Canajoharie Central School District > Archive > District updates and resources on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
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District updates and resources on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Given that this is a fluid and potentially rapidly developing situation, we will use this web page to share information and resources as the circumstances warrant.

Any time-sensitive, critical information will be shared via the district’s School Messenger notification system, which can send e-mails, text messages and phone calls.

Important Information

District Updates

June 12, 2020

We have some very important information regarding the end of the school year.  
  • All ballots for the budget vote are due Tuesday, June 16th at 5 pm
  • Report cards will be mailed out by June 19th
  • Our last day of school is June 15th and we will be doing the following:

June 15th – 12 pm

Food Service and Chromebook/Book Pick-Up – we will stop at every bus stop in the community from 12 pm-1 pm to drop off food and also pick up materials/equipment.  Please be ready with the following:  Chromebook, 2 cords, kajeet hotspot that you may have, and books.  See the picture below of what should be returned with regard to technology. 
                

June 15th – 12 pm-5 pm

“Drive Up and Drop Off” at your respective school.  You can just drive up to the front of your school and just hand the materials and equipment.   We will also have any supplies/clothes that have been left at the school.  

June 16th – 7 am-5 pm

“Drive Up and Drop Off” at your respective school.
If you have not picked up your clothes, classroom supplies or cleaned out your locker, what is left at the school will be discarded by July 1.
Please make arrangements on June 15th or 16th to pick up any items.
 As we are all aware at this time, the school buildings are closed for the rest of the school year per Governor Cuomo’s executive order, but instruction and food service will continue.  We know that many people have questions on certain items such as grades, end of the school year, graduations, orientations, lockers..etc.  We fully understand everyone’s interest in all of these topics.  At this point, we do not know the answers to all of the questions but we will update everyone as soon as we have information.  We will do our very best to update everyone as soon as we know specifics on guidelines and protocols.  We also have a number of things planned to honor the senior class, so without “letting the cat out the bag”, please hold up for a few weeks before doing anything like purchasing banners or lawn signs..etc.   Finally, please make sure you check the website often.  

Food Service:

Breakfast and lunches will be served on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:00 am – 9:00 am.  If you have a regular bus stop, we will stop each day we deliver food.  If you do not have a bus stop, breakfast and lunch can be picked up at the high school or the Arkell Library parking lot.  There will be one change the week of Memorial Day.  We will deliver on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of that week.  

Grading:

Progress reports will be going out at their regular scheduled time on May 20.  Grading for the 4th quarter will be the following:

Grades 6-12:  

  • Not Meeting Standards – 50-64%
  • Meeting Standards – 65-76%
  • Exceeding Standards – 77-89%
  • Mastery of Standards – 90-100%

A student would receive the highest grade in the band.  For example if the student had an average of 80%, they would receive a 89% grade for the quarter.  

Grades K-5:

  • Not assessed at this time-  N/A
  • Acquiring prerequisite skill-  1
  • Beginning to demonstrate skill-  2
  • Regularly demonstrates skill-  3
  • Consistently demonstrates skill-  4

All regents exams have been cancelled for June and August.  If a student passes a regents course, he/she will receive course and regents credit.   If a student fails a regents course, that student will have to attend summer school.  If the student passes summer school, he/she will receive course and regents credit.  If a student does not attend summer school the student will have to take the course during the next school year and also take the regents exam.  

Students in grades 6-12 who fail a course, will have to attend summer school in order to make-up the course or take it during the next school year.   If a student in K-5 has not met the standards for that grade level, they must attend the summer enrichment program.   Additional detail on summer school and the East Hill enrichment program will be available at the end of May.  

Locker/Possession – Pick-Up:

We will be allowing students to pick up their possessions from their lockers on the following dates from 7:30 am – 10:00 am:  (Please wear a mask when inside the building):

PLEASE BRING BACK ALL LIBRARY BOOKS

  • May 14 – 9th Grade – Last Name – A-L / 6th Grade – Last Name-  A-L / Kindergarten
  • May 15 – 9th – Last Name – M-Z / 6th – Last Name – M-Z / 1st Grade
  • May 18 – 10th – Last Name – A-L / 7th – Last Name – A-L / 2nd Grade
  • May 19 – 10th – Last Name – M-Z / 7th – Last Name – M-Z / 3rd Grade
  • May 20 – 11th – Last Name – A-L / 8th – Last Name – A-L / 4th Grade
  • May 21 – 11th – Last Name – M-Z / 12th – Last Name – A -L  / 8th – Last Name – M-Z / 5th Grade
  • May 22 – 12th Grade – Last Name – M-Z / Pre-K

Please only have 1 student and 1 guardian in the school during the allotted times.   In addition, please wear a mask when in the building and bring a book bag or bag to take your belongings.   If you have a number of siblings in the same school or different buildings, you can choose one time to bring them all for that day.   Please bring back all the library books.

Events/Dates:

Pre K and K Registration – Registration forms are due May 15th – you can pick up the forms at East Hill or print them from this link:  https://www.canajoharieschools.org/pre-kindergarten-registration/ 

Kindergarten screening will take place during the first week of school.

  • Prom – August 7 – 6:00 pm – High School
  • National Honor Society/Junior National Honor Society – Fall – TBA
  • Baccalaureate Ceremony – June 14 – 7 pm – Virtual
  • Budget Hearing – May 28 – 6:30pm – Virtual
  • Budget Vote – June 9 – Mail in ballot
  • 5th Grade Moving Up Ceremony/6th Grade Orientation – September 2 – 6pm – Middle School
  • 8th Grade Graduation Ceremony/9th Grade Orientation – September 1 – 6pm – High School
  • Kindergarten Graduation – September 8 – 8am – East Hill
  • High School Awards – TBA
  • Class of 2020 Graduation – TBA – awaiting guidance from NYS on guidelines

All events and dates are subject to change.   As soon as we receive guidance from NYS on guidelines to follow we will update dates and times.

Food Service

 

Although classes are suspended until April 29, Canajoharie CSD students will be eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch options through this time. Any child under 18 years of age will be allowed to receive a healthy meal and snack choices through the district’s food service program.

Food service will continue as stated above.   We will be delivered on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week.   If you have a regular bus stop, the bus will stop between 8 am and 9 am.  If you do not have a bus stop, you can pick up the food at either the high school or the Arkell Library parking lot.

  • High School front foyer area
  • Arkell Library Parking Lot
  • At the regular bus stop areas.  The busses will go on their daily run and stop at each location during 8 am – 9 am.  Please make sure that there is someone waiting during this time.
  • All students (including K and 1st grade) who live in the East Hill and Moyer Street areas will have to pick up their food at either the high school or Arkell Library parking lot between 8 am – 9 am.
  • Village Restaurant will also be serving a free meal a day (grilled cheese or hot dog) anytime from 8 am – 5 pm as well if interested.

Essential Workers – Childcare Options

If you are a parent or caregiver who needs child care, New York State is using a portion of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) funds to provide child care to income-eligible essential workers at no cost.

Essential workers who must work outside of the home and who are using a regulated child care provider will receive a scholarship for the cost of care as long as the funds to support it are available. All licensed and regulated providers who are caring for essential workers can participate in this new program.

To qualify for the scholarship, families must have an adjusted gross income at or below 300% of the federal poverty level; for a family of four, that equals an annual salary of $78,600.

This allocation of funding for child care for essential workers comes to the state from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), which has provided New York with $163.6 million in emergency relief to the child care system.

COVID-19 Parent Application for CARES Child Care Scholarship: https://forms.gle/9Fk827RCQu3bokNA6

Parents are instructed to complete this application for the CARES Child Care Scholarship via the link above. It informs parents that the application will be considered complete once the online application is finished AND the required supplemental documentation is submitted to Brightside Up (Albany, Fulton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady).  Questions go to Tricia Howland at thowland@brightsideup.org.

For parents that currently receive a subsidy from their local DSS to pay for child care, this scholarship can cover the parent co-pay. Parents should apply for the CARES Act Scholarship, and then contact their local Department of Social Services to get a letter stating their current co-pay.

Provider Information Profile: https://forms.gle/4Dqdx6w3kGqrzcu87

This Program Information Profile at the link above is an application for providers to accept CARES Scholarship recipients and payments from Brightside Up. After completion of this profile, providers will be contacted by Tricia/Keely with further information about how they can participate in the program.

If you are in need of childcare please take this survey.

Per the executive order from New York State, local school districts will help families, who are essential workers to find options for daycare if needed.

Essential workers are defined as any work described in the NYS Governors Executive Order related to the COVID-19 epidemic. Essential Healthcare workers include licensed health professionals such as physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, LPNs and nurse assistants or laboratory personnel. First responders may include paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police officers, and firefighters.

We will work with these families to help find available local county placements and existing daycare opportunities where there are openings.

Please call the district office if you have any questions at 518-673-6302.

Supplemental Educational Activities

Starting Wednesday, March 18, supplemental educational activities will be sent out to students during the closure via online in the teacher’s Google Classroom.  If you do not know how to use Google Classroom please click this link for a quick tutorial The Parents’ Guide to Google Classroom.

If a teacher does not have a Google Classroom refer to the following link on our website under “Contact Us”  https://www.canajoharieschools.org/contact-us/  and click “Supplemental Educational Activities”.  The teacher’s name will have a link and when you click the name the supplemental educational activities will be available.

If needed we will be handing out paper and pens during our foodservice runs available and at the high school and the Arkell Library parking lot from 8 am – 9 am.  We ask that you follow your child’s daily schedule to ensure that the activities are complete. For example, if your child has physical education or art for one day, please click the links for the specific teacher to obtain the activities.

Attached are updated instructional plans for the middle and high school that will begin on Monday.   Teachers will be sending out information as well.   The new plans explain and organize what courses teachers will be covering each day.   The current plan at the elementary will stay the same and teachers will be posting weekly activity schedules starting Monday.    Please reach out to your teachers and principal if you have any questions.   Report cards were sent out on Wednesday, April 8 for the 3rd quarter.   The grading was primarily based on the first seven weeks of the 3rd quarter and any additional work that a student might have made up during the three-week closure.  It is very important that as we go through the 4th quarter that students keep up with their work to ensure that they pass their courses for this school year.

State Testing

All grades 3-8 NYS testing and regents exams have been canceled.  Students who are currently taking a regents course will receive credit for both the course and regents if they pass the course this year.   If a student passed a regents course last year but failed the exam, the student will also receive course and regents credit.  If a student fails a regents course, the student will have to take the course during summer school (information will be coming out in early June) or during the next school year.   If the student takes the course during the next school year they will have to take the regents exam.   Please contact your guidance counselor or principal if you have any other questions on this topic.

Devices and Internet

As of Wednesday, March 18, every household should be equipped with at least one device and have internet access.  For the students who need the devices and internet, we will be dropping them off during our food bus runs and also available to pick them up at the high school or Arkell Library parking lot from 8 am – 9 am.

Spectrum is also giving free access to the internet for 60 days.  Please contact them at 1-844-488-8395. Just as a note, this is free for only 60 days and you will have to cancel the service prior to that date or you will be charged.

If a household does not have a device or internet please call the respective school for information.  We will not be able to help with slow or intermittent internet service at your home. If you are having a technical difficulty with the device please email techsupport@canjo.org.

If you are having issues or problems with technology and cannot connect to the internet, google classroom or google meets, please fill out the following form:  https://www.canajoharieschools.org/it-help-request-form/

Student Services

If your child or your family needs guidance and/or assistance accessing resources, please feel free to contact your child’s counselor or our district via email.  Please be sure to provide your child’s name and specific concerns as well as the best way for the counselor to reach you and your child.

East Hill Elementary and Middle School: Sherri Buteau, School Counselor     sherri.buteau@canjo.org

Canajoharie High School: Amanda Rose, School Counselor   amanda.rose@canjo.org

District-wide: Lindsey Hodge, School Social Worker    lindsey.hodge@canjo.org

I want to ask everyone for their support during this time.  This is an unprecedented event that is ever-changing, with many questions that are still left unanswered.   I ask that people focus on today and plan for the best tomorrow.

Please visit the district website (www.canajoharieschools.org ) for critical details related to COVID-19/coronavirus.  We will be continuously updating information/details relating to this situation as it is shared with our district.

School Events

As the COVID-19 situation continues to develop, the district will do its best to preserve opportunities for our students and community.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the prom has been postponed to August 7 at the high school.  Further details will be communicated from the class advisors and officers. 

Information Resources

World Health Organization

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

New York State Department of Health

Call NYSDOH hotline at 1-888-364-3065  for more information about Coronavirus

Montgomery County Department of Health

Talking to Children about the Coronavirus COVID-19

Travel and Coronavirus

Regarding travel and quarantine measures, please know that the New York State Department of Health has made quarantine a mandatory measure for individuals returning to the United States from a known high-risk exposure area. Based on this, any student, student family member or employee who has traveled to a known high-risk exposure area should notify the school principal prior to coming to school, as well as the Montgomery County Public Health Department at 518-853-3531.

For more information, please visit the Center for Disease Control’s web page for coronavirus and travel, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/after-travel-precautions.html