Ms. Sims' First GradeDearborn Public Schools

Dec 13th Thank you DuVall

Dear DuVall Family,

I have enjoyed being a part of the DuVall family for the past 11 years. During this time, I have been lucky enough to teach amazing children, work with engaged families, and collaborate with gifted teachers and administrators. I have missed seeing everyone this past fall. 

At this time, I have made the decision to retire. I will miss all of the wonderful children, families, and coworkers that have been a part of my life. Mr Attee has been able to create such an engaging elementary school, and I know that he will continue to strive to make sure all children will be well taken care of in the future. 

I do want to thank you all for the phenomenal experiences I have had at DuVall. I’d especially like to thank my grade level colleagues over the years for their support and partnership. I also want to thank Addison Linderman for nominating me for “Teacher of the Year” for the 2019-2020 school year. It was an amazing honor that I will always remember. Please know that all of the staff at DuVall work collaboratively to create the best experience for our children and that everyone is lucky to be a part of the community. 

I know that being a member of the DuVall community will help everyone achieve fantastic accomplishments in the future. 

Love, Ms Sims

Sep 7th Information for Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Good evening parents!

We have a new substitute starting on Monday. Her name is Marianne Frank and many of the students will recognize her because she a very good sub that has spent a lot of time in our building. She even subbed for Mr. Tapp last year and remembers working with the kindergarteners. She is very excided to get started tomorrow.

Her email address is frankm@dearbornschools.org

We will start on our Schoology and Zoom lessons. Tomorrow will be our first day and there is a folder on Schoology with the slideshows for every day next week. Mrs. Frank will present them live on Zoom before they are available for parents to read through.

School starts Tuesday at 8:55. I know Mrs. Frank is excited to meet everyone!

Sep 3rd Going to Schoology and Zoom

How to access Schoology and zoom through Schoology. The link should bring to to Ms Jaber’s Schoology. The directions are provided by our building’s bilingual teacher.

Sep 2nd Supply pick up day

Good morning parents!

Please go to school today between 9-10am to pick up your school supplies to use at home. The pick up area is off of Francis street at the pre-school door.

Please create put the supplies in a basket or a backpack that will be in the same location in your house. If the supplies stay in one place it will be very easy to grab what you need for instruction.

*Parents from last year’s class, I’m sorry you are getting my blogs. I really do not know why. My screen on my computer and my cell phone says that I do not have any subscribed users so I cannot delete you. Sorry!

Sep 1st Email Address

The substitute’s email address is: jabere@dearbornschools.org

Ms. Sims

Sep 1st Freckle and X-tra Math

Parents,

If you have your child go through “Clever,” they can use Freckle which has reading and math activities. X-tra math is also available and it has math activities to do. You must be logged in with your child’s account (User name is their Dearborn Public Schools ID number and their password is their birthday – DDMMYYYY). Both programs are reached by going through the “Student Portal” from the Dearborn Public Schools website. Freckle has the class code of SIMS5R. To my knowledge, there isn’t an extra password for X-tra math.

Sep 1st Back to School Poem

Hello Parents and Students!

Here is a “Back to School” poem to read together and to have your child practice reading. Please look for the sight words you know and find rhyming words.

During this time, please watch the Schoology training videos so you are ready to start the new year. I was told they are available for you on your child’s Schoology.

Sep 1st 1st week of school activities

Just a reminder, your child needs to be logged into the chromebook with their username and password to access some of the activities.

Aug 31st DuVall Elementary 2020-2021 Student/Parent Orientation

I have a video about the new school year. I hope this gives everyone more information about what to expect. The district will be providing the Schoology Login information soon.

The links on the side of this blog are active and students can use them for some educational practice.

Aug 30th Happy first day of first grade!

This is quite a strange way to start the year.  As I had mentioned in the letter from last Friday, I am your child’s teacher for this school year and, unfortunately, I have some medical challenges that need to be addressed at this time. We are fortunate to have Eman Jaber as our substitute teacher.  I have not had the opportunity to talk to her yet, but will help her get the year started to the best of my ability and I am sure Mrs. Grahl and the staff of DuVall will assist also.

The district wants to see that your child is working this week.  Many teachers will be checking in using zoom. I am unavailable to be in contact but hopefully Ms. Jaber will be able to make a zoom call at the end of the week.  

How we can make sure your child is marked as “present” this week:

1.  I have included a student handbook that you will need to review with your child and fill out the form.  That will show you have done some work:

Students and parents,

As part of our school’s orientation for this fall, please review the Student Online Learning Handbook and have complete this form to acknowledge that you have read through and discussed the handbook and expectations.   Also, please list any questions they have about the start of the school year online.  Your questions, as well as those from other families,  will be answered on an online learning FAQ page on the DuVall School News Blog. Please fill out the form by Thursday, September 3rd.  

Thank you for your help!

2. Please drive up to the preschool door on Francis street and a staff member will bring out your child’s supplies.  Pick up is on Wednesday, September 2nd between 9-10am.  If you cannot make it at that day and/or time, please call the office and schedule another pick up.  Please find somewhere for your child’s supplies so they are easily accessed when they are needed for zoom meetings, homework, or learning labs. 
3. Ms. Jaber will make a short phone call to introduce herself to your family.
4. Please go on Schoology to familiarize yourself with the program and prepare yourself for the in-depth instruction to come. I do have some work I wanted to post on Schoology, but I have been told that Ms. Jaber will have her own account so I didn’t want to make this time more confusing by having you go to both Schoology sites. 

Please see the handout below.  You can find your child’s ID number on last year’s report card or their registration information.  I recommend leaving it with your child’s school supplies. 

Ms. Sims

DuVall First Week Orientation with Classroom Teacher

Student Name:  

Student ID (This will be your username to log in):

Student Birthday (MMDDYYYY – this will be your password to log in):

Student Portal website:  https://dearbornschools.org/student-portal/

• You can log into Schoology by clicking on the icon.

• You can log into Khan Academy and Mobymax using the Clever link.

Zoom info:  Class meetings will be linked in the Schoology Course.  There will be synchronous times where we meet together as a whole class as well as in small groups.  There will be time for students to work on asynchronous learning tasks by themselves away from the computer.   A schedule of meeting times will be posted in the Schoology course.

Updated School Hours:  School starts at 8:55 a.m. and finishes by 3:50 p.m. on a regular online day and at noon on a half day.

Dearborn Public Schools Back to School Plan:  https://dearbornschools.org/backtoschool/

• Parent expectations:  The Parent’s Role

• Student expectations:  The Student’s Role

• Staff expectations:  The Teacher’s Role

As part of our school’s orientation for this fall, please review the Student Online Learning Handbook and have complete this form to acknowledge that you have read through and discussed the handbook and expectations.   Also, please list any questions they have about the start of the school year online.