Pentwater Public Schools

On Friday, 1/22/2021, the 5th grade students had their last day of music instruction for the current rotation and spent it playing and composing on our NEW Orff instruments!

If you read just 1 book a day to your child, beginning at birth, he/she will have read 1,825 books by his/her 5th birthday. Imagine the vocabulary you would expose your child to and the excitement your child would experience from the magic of reading!

Tune in this morning (Tuesday, 1/19/2021) on the school page at 11am! The HS Jazz Band will be doing a brief Live event for our final exam. Hope to see you there!!

3rd graders working on abstract portraits after reading, “When Pigasso Met Mootisse!”

3rd graders working on abstract portraits after reading, “When Pigasso Met Mootisse!”

All Star Driver Education will be running a late February class for both Segment I and Segment II drivers. The class will be held virtually and testing will be done at Golden Sands Golf Course. The dates are: Segment I Dates/Times (all Seg I times are 3:30pm-5:30pm): 2/23, 2/24, 2/25, 3/1, 3/2, 3/3, 3/4, 3/8, 3/9, 3/10, 3/11 Segment II Dates/Times (All Seg II times are 5pm-7pm): 2/16, 2/22, 2/23 Please go to the link below to register your student: https://allstardrivereducation.netdrivered.com/main/location/PentwaterHighSchool

January 6, 2021 Hello Family and Friends, I am sending this message out to remind everyone that we will be returning back to school full face-to-face (F2F) for students in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade on Monday, January 11, 2021. We will continue with our previous schedule of four days F2F on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with Wednesdays staying full-remote and students in grades 7- 12th grade will return to the 7period day schedule. We would like to remind our JH/HS students that during the week of January 18-22nd we will be administering final exams for Semester 1 classes. Additionally, due to the less than desirable circumstances of the pandemic, we have made the decision to reduce the weighted category grading for Semester 1 grades for high school students to be as follows: Marking Period 1 - 45%, Marking Period 2 - 45%, and Semester 1 exams - 10%. This represents a reduction from the typical 40%/40%/20% weighted grading scale. No change has been made to JH classes which will be maintained at the 45%/45%/10% weighted scale. The students remaining in the full-remote setting may need to come into school during the afternoons of exam week to take their exams with their teacher. The teachers requiring on-site exams will be making contact via email or communicating this requirement in their Google Meet sessions or Google Classroom communications. Some of the teacher’s exams are project-based and may be completed from home while the standard paper & pencil exam may be necessary to take in person in the school building. Remote students should contact their teachers and make arrangements to take their exam. If you have any questions as to which your child's teacher is requiring, please contact them directly for dates and times. We would also like to remind families who will continue to have their child remain in the full-remote platform to please notify the school of this decision as soon as possible so that we can mark their attendance participation appropriately. I also want to remind and encourage all of you to continue with the required pandemic safety measures and protocols of wearing masks, sanitizing hands frequently, social distancing, and, if your child is not feeling well, please Do Not send your child to school. We look forward to seeing everyone back in the building Face-to-face on Monday, January 11, 2021! Respectfully, Dr. Scott Karaptian

Theo is looking forward to seeing everyone again on Monday, 1/11/2021!

Please review the attached flyer, for your information!

Good Afternoon and Happy New Year Everyone! First I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year and I hope that you were able to have a restful, safe and healthy winter break! I want to remind everyone that tomorrow we are returning to school in a full remote environment for this next week only, this applies for all students grades K-12. Students in grades 7-12 will continue to be in the block schedule that we were in prior to break and all of the remote learning expectations apply to all students. Students in grades K-6 will follow the schedule that your teachers have provided you. I encourage all students and parents to refer to your students teachers Google Classrooms for further information for the schedules, lessons and expectations for the week. I also want to remind all of you that the reason that we are returning to a full-remote learning environment this week is to provide a period of time that we can all safely distance to allow all of our students (K-12) to safely return face-to-face on Monday, January 11, 2021. So during this week if you have traveled or met with members of your family outside of your household or with friends, I encourage you to use this time to safely distance yourselves from others to allow everyone to return to school safe and healthy. Also remember that if your child is not feeling well, even if they have simple cold symptoms, please keep them home until they are symptom free for at least 24 hours. Just remember to contact the front office to let Mrs. Hugo know that your child will not be in school that day. When we return face-to-face on Monday, January 11th, we will be returning with all students (K-12) back in the building and students in grades 7-12 will return to the 7 period day schedule and not to the block schedule. If you wish to have your child remain in the remote learning format, please call or email the front office and your child's teacher to keep them informed of this decision. Again, Happy New Year and I look forward to seeing all of you back in the building on Monday January 11, 2021! Sincerely, Dr. Scott Karaptian

In preparation for this holiday season, twelve students from 2nd and 3rd grade worked diligently on their reading skills so we could create and share our "Gift of Reading" video. The video has been shared with 7 assisted living and extended care facilities in the Hart, Pentwater and Ludington communities. It is our hope that this video of the children reading will bring joy and happiness to the residents at those facilities, during these challenging times.

December 18, 2020 I am sending you this notification to inform you that today the Governor announced that 9-12 grade students may return to the classroom as of 12/21/2020. We will obviously be on our winter break at this time, but when we return to school after the holiday break on January 4, 2021 we will still be returning to a full K-12 remote learning platform for the period of one (1) week. However on January 11, 2021 we will resume K-12 face-to-face instruction. For those students who wish to stay full-remote, please notify Mrs. Hugo either by email shugo@pentwater.k12.mi.us or call at 231-869-4100. With the above said, it is still very important that I strongly encourage everyone to put the safe practices and protocols to use during the entire holiday break. The health department agreed that this 10 day period could weed out 99% of symptomatic infections, but only if we follow these safe practices! I want to remind all of you that Dr. Morse of the DHD#10 encourages the following: If you have ANY symptoms of COVID-19 (see https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html) get tested ASAP and DO NOT return to school. You can find testing locations, including sites that are free and don’t require a doctor’s order at www.mi.gov/coronavirustest or by calling 211 Do not travel or gather with others outside of your immediate family If you still decide to travel or spent time with others, consider getting tested 5-7 days after you return from travel or the gathering (for travel recommendations, see under “consider testing” at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-during-covid19.html) If you have not yet gotten your flu shot, please do so ASAP, and make sure you and your loved ones are up to date on vaccines that prevent other illnesses such as whooping cough or pneumonia. Lastly if your child is not feeling well, even if it is a slight sniffle or runny nose, please keep them home until they have been 24 hours without any symptoms. We would like for everyone that is returning to Face-to-Face instruction on Monday, January 11, 2021 to be safe and healthy! By working together and following all of these protocols this will allow all of us to return to a safe learning environment for everyone! On behalf of The Pentwater Public Schools Board of Education, Administration and staff, we thank you for all of your continued support and we wish all a safe and happy Holiday Season! Be safe and well! Dr. Scott Karaptian

Pentwater Public Schools' food service will be distributing student meals during the holiday break on the following dates/times: Monday, 12/21: 8am-10:30am Monday, 12/28: 8am-10:30am Monday, 1/4: 8am-10:30am Please come to the back (north) kitchen entrance and a food service worker will bring the meals to you Have a wonderful holiday season!

We wish to thank our community for their continued support of our students and staff here at Pentwater Public Schools! We were gifted yummy gifts from the Methodist Church from the Oldewick Post Gift Shoppe of Pentwater. An anonymous community member also gifted each staff member with delicious flavored coffees from the Oldewick Post and parent, Mary Ann Bush, brought in these beautiful red roses "Just Because". Thank you and have a blessed holiday season from your friends at Pentwater Public Schools!

December 14, 2020 Dear Families and Friends, I am sending you this notification to inform you that when we return to school after the holiday break on January 4, 2021 we will be returning to a full K-12 remote learning platform for the period of one (1) week. Returning in full-remote will allow our students, families and staff a 10 day period to quarantine following the holiday season before returning to the classroom. With the above said, it is very important and I strongly encourage that everyone put the safe practices and protocols to use during the entire holiday break. The health department agreed that this 10 day period could weed out 99% of symptomatic infections. Dr. Morse of the DHD#10 encourages the following: If you have ANY symptoms of COVID-19 (see https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html) get tested ASAP and DO NOT return to school. You can find testing locations, including sites that are free and don’t require a doctor’s order at www.mi.gov/coronavirustest or by calling 211 Do not travel or gather with others outside of your immediate family If you still decide to travel or spent time with others, consider getting tested 5-7 days after you return from travel or the gathering (for travel recommendations, see under “consider testing” at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-during-covid19.html) If you have not yet gotten your flu shot, please do so ASAP, and make sure you and your loved ones are up to date on vaccines that prevent other illnesses such as whooping cough or pneumonia. Lastly if your child is not feeling well, even if it is a slight sniffle or runny nose, please keep them home until they have been 24 hours without any symptoms. We would like for everyone that is returning to Face-to-Face instruction on Monday, January 11, 2021 to be safe and healthy! By working together and following all of these protocols this will allow all of us to return to a safe learning environment for everyone! On behalf of The Pentwater Public Schools Board of Education, Administration and staff, we thank you for all of your continued support and we wish all a safe and happy Holiday Season! Be safe and well! Dr. Scott Karaptian

Please join us from the comfort of your home (or place of work!) On Thursday, 12/17/2020, at 10am for a Facebook Live Winter Concert presented by our very own JH Band! Looking forward to seeing you there! 🎄

We are celebrating Holiday Spirit Week during the week of 12/14 - 12/18!

Congratulations to all of the newly inducted members of the PHS National Honor Society! A Virtual Ceremony was held Wednesday at 7:00 pm.

Due to the restrictions put in place by the MDHHS and out of an abundance of caution, we will be postponing our annual Holiday Craft Fair for the Pentwater Bands that was scheduled for Saturday, December 5th, 2020. We are in the midst of rescheduling for the summer of 2021. Be on the lookout for more info in the coming months! Stay safe and happy holidays! 🎄

Dear Friends and Families, Pentwater Public Schools, Spectrum Health and District #10 Health Department want to applaud you for your continual diligence in practicing safety protocols to limit the spread of COVID-19. in our school and community. We are encouraged by the responsible way parents are notifying schools when symptoms and/or possible exposures occur. Thank you! Despite this good work, the number of positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have increased dramatically in the past two weeks in our area and across the state. Most often, these cases are due to social interactions when people were closer than six feet and masks were not worn. We are very concerned this trend will continue and the impact it will have on the care the hospitals are able to provide to us locally. Hospitals are already seeing alarming capacity complications and staffing difficulties at our hospitals. We can all do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19. We implore you to follow social distancing guidelines, wear masks when in public and wash your hands often. This is a critical time for our entire community. With the holidays coming up, we are asking everyone to do these four things to reduce the spread of the virus: Wear a mask in public spaces, stay at least six feet away from others, wash your hands frequently and notify school as soon as your child develops symptoms or is known to have been exposed to the virus. With the Thanksgiving Holiday just a few days away, we encourage you to follow the CDC and health departments guidelines so that we can continue to keep our doors open to face to face teaching and learning. Please see the attached document from the Spectrum Hospital and DHD #10 . Thank you and be well! Dr. Scott Karaptian