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Welcome to Howard Lake - Waverly - Winsted Public Schools!
 

Posted January 13, 2021

Grade 7-12 Return to Hybrid on January 19, 2021

At this time, we are planning to return Grades 7-12 to hybrid learning on January 19, 2021 (two days per week - - Group A & Group B). 

FOR THE WEEKS OF JANUARY 18 AND JANUARY 25, DUE TO THE SHORTENED WEEK, WEDNESDAY WILL NOT BE A DISTANCE LEARNING DAY BUT WILL INSTEAD BE A BLUE DAY AND “GROUP A” COMES TO SCHOOL.  THERE IS NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY THESE TWO WEEKS BECAUSE OF TEACHER WORKSHOPS.

We plan to monitor case rates and exposures during our return to hybrid and also now that sports have begun.  It is our hope that after two weeks in hybrid, 7-12 students will be able to return to “in-person” learning, targeting February 2, 2021, as the date of return.  Our initial plans could include the following:

            - February 1, 2021 – no school for Grades 7-12 – (planning day for teachers)

            - February 2-12, 2021 – Grades 7/8/9 in person; Grades 10/11/12 in hybrid

            - February 16, 2021 – ALL grades back in person

Please note that with the Governor’s latest orders, schools must TRANSITION back to in person learning with no more than THREE grades in a two-week period, per building.

We will get more clarification on this from our regional support team in the coming days, get our return plans finalized and approved by them and our COVID-19 Council in the coming weeks, and then get information out to students and parents.

We ask that parents continue to report symptoms and positive cases to our school nursing staff.  As we near the date of returning to school, we ask everyone to continue to help us be able to keep students in school by following the guidelines. 

Posted - December 17, 2020

Dear HLWW Parents & Guardians,

Please review all of the very important updates about our COVID-19 data and changes to our COVID-19 planning.  The plan on our website will be updated soon.  In the meantime, please use this for your reference.

Changes to School COVID-19 Protocol – Governor’s Order – 12-16-2020

Governor Walz announced on Wednesday, the following changes for school districts regarding COVID-19 procedures: 
 

K-6 Calendar Change

After reviewing the latest guidance and our current COVID-19 data, we are making a change to the school calendar for students in K-6. 
7-12 will still be in session doing “distance learning” until January 19.

NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS GRADES K THROUGH 6: MONDAY, JANUARY 4 AND TUESDAY, JANUARY 5. 
PRESCHOOL WILL STILL BE IN SESSION THESE TWO DAYS.

Our rationale for making this 2-day change is as follows:

• Taking two days off attached to the holiday break, instead of nearer January 18, seems less disruptive.
• We can plan for the new executive order changes and gradually implement them sooner, so they are in full-effect by January 18.
• We can spend some time readying our distance learning plan should it need to be implemented due to a future spike in cases or staff shortage at the K-6 level.
• 6^th grade will move back to their classrooms in anticipation of 7-12 coming back to hybrid on January 19.
• This will give us time to address and adjust staffing if needed, following the break.

School-Aged Care (SAC)

For January 4 & 5, SAC will be available for Tier #1 workers from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for FREE.  Transportation will also be available during its normal times (both a.m. and p.m. Route #1 and Route #2) for students of Tier #1 workers.  If you are interested in accessing SAC, contact Community Education 320-543-4670 or shorsch@hlww.k12.mn.us ASAP.  Request transportation through Community Education for these two days as well.  If you drop off your child before 7:30 a.m. or if they stay beyond 4:00 p.m., there will be a fee. 

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Posted - December 3, 2020

We are asking that while the students in Grades 7-12 are on distance learning, parents continue to report to our school nursing staff, any positive cases and exposures to COVID-19. You can do so by calling the appropriate school building and making the report to the health office staff as follows:

Humphrey Elementary: 320-543-4680 Ext. 3103

Winsted Elementary: 320-543-4690 Ext. 1124

HLWW Middle School/High School: 320-543-4600 Ext. 4501 or you can also do so by completing and submitting the following online form:

https://forms.gle/8YkR71pKoeU1ydFs5

It is important for us to be able to continue to collect data for two reasons:

1) Some students will still be coming into school on certain days for a variety of services. We need to monitor the health of those students to prevent possible exposures and spread.

2) As we plan for the eventual return of our 7-12 students, we want to continue to collect data in order to make the best informed decision we can about a change in learning models. We will use this data, along with age-specific positive case data from the county health department.

Thank you for your continued support during these difficult times. We appreciate everyone’s efforts.

Take care.

* * * * * 

Posted November 17, 2020

Dear HLWW Parents & Guardians,

We thank you for your continued support and understanding as we work through this pandemic.  This year has certainly been like no other.  We continue to keep the safety and health of our students and staff as a top priority.  Following the guidance of our regional support team and county health experts who review our plans and educational settings, we make the decisions we do, but also want to keep the education of our students as a top priority. 

Please review the following model changes to our learning models and the start dates:

Grades 7-12 – moving to Distance Learning – starting November 30, 2020 through January 15, 2021.

Weekly/Daily Schedule will follow what is in our original plan for M/T & Th/F (following the Gold/Blue calendar) and Wednesdays following our newly adopted schedule in the updated plan (see our plan guidance pages 14/15 for Middle School and 18/19 for High School, on our website - https://www.hlww.k12.mn.us/page/3993

Students in Grades 7-12 will not have school, in-person or distance learning, on November 23, 24, and 25, in order for teachers to plan accordingly for distance learning to begin (these are approved planning days in the MDE guidance). 

Grades Pre K-6 – continue our planned move to hybrid (ALL students continue to come to school every day – spreading them out to meet the 50% room occupancy and 6 feet of social distancing).

Students in Grades 5-6 will not come to school on November 25^th (this day will be used for teachers to move to larger spaces/rooms and for planning)


Meals for students in Grades 7-12 will be available for pick up at all school locations while we are on distance learning.  Please complete the sign up for this opportunity.  Here is the link: https://forms.gle/ZnSqqwrJEy65cFtm6  
              
At this time we are planning to continue with activities and sports.  However, should guidance change, we will then need to follow any new guidance that is given.

We want to thank our parents, students and staff for all their support as we work through these difficult times.  We want to continue to bring our younger students to school.   We want to offer a distance learning experience for our older students that meets their needs.  We also want to keep everyone safe and healthy while trying to manage all of our operations.

Please watch for updated information coming out from our school principals and please, as always, reach out to them if you have questions about any of the aspects of our learning models.