campus Parent, at https://icampus.klschools.org/campus/portal/parents/katonah.jsp

To view 2020-21 login credentials, please:

• Log in to Campus Parent
• Select More
• Select Backpack
• Select the student
• Select the 2020-21 School Year folder
• Select the document entitled “2020-21 Credentials Document”
• If you have more than one child, you can select the folder for the next child from the Backpack screen.

If you do not see your child’s credentials document, please send an email to studenthelpdesk@klschools.org. Please understand that you may not get a response immediately, and, as a result, your child may not have access on the first morning of the first day. Please know that will be OK. We are all working through many new processes as fast as we can. We will all understand.

If you have trouble logging in to the Portal, you can use the Forgot Password or Forgot Username options, or send an email to parentportal@klschools.org.

2020-21 bus information is now available on Campus Parent, at https://icampus.klschools.org/campus/portal/parents/katonah.jsp

To view your child’s 2020-21 transportation information, please follow the same directions as in the section above. You will find transportation information on the “2020-21 Credentials Document”.

We are experiencing some unusual challenges with this data this year. If you don’t see the necessary information on the credential document, please call the Transportation office at 763-7231. Due to heavier than usual volume, please be understanding that we may not be able to get back to you right away.

Kindergarten families can expect to receive a longer letter from the Transportation department with more information about bus riding guidelines.

All students are reminded that they must wear masks on the bus this year.

There are some significant changes regarding school lunch this year.

First, the USDA has extended free meals to all students on instructional days until December 31 or until funding for the program has been exhausted. As a result, no family needs to add funds to their school lunch account at this time in order for student to eat the school lunch.

At the high school only, there will be some a la carte items available in the cafeteria starting the week of 9/14. These items are NOT included in the free program – students are encouraged to pay using their lunch accounts.  Families can add funds to their account as in past years at the cash register with a check (preferred),  cash,  or see our website for instructions to remotely add funds to students accounts.

For 2020-21, school lunch should be pre-ordered online both for in-person and remote learning days.  Please visit our Food Services website to pre-order lunch. (We will have additional lunches available for those students who come to school without pre-ordering lunch. Information will be provided to students in school on how they access these lunches.)

• For the first two (2) days of school, we are asking that orders be placed by Wednesday, September 9, 2020 by 9:00 pm. 
• Remote learners may pick up 2 lunches on Thursday, September 10, 2020 at John Jay High School between the hours of 12:00 pm -1:30 pm.
• For in person days, the Elementary and Middle Schools will deliver pre-ordered lunches to the classrooms. In the High School, students will pick up their pre-ordered lunches in the cafeteria. 

Beginning September 12, 2020, you may pre-order your meals for an entire week until Sunday at 9:00 pm. If you miss the cut-off for ordering, please call the Food Service Department directly at (914) 763-7308. They will do their best to accommodate your request.

We are starting the year off with a limited menu and will expand it throughout the year as the food service production permits.  Choices for the first few weeks of school will be:

• Yogurt & Bagel Meal • Turkey Sandwich • Ham & Cheese Sandwich • Chicken Caesar Salad• Chicken Caesar Wrap • Sun Butter & Grape Jelly Sandwich

 Please check the website for updates.

Starting September 14^th, for remote learning days:

• Cohort A may pick up preordered to go lunches on Wednesday at the High School between the hours of 12:00 pm -1:30 pm. 
• Cohort B may pick up preordered to go lunches on Monday at the High School between the hours of 12:00 pm -1:30 pm. 
• Fulltime remote learners may pick up to go 2 lunches on Monday and 3 lunches on Wednesdays outside the High School front entrance between the hours of 12:00 pm -1:30 pm. 

For all elementary students in grades 2 - 5 and for the K & 1 students who are fully remote, families will receive an email either today or tomorrow morning that will include a Zoom link and directions about when to log on. Classroom teachers will use this link tomorrow morning to introduce themselves and the school day. In the coming days, teachers will help their students understand how to use the Schoology platform. K and 1 students who are attending in-person orientation either tomorrow or Friday will not have a remote experience on the alternate day.

John Jay Middle School families should look for the Expectations and Updates email that was sent by Principal Swiatowicz yesterday. The booklet attached to his email contains information about opening day schedules for students who are learning remotely.

All JJMS students who are remote on Thursday should login using this link by 8:30 am. A webinar will begin at 8:30 am. Administrators will welcome students to the school year, walk them through how to log into Schoology, and get them set up to begin their virtual classes for period 1.

John Jay High School students who are learning remotely will follow the regular school day schedule (Class times have been slightly revised this year and are available on the JJHS website).  Student schedules can be accessed through the Portal. Students should log into Schoology at the times of their classes and locate the courses tab at the top of the page. All of their courses should be pre-loaded into Schoology. Within those courses, they will find directions on what to do on the first day.

For all students to access Schoology:

Start by either clicking on the Schoology icon pre-loaded on your device or go to www.kschools.schoology.com

Students will log-in using their KLSchools email address and password (found in the credentials section above).

At the top of the opening page are 4 tabs – Courses, Groups, Resources, Tools. Students should begin by clicking on Courses and locating the classes or courses in which they are enrolled. From there, they will find directions from their teachers. Again, teachers will spend time on opening days helping students learn to navigate this system.

We are able to monitor remotely when the school-issued devices have successfully accessed and downloaded the necessary software. As a result, we’re aware that while many devices have successfully connected to our system, some have not.

Unfortunately, there is no single fix to the issues that students/families are experiencing, so the very best resource is still to contact our help desk at studenthelpdesk@klschools.org if you are experiencing a challenge. We are working through each case as quickly as possible. It will not speed the process if you reach out to other staff in the District.

We know this is an anxious time for students/families with schools starting tomorrow. Please know, however, that all our schools understand the scope of this undertaking, and if a student is not connected on the first morning of the first day, that will be OK.

As an alternative, if you’re not able to successfully connect on the school-issued device, it is OK to use a personal device on the first day, if you have one available. The student can access the necessary software through any web browser (see the directions in the previous section) using their KLschools credentials. The most frequently used sites are as follows:

MS OFFICE 365 & Email - https://portal.office.com/

Schoology –   https://klschools.schoology.com/

Zoom - https://klschools.zoom.us/

Apple ID’s: In the directions supplied with the school-issued devices, iPad users were instructed to input their klschools email address as their Apple ID. This was a necessary step to download needed software. Laptop users were not given this direction because the Apple ID is not the mechanism by which school software is downloaded. Knowing that the MacBooks would ask for an Apple ID, this was an oversight on our part. As with the iPads, all school-issued Apple devices should be used ONLY with the school-issued Apple ID. If students have entered personal Apple ID’s, we ask that they change them to their school ID’s. Directions for how to change an Apple ID can be found easily through a web search.