Walden Elementary

Dear Walden Families,

In an effort to encourage Walden families to fill out the Walden School Fee Waiver Application (details and application link attached) we will be sponsoring a raffle with varying gift card prizes. As you know Walden stands to lose up to $650,000 in annual funding that directly supports students if we fail to meet the required number of applicants.

Each applicant (whether you end up qualifying for the waiver or not) will be entered into a raffle to be held on September 30th. Applications already received for the 21-22 school year will be included in the drawing—remember we must receive a new application each year.

This week's special surprise raffle is an incredible and unique pair of special edition sneakers.

Next week's prizes are as follows:

1 Grand prize of $150 to Target

3 Giftcards of $75 to Target

4 Giftscards of $50 to Barnes & Noble

5 Giftcards of $25 to Malawi's Pizza

All of us are working hard to keep Walden as safe from COVID-19 as we can. We are so very grateful for everyone's efforts. Unfortunately COVID-19 is still rampant in our communities. With the emergence of variants and the persistence of positive cases, it has been an uphill battle.

Based on feedback we have received from many parents, one of the problems people are facing is that it feels more difficult to get tested this year. Last year we were able to provide testing like this in school and many of you would like to continue to have that option. To that end we have partnered with Beechtree Laboratories to help for the school year and would like to make their COVID testing services available to students, staff, and families.

We plan on having them here once a week on Fridays for in-school testing of any students and staff who wish to be tested, and they can make their high grade tests available at no out of pocket cost for families at home and emergency use for when an unforeseen event arises. Please sign up if this is a service you think you will want either now or in the future.

For students who are in quarantine: Tomorrow, Friday morning between 8:00-9:00 AM if you have registered and have the right QR code, you can park your car on the shoulder of university avenue right outside the high school someone will come out to your car to administer the test.

ABOUT BEECHTREE

Beechtree is a highly experienced laboratory based locally in Draper UT. They have been testing across the US supporting states, municipalities, airports, schools, hospitals, drive thru sites, the US Military and the movie, oil, sports, and fishing industries – the advantages Beechtree offers us are:

• Very Fast Turn Around. Beechtree is local, based in Draper so they will be able to offer super-fast turnarounds – same day for am testing or overnight for pm testing.
• Best Science. Keep our school safe and kids in school by minimizing false negative and false positives – RT-PCR Test using our 4 Gene Test. You can be confident on the Variants of Concern.
• Simple, Fast and Efficient. Seamless for students with one-time registration and consent. End to End platform which includes QR code Health Pass, individual/parent, school dashboard and state mandated reporting requirements.
• Zero Cost to You. Beechtree are a full-service laboratory with years of experience billing insurance and HRSA for the CARES Act so there is no cost to the parents or students. As required by the CARES Act your Students and Parents won’t get a bill from Beechtree for individual diagnostic testing.
• At Home Test Kit. Should you need a test to be conducted at home prior to the start of term or a sports program or for anyone isolated or quarantined the Beechtree at-home kit is ideal.

We will be following the latest CDC and State Guidance for the 2021/22 School Year. The CDC
recommends a layered approach including regular screen testing and they state, “to be effective, the screening program should test at least once per week, and rapidly (within 24 hours) report results.” High risk sports activities may require twice weekly testing.

REGISTRATION AND CONSENT

Please register your child and provide consent for testing in the Beechtree application by scanning the QR Code. This is a one-time registration and consent for the school year. You can withdraw consent at any time but won’t need to register your child every week. Once registered a QR Code is provided to the child’s phone. If they do not have a device a lanyard Card will be provided.

Oct. 13: Parent/Teacher Conferences — No School

Oct. 11-13: No school for kindergarten (P/T Conferences all three days)

Oct: 14-15 Fall Break — No school
Oct. 18: Professional Development for Teachers – No School

Regular Schedule

M—TH: 8:30 to 3:00

• Drop-off from 8:20 to 8:40
• Breakfast Club from 7:30 to 8:20
• A.M. Kindergarten from 8:30 to 11:00
• P.M. Kindergarten from 12:30 to 3:00
  

Fridays: 8:30 to 1:00 (P.M. class, please note that times were previously listed incorrectly.)

• A.M. Kindergarten from 8:30 to 10:15 (tablet time (optional) from 10:15 to 11:00)
• P.M. Kindergarten from 11:15 to 1:00 (tablet time (optional) from 10:30 to 11:15)

Walden Calendar

Breakfast/Lunch Calendar

The front office is open from about 8:30 to 4:00 M—TH and 8:30 to 1:00 on Fridays. If you arrive at the school during these hours and have business to conduct with the office, you can call 801-374-1545 and someone we will gladly come out and assist you. If you want to come inside, please be prepared to have have your temperature taken. Please note that we cannot accommodate requests to check out a student after 2:40. If you need to check out your student, please make arrangements to do so prior to prior to 2:40.

Thank you for your patience as we get reacquainted with the process of picking up elementary students at the end of the day. Please note these basic procedures:

• Your family has an assigned number tag for pick up. A driveline worker will enter this number to alert your child's teacher that you are safely on school grounds and your child(ren) can be released to go to their car in the driveline. If you do not yet have a number tag, please go through the line and a tag will be provided to you.
  
• If you are sending someone else to pick up your child, please make sure they have the driveline number tag (or contact the front office for other arrangements).
  
• If you prefer to park, you can let the driveline worker in the front of the building know your number and then you can wait out side the school. Please do not come into the school or go directly to the classroom to retrieve your student as this can contribute to a chaotic and unsafe environment.
  
• Please do not park off campus and ask your child to cross the street on the south end to be picked up as this also contributes to an unsafe environment and promotes illegal jaywalking.
• With parent permission, students may provide a number to the driveline worker for younger siblings once their ride is safely on school grounds. Please do not have students go into other classes to pick up younger children (again, for safety reasons).
• If you have need of alternative arrangements unique to your family, please contact Michele at the front office or Lois (lois@waldenschool.us) to work out the specific details of your situation.
  

We recognize that pick up time is a time when added safety procedures are essential to keep all our students, families, and staff safe. We welcome your suggestions and appreciate your ongoing support.

Elementary school clubs are in full swing. Clubs run from 3:15 to 5:00 Monday through Thursday and 1:15 to 3:00 on Fridays. To reserve a spot for your K-5 student, please complete the form at this link (even if you have previously completed the form elsewhere):

• English Registration Form

• Spanish Registration Form

The form will ask you for your student's ID#. This is the four digit identifier in SIS. Do not worry about the attendance requirement listed in the form. At Walden, we do not mind if your student attends every day or just once in a blue moon. Please complete the registration as soon as possible.

We are delighted to announce that, again this year, we can serve breakfast and lunch to every student for free. In the past, there has been a bit of confusion since this applies to the initial meal only. If your child gets seconds or asks for only part of a meal, it does not qualify as free and you will see a charge to your child's account.

The catch is that we still need free and reduced applications from everyone in order to keep all the wonderful extra programs that we receive through federal grants (see related section in this newsletter). Please help us by submitting your application as soon as possible.

So school is back: Yay! But back with it are kiddos getting sick, with a vengeance! It's like a backlog of diseases is spilling through schools right now and despite our major efforts here at Walden there isn't much we can do to stop an outbreak from sending everyone back home unless we all join together to make a difference. And if the numbers are right, it might be only a matter of time.

I wanna tell you about a secret weapon you can use that make it so that even if your child is exposed to COVID they can stay at school. So, masks are great, please encourage your kiddo to wear them, but did you know that if they wear a medical grade mask, an N95, that even if they are exposed to COVID they are considered protected. It's like a bulletproof vest for viruses. and here's the even better news: the Governor is sending us one for each child right now; they should arrive by Monday. We will pass them out and if your child uses it, they may stop themself from becoming just another statistic!

Because of the pandemic, we limited volunteerism at Walden last year. We recognize that our health and safety are still at risk and yet, we are anxious to reconnect with parents, grandparents, and families through our combined volunteer efforts. Watch this section of the newsletter for ideas of how your efforts can contribute to the school and to our students. In the meantime, please send ideas to es.office.manager@waldenschool.us.

We can always use help with the maintenance of facilities. If you enjoy pulling a week or two on occasion, you can adopt a corner of our outdoor environment to tend. If you have visions of something grander, we would love help with larger projects of upkeep and maintenance. Let us know at es.office.manager@waldenschool.us.

Email: es.office.manager@waldenschool.us
Website: https://www.waldenschool.us/
Location: 4230 North University Avenue, Provo, UT, USA
Phone: 801-374-1545