Free Lunches to Continue
Free school lunches for all students will now continue through the end of the school year or until federal funding runs out.
Civic Oration Looks Even More Different this Year
As we looked at the numbers of students who are doing long-term remote learning and of students who are moving in/out of short-term remote learning, we have decided to make even more changes to civic oration this year. To try to “level the playing field” for everyone, all speeches will be submitted by recording. There will be no “live” rounds of competition. I’m not sure it will be any easier. Based upon my limited experience of just trying to make a few videos myself, making a recording with no audience at all to speak to is even harder than speaking in front of people! Students will submit their recordings before Christmas break, and staff will determine the finalists. Guest judges will view the finalists’ speeches over Christmas break.
Davenport Community School District Continues Online
The DCSD’s application to extend their 100% remote learning was approved for two weeks. They will be 100% remote through December 16th.
End of the Mid-Quarter is Friday
The end of the 2nd mid-quarter is Friday. Mid-quarter reports should be emailed to families before Christmas break.
Two Weeks Until Christmas Break — Can We Make It?
There are two full weeks of school until Christmas break, and there is no early dismissal on December 18th. Personally, I’m not sure how I’m going to make it without a K-2 Christmas show in the church this year! I never really get into the Christmas spirit until watching the little ones all dressed in their Christmas clothes singing Christmas songs in the church with all the decorations lit up.
So far, we have not seen a rise in our absences since Thanksgiving. In fact, they were lower this week than they have been for several weeks. The Scott County Health Department is very cautiously optimistic and hoping it isn’t just a “calm before the storm” situation. Please continue to think about what your plans would be until Christmas break, if your students cannot continue with face-to-face instruction. This past week we were discussing options with our own staff members who have children. It’s hard for them to be teaching remotely too when they have their own children who are also supposed to be online at the same time with remote learning.
Below is a link to a .pdf file that shows several graphs of Scott County and JFK data. I’ll highlight a couple of things below as well.
- Confirmed and epi-linked cases 14-day moving average: Note how vertical the red line was in the beginning of November.
- The Scott County 14 Day Positivity Rate is the “big” data point used by the Iowa Department of Education for schools. The most recent peak was just a little higher than the graph shows as the graph shows data for about every Wednesday. Today, the rate is even lower at 18.7%. However, that is still considered by Iowa’s definitions to be “substantial controlled” for the community. It should be noted that definitions are somewhat locally determined. New York City, for example, closed schools when they hit a 3% positivity rate. New York has recently changed that position as more research is available regarding schools since they chose that figure before the school year began.
- The CDC risk of transmission in schools slides show Scott County’s data has a long way to go to return to even a moderate risk level in the first two core indicators.
- The maps with rates of positive cases per school district boundaries are not just student counts. They include residents of any age who live within the boundaries of the four school districts in Scott County.
- The first graph for JFK specific data shows how fast our long-term remote learners increased in November. These are students for whom their parents have chosen remote learning as the regular instructional method. That percentage doubled in about two weeks.
- The second JFK graph shows the percent of absences due to people being “sick” with something that is reportable to the health department and can be transmitted from one person to another. I have added a note in the graph regarding the figure that may be examined by the Iowa Department of Education should a school/district apply for a two week closure. The DE would be looking for a 10% illness absenteeism rate. Our rate on Friday was below 1%.
- The third JFK graph shows the percentage of students and staff that are quarantining either because they are required to because they are close contacts or they are “voluntarily” quarantining, which usually occurs as they wait for another family members’ tests results and they are not yet required to quarantine. At our peak before Thanksgiving, more than 10% of students and staff were quarantining. This figure may be a bit misleading before Thanksgiving, however, as there were some families that were just taking extra precautions before Thanksgiving, and a short week meant kids would not miss as much as usual.
- The fourth JFK graph combines some of the sickness and quarantining data. On Friday, we had approximately 5.5% of students and staff who were expected to be in the building absent due to illness or quarantining.
- The fifth JFK graph shows the total percent of staff and students who are expected to be in the building but were absent. Even during a pandemic, other things continue, and people are absent for a variety of other reasons. Our total absenteeism rate was 7.13% on Friday. The graph also shows the total percent of enrolled students and employed staff who were not in the building: 14.86% on Friday, including the long-term remote learners.
- The last JFK graph illustrates, again, how fast things can change. On Friday, November 13th, we had 4.26% of the staff absent. On Monday, November 16th, that figure jumped to 14.9%. Two days later it was at 19.1%, and we were doing day-to-day scrambling to determine substitutes and other duty coverages. Those figures did not even take into consideration a maternity leave or an absence due to surgery recovery. Then, it was over. On the first work day after Thanksgiving, staff absenteeism fell to 6.38%.
Below is the document, again, that we are using for guidance regarding a face covering requirement and building/grade/class closures.
COVID Metrics for building closure, face masks, 11-26-2020
Online JFK Spirit Store
Click HERE for the online JFK spirit store developed by Home & School. Winter hats and scarves are now available, as well as some great stocking stuffer ideas.
Virtual Book Fair
It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to have our annual book fair during Catholic Schools Week in January. Instead, we are hosting an online book fair before Christmas.
Shopping for books for your children for Christmas? Come see our online Scholastic holiday book fair. Our online book fair will be available through Friday, December 11th. Purchases will be shipped directly to your home. A portion of sales goes to JFK and allows us to buy new books for our library.
Mississippi Valley School Tuition Organization (STO)
More than 620 students in Scott County are benefiting from financial assistance through the Mississippi Valley School Tuition Organization (MVSTO). In order to provide the level of financial assistance needed, donations are needed each year. Donations to the MVSTO are great because they benefit both students and donors. Students receive the financial assistance needed by their families so they can attend Catholic/private schools, and donors receive a 65% tax CREDIT, not deduction, off of their Iowa taxes, AND the other 35% is a charitable deduction on their federal taxes. A $100 donation to the MVSTO, for example, allows one to reduce one’s Iowa tax bill by $65, and, at the 32% federal income tax bracket, one might be able to reduce one’s tax bill by about $11. If you follow the math, a student receives the $100 benefit in financial assistance while the donor has a net cost of, not $100, but only $24!
Donations for this year’s taxes must be made by December 31st. Act now! Use the following link for more information and the forms needed: https://www.mvsto.org/
Chad
