Pentwater Public Schools

Please see the attached flyer for the first PTCO meeting for 2020/2021!

Good Evening Pentwater Family, please check out the link below for a video update from Dr. Karaptian. https://youtu.be/Sj5JvKojkkw

Here are a few area locations where students can access free wifi for remote learning if needed, thank you to these organizations for allowing our families to use your services: Pentwater Centenary United Methodist Church May access from car on Hancock St UN: Centenary PW: Umc82Pent Pentwater Public Library UN: PW: PentwaterLibrary Up North Market May access from car in parking lot UN: Guest PW: None

Pentwater Public Schools needs you! EDUSfaff is an educational staffing company that specializes in training and providing quality substitute teachers (or guest teachers), substitute paraprofessionals, and other employee types for Pentwater Public Schools. Founded in 2010, EDUStaff has quickly become known in our educational community for providing outstanding customer service to their partnering districts, external employees and guest teachers! Log on to www.EDUStaff.org to apply or you may contact customer support at 877-974-6338.

Pentwater Public Schools thanks Cosmic Candy Co. for the wonderful fall inspired Pumpkin Spice Latte popcorn that they shared with all of our staff; we live in an awesome community!

Good afternoon, Please review the attached letter from Dr. Karaptian with an update on the 9/17/2020 soft lockdown at Pentwater Public Schools. Thank you!

Dear Family and Friends, As you may have heard, the State has continued on with the summer meal program that allows all students to receive free meals (breakfast and lunch) to include students in a remote setting, at least until the end of the 2020 year. With the above being said, if you would like your Blended/Hybrid/Remote student(s) to have breakfast and lunch provided for them, please note these distribution times: Group A students may pick up their meals at the end of the day on Tuesdays (2:45 p.m.) from the cafeteria before they leave for the day; Group B students may pick up their meals on Fridays at the end of the day, also at 2:45 p.m.. If your student(s) is participating in the Full-remote platform, they may pick up all of their meals for the week on Monday mornings from 8:00-10:30 a.m. at the back (north) side of the school building. Parents of younger students (or any student for that matter), who might be a bit small to carry several days worth of meals on their own, regardless of what group they are in, you may also pick up meals on Wednesdays from 8:00 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. in the back (north) side of the building. We also want to remind everyone that our Return To School tab in our website and in our Pentwater App is now active with all of the necessary information, ranging from materials from the Health Department to How to Access Google Classroom and so much more. Please go to the Pentwater website at www.pentwaterschools.net and click on the Menu pull down screen, once you do this look for the yellow Return To School button at the top right hand side of the screen. Thank you very much for your understanding and continued cooperation as we figure this whole new world together. Respectfully, Dr. Scott Karaptian

Support local food banks & receive delicious, locally grown fruit from Oceana County!

Band masks are being made! On Saturday, September 12th, 2020, Ms. H and several volunteers at Sew Let's Be Quilty in downtown Pentwater started the first batch of practice masks for our band students. We will have masks and bell covers for rehearsals and then another set for concerts - this makes it safe for us to play our instruments inside! We're so fortunate to have such an awesome community. Thank you Amy Shotwell for opening up your shop to us and helping our students make music this year!

All Star Driver Education is, once again, offering classes beginning in September for both Segment I and Segment II. The link to register and to see dates/times and pricing can be found at https://allstardrivereducation.netdrivered.com/main/location/PentwaterHighSchool (either click on the link or copy paste in your browser) Thank you!

A friendly reminder that the U.S. Dept of Agriculture (USDA) announced it has agreed to extend the federal waiver for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO). This extension allows any and ALL children to receive meals from schools and community sites operating SFSP and SSO at no cost, whether learning remotely or face-to-face. We encourage all families to complete and submit a Free & Reduced Meal Application, this helps cover state reimbursements for the meals. The application can be downloaded from our website, completed and turned or you may apply online through our website. Please note that the tentative daily food menus have been added to our website. Our head cook and staff, Paul Skupien and Michelle Parnell, are excited to bring these delicious menus to your students. Being able to have a healthy nutritious meal is incredibly important and we are thankful for the work that Chartwells is doing for our students.

Picture day is next week! Pictures will take place in the small gym/cafeteria. Group A - Tuesday, 9/15/2020 Group B - Friday, 9/18/2020 100% Remote - Please choose either 9/15 or 9/18 for your picture day and be at the school between the hours of 10:30am and 1pm. You will need to enter the school through the back entrance by the library/small gym! The online link for ordering is https://prepay.geskusphoto.com/?A=4679 (copy and paste in browser)

Dear Families and Friends, We have some great news, earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it has agreed to extend the federal waiver for the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO). The waiver was set to expire, and this extension goes through the end of 2020 or until federal funds run out. Specifically, this extension will allow any and ALL children to receive meals from schools and community sites operating SFSP and SSO at no cost, whether learning remotely or face-to-face. We still encourage all families to fill out and submit Free & Reduced meal applications, this helps cover state reimbursements for the meals. I ask that you complete the following survey (https://forms.gle/87Yk3L4uT8hTHfeH9) regarding your students and meals that you would be participating or needing. Students participating in the Blended/Hybrid method may also pick up meals for their remote learning days, prior to leaving for the day (either Tuesday for Group A and Friday for Group B). Also students participating in the full remote method may pick up a weeks worth of meals. Chartwells will be getting us more information soon, but we will first need to get accurate counts. Thank you for helping us get an accurate count of necessary meals daily and weekly! Respectfully, Dr. Scott Karaptian

Please review our 9/7/2020 weekly parent update document!

Just a quick reminder for all students prior to returning to school next Tuesday. Please do a quick once over your house, to include under beds, to seek any books or materials that need to be returned from the end of the last school year. If you find anything, please bring them in and return them Tuesday. See you soon!

There will be an additional Chromebook pickup today from 10am-1pm. Please come to the back of the school to pick up student devices for grades 2-12.

Please check out the video below from Dr. Scott Karaptian. https://photos.app.goo.gl/qzU6GzCgkzwBCNax9

Attached is our August 2020 newsletter. Please note that our district calendar on Page 4 is tentative and may undergo changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The first week of school was updated after the newsletter went to print. As noted in earlier communication, we have altered our first week of school to the following schedule : Tuesday, 9/8: Group A (7:50am-11:30am Dismissal) Wednesday, 9/9: Group A (7:50am - 11:30am Dismissal/Tech Prep begins in PM) Thursday, 9/10: Group B (7:50am - 11:30am Dismissal/Tech Prep in PM) Friday, 9/11: Group B (7:50am - 11:30am Dismissal/Tech Prep in PM) We will update families as soon as any changes have been made to the district calendar. We thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Technology Device Pick-Up (Grades KG and 1st) We have ordered devices for all kindergarten and first grade students and we were hoping that they would be in by the start of the school year, unfortunately, that is not the case. We are anticipating that the devices will be in and available for pick-up by the end of the second week of school. Once the devices arrive, Mr. Rossiter will need to set them all up before they can be distributed. In the meantime, the students who are in the A and B groups will receive traditional work while in class and the remote students will receive packets for the first two weeks of school. We will be notifying everyone when the devices are in. The A and B groups will get their devices in class and we will contact the remote learner families when the devices are ready for pick up. Device pick-up for grades 2nd-12th grades is scheduled for Wednesday, 9/2/2020, from 9am - 3pm in the school library

Please take a few minutes to review the attached Back to School Parent Information sheet. If you have any questions, please contact the school.