Return to School Information…

Dearborn Public Schools is excited to announce the district has met the COVID measurements set by the Board of Education and will start phasing students and staff back to in-building learning.

February 18, 2021 – In person learning labs will start. Classrooms teachers will schedule the students.

March 1, 2021 – Kindergarten, 1st and second grade students will start the Hybrid schedule. 2 days of face to face learning with half the students from the class. 2 days at home doing asynchronous review work (no live classroom instruction). Gym, Art, Music, Media & Technology will have at least one live lesson on the days at home. Wednesday will be the same as now for all students.

March 8, – Pre-school, Third, fourth and fifth grade students will start the Hybrid schedule. 2 days of face to face learning with half the students from the class. 2 days at home doing asynchronous review work (no live classroom instruction). Gym, Art, Music, Media & Technology will have at least one live lesson on the days at home. Wednesday will be the same as now for all students.

Social distancing guidelines will be followed to help students/staff be safe. Students will eat lunch at school.

A parent meeting will be held soon. You will have an opportunity to ask questions and get additional information.

I know this news is both exciting and stressful.  We will work through this transition together. Please call the school if you have any questions or concerns.

Mr. Joe Martin
Principal
River Oaks Elementary
313-827-6750

Online Learning Will Continue Through October 12

Online learning in Dearborn will continue until at least mid October after the Board of Education approved the extension during its regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 14.

Dearborn Public Schools started the new school year on Aug. 31 all online until at least Oct. 1.  The Board’s vote on Monday night extends online learning at least until their next meeting on Oct. 12.

The district is also delaying the small group in-school learning labs it had planned to start next week.

The Dearborn community has had a high number of COVID-19 cases per resident in recent weeks, and the board felt it was not yet safe for the community to return students to in-school learning.  Besides the total number of COVID cases, the district considers the number of cases per resident and metrics like the percent of COVID tests that come back positive in the county, called the positivity rate.  The Wayne County positivity rate has risen to its highest point in months at more than 6 percent. 

Dearborn Public Schools has almost 21,000 students. About one-fifth of the students signed up to attend an online only Virtual Learning Program for this school year.  The rest will return to in-building learning once the board approves the reopening of schools.  At Monday’s meeting, the board heard different options for possibly reopening with blended learning where half of the students will attend school at one time while the other half works online from home.

The Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education will take up the issue of reopening schools again at its next meeting on Oct. 12.  The public meeting will start at 7 p.m. in the Administrative Services Center, 18700 Audette, Dearborn.  It will also be broadcast live on the district’s YouTube and cable channels, and community members will be able to submit comments online.  State law requires the Board of Education to reevaluate local COVID-19 conditions and reconsider in-school learning every month this year.

The extension of online learning also means that the weekly free student meal distributions will continue on Fridays through at least Oct. 9.  Food is available for any district student or any child under 18 in the household.  Pickups are from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bryant Middle School, Dearborn High School, Edsel Ford High School, Fordson High School, Henry Ford Elementary, the Dearborn Heights Campus (Howe/STEM/Berry Center), Lowrey School, Maples Elementary, McCollough-Unis, McDonald Elementary, Miller Elementary, Salina Intermediate, Smith Middle School, Stout Middle School and Woodworth Middle School. 

For more details on food distribution or for the latest information about online schooling, please visit the district website at www.dearbornschools.org.

Daily Schedule

Please remember that you must join my Zoom meeting 3 times per day.

  • 8:55 — Reading
  • 10:30 — Math
  • 12:25 — Writing, Science, or Social Studies
  • Individual or small group meetings will be scheduled in the afternoon and I will notify you if and when you should meet.

Please be on time and have your materials ready. Attendance will be taken at each meeting.

If you are having trouble logging on, internet, or technical issues, please email me at fowlerj@dearbornschools.org.

If you are missing due to illness or appointments, please call the office to report an absence at 313-827-6750.

Daily Schedule

Here is an outline of what our class schedule will look like.

Daily Schedule

TimeSubjectActivity
8:55ELA- Zoom MeetingMini lesson- 10 minutes
Brain break- 5 minutes
Read Aloud – 10 minutes
Rhyming- 10 minutes
Shared Reading-20
Brain break- 5 minutes
Phonics/Spelling/ Handwriting- 15 minutes
10:30Math- Zoom MeetingFluency- 15 minutes
Application Problem- 10 minutes
Mini Lesson- 20 minutes
Problem Set – 10 minutes
Exit Ticket- 5 minutes
Homework – On your own
11:45-12:25Lunch
12:25Zoom MeetingWriting/Science/Social Studies
1:00SpecialsSchedule will be coming
1:55-3:50Independent Work/ Learning LabsLearning Labs will not be starting until September 21.

Thursday’s Schedule

Good morning! We will be having two (2) Zoom meetings today as we build towards our normal learning schedule. The Zoom link is on Schoology at the top of the course page under Announcements. It does work- I tested it!

I do expect student to be prompt and logged in and ready at the start time. Being logged in on time will reduce the interruptions and help keep everyone focused and engaged. I do take attendance and enter it into the district database.

Our 9:00 session will focus on building our rules and expectations. Then we will do a fun activity to learn more about ourselves. I will be providing a copy of the activity in Schoology so that you can work on it independently after my mini lesson and then we’ll meet together to share our Name Story.

At 10:30 we will continue with practicing our rules and expectations. Then we will do a few Math warm up fun activities to get our brains back in the game! Again I will post links to the activities so that you can revisit them as you like.

A schedule for how our day will look during online learning will be sent later today. The district is still tweaking how to incorporate the Specials (Gym, Music, Art, Media) into the day.

Again thank you for your patience.

We’ve got this!

Chromebook, Math books, and supplies Distribution

Good Evening River Oaks Families.  The staff at River Oaks Elementary would like to thank you for your patience and understanding during the opening of the 2020/2021 school year. 

On Monday, August 31st   from 1:00-3:00pm chromebooks, math workbooks and supplies will be distributed.  This will be a drive thru system.    Please pull up and pop your trunk.  A staff member will place your child’s materials in your car. 

Starting today and continuing next week your child’s teacher will be contacting you via email or a phone call to introduce themselves and share information regarding the beginning of the school year. 

Dearborn to continue free weekly meal pickup, but student information will be required

Free weekly meal distributions will continue after school starts online this month and will expand to more school locations.  However, the program will have some changes, including requiring proof that the recipients are Dearborn Public School students.

Thursday, Sept. 3, will be the first day for the new school-year program.  Parents or other adults still will be able to pick up a week’s worth of lunch and breakfast items for students.  The adult, though, will need to provide the name, school, and student ID or student number for each student receiving a meal pack. Parents are encouraged to pre-order meal pickup through the Nutrislice website or app.  This will allow them to enter the student information once for the year.  The software will remember the information the next time the adult goes to pre-order.  If they don’t pre-order online, the adult will have to provide the information at pickup.

The meals will continue to be free to Dearborn Public School students.  After the first week, weekly meal packs will be distributed on Fridays, starting with Friday, Sept. 11.   

With the restart of school online, the district is also doubling the number of locations where student meals will be distributed.  Meals will be available for pickup from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. each week at Bryant Middle School, Dearborn High School, Edsel Ford High School, Fordson High School, Henry Ford Elementary, the Dearborn Heights Campus (Howe/STEM/Berry Center), Lowrey School, McDonald Elementary, Maples Elementary, McCollough-Unis, Miller Elementary, Salina Intermediate, Smith Middle School, Stout Middle School and Woodworth Middle School. 

At most locations, adults will be able to stay in their vehicles and pull up to have food loaded in their car. Families that pre-order will be able to use a special designated line. Student meals can be collected from any building, even if the child attends a different school.

Dearborn Public Schools began offering free food distribution in March just days after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered schools to close to slow the spread of COVID-19.  Food distribution was initially funded under emergency provisions of the School Lunch Program.  Food distribution continued over the summer through a separate federal summer nutrition program, which will end in Dearborn with the distribution on Aug. 27.  Neither of those programs required the district to collect student information.  With the restart of school, though, Dearborn Public Schools now is required to link each meal to a district student in order to be reimbursed through the National School Lunch Program.  Each meal pack will contain a breakfast and a lunch for each day of school that week.  Most packs will have 10 meals (five each of breakfast and lunch), but some weeks may be smaller due to days off school.

The district has been distributing more than 60,000 meals a week and has handed out more than 1.25 million meals since the shut down in March.

“We are glad Dearborn Public Schools is able to continue to distribute free nutritional meals to our students,” said Jeff Murphy, director of food services.  “We know this service is important to many of the families who participate.”

Food Assistance Available

Dear Families,

As you know, the coronavirus has caused an economic crisis as well as a health one. This pandemic continues to impact families in our district in many ways, including layoffs, income changes and financial strain.

If you have recently lost income and need assistance with food, you may be eligible for a benefit through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP provides a monthly benefit on an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card (known as the MI Bridge Card) that can be used to buy food at grocery stores, farmers’ markets (see attached), and any food store with the USDA sign “EBT Accepted.”

If you are eligible, you could begin receiving benefits within 30 days. The card is mailed to your house and benefits are uploaded each month directly on the card.

Applying is quick and confidential. If you have general questions or want more information, please visit www.michigan.gov/mibridges or call 888-544-8773.

Start of the New School Year

As the new school year is approaching, there will be some changes to how we communicate student placement. This year, in order to help our community avoid large gatherings, class lists will not be posted. Instead, our classroom teachers will be e-mailing or calling the parents/guardians of students in their class. We will be having virtual orientation next week and classroom teachers will be sharing information about themselves, their class, and the focus for the upcoming school year via our classroom blogs.

I will be sharing information as soon as I get it. I will begin contacting students and families in my class beginning tomorrow afternoon – Friday, August 28, through early next week.

I can’t wait to personally tell you who’s in my class! Here’s a BIG surprise… I’m teaching FIRST GRADE!!!

yayayaya