Bristol County Agricultural High School: Aggie Weekly- September 18th

Good Afternoon Students, Parents, and Community Members:

This week was special in that we welcomed back our kids into the classroom both in-person and virtually. It was very rewarding to see our students in whatever capacity that we are in. On Wednesday, the day before students arrived on campus, Mr. Cook (Arbor Dept Head) provided some remarks (see below) to get us in focus for this year. The main idea was that we are here for our kids and that we will do whatever it takes to support them and make this school year successful. We heard from our alumni the impact that our staff has on our students. We all understand that it is not our ideal conditions, but that we are making the best of the situation. The last two days have proven to be worth all of the hard work and effort from each staff member and we will continue to adapt and overcome whatever situation there is to make it about our kids. We look forward to this school year and appreciate all the support we have received from our community.

Click here (you will have to download the video. It is worth it!) to hear how Mr. Cook provided encouragement and support to our staff. before welcoming our students back!

Lessons Learned from Week 1:

Virtual Learning: In order to build classroom camaraderie here are some helpful hints that we recommend for each student:

Upload a selfie into your google account so teachers can help to know who you are
When asking a question virtually, use the following prompt, “Hi Mr./Ms/ Smith my name is John Adams and I have a question about (topic here).”

Lunch: Over the last two days, we have allowed students to select their lunch seats. These seats will be theirs for the first term. Additionally, students are to be seated at their designated seat, then they will be dismissed to the lunch line.
Schedules: Ensure you have the most updated schedule in PowerSchool. The week before school started, we made some adjustments, so there may be some updates.
Communication, Communication, Communication: Communicate early and often with your teachers. If you will not be in class for any reason, please notify your teacher. We do not want to waste anyone’s time in us waiting for anyone to join our Google meets.
Books: Any students who have not returned their books, please do so on Monday/Tuesday. We need these books to give to the next class. We will be sending invoices to any books not returned by Wednesday.

New Traffic Pattern in Gilbert: In an effort to create a safe environment, we tried to limit the hallways and stairwells to one way traffic. We quickly realized that this original student traffic pattern did not work and created more confusion and students running into one another. Instead we have created 2-way traffic in Gilbert with arrows. All traffic is to stay to the right side of the hallway and be on their side of the hallway at all times. The same goes for the stairwells. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates to our Fall Reentry Plan.

Virtual Town Hall: It was a great meeting with families virtually on Tuesday through Zoom and FB live. Thank you for attending. We had approximately 130 students and parents joining us. Below are the resources from the meeting:

Virtual Town Hall Presentation

Recorded Zoom Presentation

Visitors on campus:

Student dismissal: Parents will call the main office for student dismissal. Students will check out in the main office then exit.
Parent Entry: Only parents will be allowed in the building if they have an appointment with a staff member (IEP, 504, Administration meeting etc). All visitors must sign in upon arrival. A log of all visitors must be kept and maintained for 30 days, with the date, contact phone number, arrival/departure times, and areas visited within the building for each visit.

If a parent needs to drop off items (lunch/ book bag etc) to the student, the parent will call the main office to notify them that they are in the Gilbert Hall parking lot with an item for a student. The student will be called out of class and directed to the main office exit to retrieve their belongings from their guardian.

Back to School Photos: