Cunningham Messenger

August 27, 2020 - social media edition

All the News from the Coolest Little School in South Austin!

Principal's Message

Happy Thursday!

Our Village is fully up and running and it feels good to get back at it. Teachers are busy building their courses and planning enriching and engaging learning experiences for our Cobras. I am confident that this will be a positive experience for our students.

In this week's edition of the Cobra Messenger you will find:

*Information about student material pick-up (September 2nd and 3rd)

*Grade level schedules

*An overview of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)

*A Blend Tutorial (used PK3 - 5)

As we embark on our out-of-school adventure, we want to encourage everyone to practice a bit of grace with ourselves and others. While life can feel challenging at times, our Village is strong and we will rise to the challenge together!

Please reach out if we can assist you in any way. We are here to support our Cunningham Community.

In Learning & Growth,

Heather Petruzzini

Principal

Mensaje de Directora

¡Feliz jueves!

Nuestra Village (aldea) está ya en pleno funcionamiento y se siente muy bien volver a hacerlo. Los maestros están ocupados creando sus cursos y planificando experiencias de aprendizaje enriquecedoras y atractivas para nuestras Cobras. Estoy segura de que esta será una experiencia positiva para nuestros estudiantes.

En la edición de esta semana del Cobra Messenger encontrara:

* Información sobre cómo se distribuirán los materiales de los alumnos (los días 2 y 3 de septiembre)

* Los horarios escolares por nivel de grado

* Una descripción general del aprendizaje socioemocional (SEL)

* Un tutorial de la aplicación Blend (que será usado por los estudiantes de PK3 a 5)

Mientras nos preparamos para embarcarnos en esta aventura fuera de la escuela, queremos animarle a mantener su bienestar personal, así como el de los demás. Si bien la vida puede parecer desafiante a veces, nuestra aldea es fuerte y ¡estaremos a la altura de este desafío unidos!

Comuníquese con nosotros si podemos ayudarlo de alguna manera. Estamos aquí para apoyar a nuestra comunidad de Cunningham.

En aprendizaje y crecimiento,

Heather Petruzzini, Directora

September 3rd: Meet the Teacher via Zoom. Homeroom teachers will reach out to schedule small group sessions with the class.

September 2nd & 3rd: Socially Distant Supply Pick Up @ Cunningham. Information Below

September 8th: First day of School for the Virtual Village

2:45pm - Schoolwide Assembly via Zoom
see your email for zoom information

September 11th: 8:00 - First Schoolwide Friday Assembly featuring Ms. Petruzzini, Ms. Rodriguez, Ms. O'Connor, and Ms. Quigley. We will host this every Friday morning via Zoom and then repost later on the Cunningham Cobras social media channels. (Yes, we will still give out character awards every Friday!)

See your email for Zoom information

September 24th: 6:00 - 7:30 Back-to-School Night - Homeroom Teachers will Send out Zoom

Information

October 5th: Restart Phase-In Begins - more information forthcoming

October 12th: Staff Development, No School For Students

October 30th: DOI Day for Teacher (PD) - No School for Students

AUSTIN ISD SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR

Material Pick-up

We want to inform all parents that we have done our best to gather all student materials that were left behind after school abruptly closed last semester. We also recognize that not all student materials have been recuperated. The Cunningham Village would like to thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Queremos informar a todos los padres que hemos hecho todo lo posible para reunir todos los materiales de los estudiantes que quedaron después de que la escuela cerró abruptamente el semestre pasado. También reconocemos que no todos los materiales de los estudiantes se han podido recuperar. Se les agradece su comprensión en este asunto.

SEL - Social Emotional Learning

Dear Families,

Most of you have probably heard the acronym “SEL” used plenty when talking about best practices in schools but maybe you don't actually know what SEL means and what is encompasses?

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is a process for helping children and adults develop fundamental skills for life effectiveness. SEL teaches the skills we all need to handle ourselves, our relationships, and our work effectively and ethically.

These skills include:

Recognizing and managing our emotions
Developing caring and concern for others
Establishing positive relationships
Making responsible decisions
Handling challenging situations constructively and ethically

Below you can see the SEL wheel (click image for link to Spanish version) that offers a framework to guide our lessons and teaching practice. The start of the school year will focus on Relationship Skills, Self-Awareness and Self-Management.

Click to learn more about SEL at Home. The link includes parent/caregiver resources, SEL activities and mindfulness practices.

With Peace, Love, and Gratitude,

Ms. O’Connor

Marisa.Oconnor@AustinISD.org

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Explaining Schedules

We know that many families are eager to see their child's schedule for out of school learning. Below you will find links to each grade level's daily schedule.

Here are the schedules for:

We always keep our master schedules in a draft form for the first few weeks - inevitably there is something that we feel can be made better for our students. The schedules you see above are what we are working towards - not how we start off the year on the first day of school. Traditionally, we usually designate the first 20 days to establish routines and procedures within the classroom. Please keep this in mind that as we begin this adventure together. Just as "Rome wasn't built in a day," neither are classroom and learning routines.

Your teachers will reach out if there is a schedule change and to communicate the days of the week for Music, Art, and PE.

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*Ms. Alkis will reach out to PK3 families and share the "flow of the day" with families as it looks and feels quite different.

Austin ISD Reopening Plan

Welcome to Blend & Seesaw!

In the Spring many families became familiar with either Blend or SeeSaw. This year we will use Blend (as known as Canvas to some) as our Learning Management System. SeeSaw will still be used, however, it is embedded in Blend.

Below is a quick tutorial to get acquainted with Blend. Teachers will share more at Meet the Teacher next week!