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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 2020)
Wednesday, December 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon IN-PERSON: School has seen success with program Continued from page 1 our parents are happy and our staff is happy,= she said. <I have seen a deep apprecia- tion in our students for being able to be in school learning. They come to school with smiles on their faces, eager to engage in the day.= Sisters Elementary School is technically con- sidered to be operating under the state9s <Hybrid= model since students are in class in the building Monday-Thursday and do Comprehensive Distance Learning on Fridays. Kindergarten through third grade have been back in school since late September and fourth-graders returned last month. After being away from in-person instruction since last March, Warburg reports, teachers have been working to overcome some learn- ing gaps that resulted from distance learning 4 but she says the most visible change has been in students9 social and emotional well-being. <The biggest thing we have noticed is the almost immediate transformation in our students9 socio-emo- tional well-being once they enter our building,= she said. <Students who were really struggling in the CDL environment are thriving in the in-person environment. We have also noticed a dra- matic decrease in the num- ber of discipline incidents SUDOKU SOLUTION for puzzle on page 21 compared to previous years. The school is a peace-filled and happy place for our stu- dents and staff.= Warburg acknowledges that the success has not come easy and not without times of unease. <Our entire commu- nity has had to make huge adjustments in systems and procedures in how school functions this year in almost every activity,= she explained. <We had to con- sider all of the logistics of school and plan completely different scenarios than what we have ever done before.= Some of those logistics include planned bathroom breaks, students eating lunch in their classrooms and hav- ing recess with only their own cohort, and highly orga- nized protocols for entering and exiting the building. Warburg reports a tre- mendous amount of posi- tive feedback from parents. <Parents are so grateful for our team and the work our staff has invested to teach their children in person and they have shown amazing support for our school staff,= she said. The herculean effort to be open and stay open is not lost on Warburg. <It is important to give credit to our success to our entire support team, including those people who work in maintenance, nutri- tion services, and bus driv- ing for investing hours to ensure that all of the COVID requirements are met,= she said. <We could not have opened without their expertise.= Warburg also has high praise for her educational staff. <Our teaching staff is pas- sionate about doing what it takes to provide our students with a quality education in the midst of so many obsta- cles,= she said. <Every SES team member has brought their innovation and creativ- ity to create the absolute best learning environment for our students that we can.= Warburg appreciates the efforts by parents and the school nursing staff as well. <The key to remaining open has been the investment by our entire community to adhere to the guidance protocols,= said Warburg. <Parents are exercising an abundance of caution and keeping their children home for even minor symptoms and are quarantining pro- actively. They are commu- nicating with our nursing team to ensure that they are doing their part to support our health and safety. Our district nursing team is doing a great job in following up with each family when stu- dents are absent, and com- municating and supporting their children with what they need.= While counting all the blessings of being open, Warburg acknowledges that there is a constant, underly- ing concern, about keeping everyone safe and healthy. <Honestly, for me as the school leader, there is also the weight of responsibility over the health and safety of our students and staff,= she said. <This is why we have been such sticklers about the minutiae of the guid- ance from ODE. We want to ensure that we have done everything possible to keep each person in our building healthy.= That concern has obvi- ously increased recently as infection rates for COVID-19 have skyrocketed in recent weeks, putting Deschutes County in the <red zone,= which could mean a return to distance learning in January if that trend continues (see related story, page 22). Warburg hopes that with broad, concerted effort by the Sisters community and the It is my hope that we can bring our Sisters numbers down for the well-being of all of us. — Principal Joan Warburg county at-large, the infection rates will slow, because she believes that children being out of school can have long- lasting, negative impacts. <My greatest fear is that choices made by the greater community in our county, by people not connected to our school, could ultimately cre- ate a situation where we will have to close our school and move to distance learning,= she said. She continued, <I feel that the real losers in this COVID crisis are our children, so I encourage our families to continue to practice safety measures by limiting expo- sure whenever possible, wearing masks, and wash- ing their hands. It is my hope that we can bring our Sisters numbers down for the well- being of all of us.= Grounded in your community • Superior closing experiences • Strong relationships that last • Services and online resources that are second to none Stop by and visit with Shelley Marsh & Tiana Van Landuyt. 220 S. Pine St., Ste. 102 | westerntitle.com | 541-548-9180 1110 E. Cascade Ave., Rolling Horse Meadow Updated farmhouse on a large fenced corner lot in town. 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2,354 sq. ft. Newly remodeled kitchen and master bath. New roof, furnace, heat pump and more. Backyard with paver patio and water feature for entertaining, chicken coop, woodshed and RV parking. $789,000. 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