TSD News & Notes
January 13, 2021
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Health Information for Students and Staff in Schools
Here are a few health-related items for students and staff in schools to be mindful of:
- Students will be using hand sanitizer at times during the school day. Parents may send their own student-specific hand sanitizer if desired.
- When calling in a student absence for illness, please list your child's symptoms to the staff member or on the voicemail system.
In addition, the following guidelines have been put in place in collaboration with the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment:
Students and teachers should not be in school with symptoms, even mild ones. Children in particular can show mild symptoms while still spreading the virus to others.
Students with symptoms must be isolated in a designated area until they can be picked up.
Students and teachers with symptoms should be sent home and should see their provider to rule out COVID-19. If students will be attending school with a major symptom (please see the document linked below) that is a usual symptom they experience due to a chronic condition, please update your student's school health record with the medical diagnosis related to the symptom.
Students and teachers may return to school in accordance with the following guidance. (To view the documents, please click the links below to open a website version of this newsletter, then click them again to download them.)
Thompson School District COVID-19 Testing for Staff and Students
How do I get tested for COVID-19?
In partnership with the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment (LCDHE), TSD staff and students ages five (5) and older will be able to access free COVID-19 testing through the district. Staff and students will register through LCDHE’s COVID-19 testing portal. Registration will open at least two days prior to the testing event. TSD staff and students will use a link provided and a pin specific to the TSD testing events.
Testing Link: https://larimerhealth.secure.force.com/RegisterForTest/
TSD Pre-Registration ID #: TSDRAPIDTEST20
What should I expect when I arrive at the TSD testing center?
Expect to be greeted and asked for your TSD badge/ photo ID. If you do not have a TSD badge, staff will verify your eligibility in our student/staff record system.
You must wear your mask/face covering.
You must sign a liability waiver. If the individual is under 18 years of age, their parent/guardian must be present to sign the waiver.
You will be given a label that aids with reporting results.
Note: Parents/Guardians must be able to safely control their minor child or we may be unable to perform the test due to safety concerns.
COVID-19 Testing Information:
Symptomatic (sick)--RAPID TEST*
Details: The Health Services Team will only administer tests to people who have at least one COVID-19 symptom and are at least 5 years old
Location: Ray Patterson Stadium at Thompson Valley High School (1669 Eagle Drive; Access testing site from Eagle Drive)
Days: Monday, Wednesday and Friday (excluding holidays; Student testing beginning January 20, 2021)
Time: 6:30-8:30 a.m.
Results: Same day email
Asymptomatic/Symptomatic--PCR TEST*
Details: This testing can be completed on people with or without COVID-19 symptoms and are at least 5 years old
Location: Thompson School District Administration building (800 S. Taft Avenue; Access the testing center from Carlisle and Taft (near Ziggi’s Coffee).
Days: Wednesday (excluding holidays; Student testing beginning January 20, 2021)
Time: 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Results: Typically available within 2-5 days and will be sent by email. There are sometimes delays at the lab and some results could take longer. If you do not receive your results from LCDHE within this timeframe, please call 970-498-5500 (Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.) or text LCDHE anytime at 970-999-1770.
* Both tests are completed using a nasal swab procedure
Evaluations of TSD Online Programs In Progress
Thompson School District commits to continuous improvement which includes deep study and evaluation of current programming. We are working with Colorado Empowered Learning and the iLearn Collaborative as they engage in a comprehensive audit of both Thompson Connect Online Programming (new in August of 2020 as a response to the pandemic) and our long-standing online program, Thompson Online Learning. The audit will be finished this week and next steps include the creation of a detailed report of findings as well as recommendations moving forward.
We look forward to engaging in planning for the 2021-2022 school year with these recommendations at the center of our work. Please watch these newsletters for more information.
New Classroom Behavior and Organizational Management Software
This school year, the district has rolled out some new software called Securly Classroom and JAMF School. The purpose of this software is to give teachers the tools they need to manage their classrooms and students during online learning. They are complements to the learning management that occurs through the Google Classroom platform.
Securly Classroom software is a cloud-based classroom management tool for Chromebooks, giving teachers the ability to guide, monitor, and communicate with students during class. This helps remove distractions and keep kids focused on learning.
Teachers can guide the class by instantly pushing web pages to individual students or the entire class. This gets students on task quickly, especially when using long URLs. They can also save links to their commonly accessed sites into a “collection” which they can launch on all devices in class with just one click. To get the attention of the class, they use Screen Lock to provide a custom messages.
Teachers can keep kids focused and on-task by removing distractions from student devices. Similar to Push URL, Site Lock can be used to open specific web pages on student devices while blocking all others. Site Lock can be used for all students, specific groups, or individuals. When a teacher is reviewing a list of all open tabs on a student’s device, Tab Control allows them to select and close any site on that device. Plus, teachers can block specific websites within their classroom, even those allowed by the district’s content filter.
Teachers can monitor all current activity across all devices at a glance to easily spot an off-task student. Securly is looking at the student's TSD issued account, not the device. It does not see any locally stored documents. It also does not see any information about what the student was doing on their computer with a personal account (such as gmail, yahoo, or other personal account). It provides a thumbnail view of all screens in class to see that everyone is on task. Teachers can zoom in on any screen, including all available open tabs and then close any websites not related to the coursework in a single click. It also gives them access to all student browsing histories that occur during class. Teachers can check history for any of their own students at any time, while administrators have access to the history for all students. This is used to monitor appropriate online behavior according to the Student Technology Use Policy and Agreement.
Teachers can send class-wide announcements or start one-on-one conversations with individual students. All teacher-student messages are logged in a chat history, and can be reviewed by the teacher or administrators at any time. Students are able to get the teacher’s attention or ask for help using a special alert that appears as a glowing hand on the teacher’s device. Teachers can send announcements to the entire class (“You have 10 minutes to finish your test”) or to individual students (“Please see me after class”). Students must acknowledge the message by clicking on it before they can continue working.
Jamf School Software is the counterpart to Securely Classroom, but for iPads. It allows the ITS Division to tailor apps and restrictions suitable for specific grade levels, classes and even, in some cases, individual students. The Jamf Teacher component gives teachers the tools to manage, assign or restrict specific websites, apps, the camera and other features. The teacher has the ability to lock all or individual student iPads, hide specific apps for a set amount of time, allow specific teacher-approved websites and perform other device functions. Jamf Teacher also allows the teacher to communicate with students as a “chat” function in a group or individually.
Within Jamf Teacher, the teacher has the ability to create a lesson plan, including the materials, content, websites, documents, videos and links they might need for the lesson. Jamf Teacher also integrates well with the Google Meets platform that many teachers and students are accustomed to using.
Jamf Student is an app that is installed on student iPads. This app allows the student to communicate with the Jamf Teacher app. This is how the student can access the teacher’s assignments and instruction. One useful function of this app is the “Raise a Hand” function. This allows instant and private communication with the teacher.
As you can imagine, managing a classroom of students on technology while teaching is challenging during normal times, much less during remote learning. This software gives teachers the tools needed to teach, organize and manage the class in real time.
Please Help Our Students in Need
Clothe our Kids - clothing drive for local homeless and in-need students is asking for:
- Shampoo/conditioners
- Body wash
- Deodorants
- Toothbrushes/toothpaste
- Feminine hygiene products
To donate, please call or text Brenda at 720-839-9218 or email atteway@gmail.com