Jon Granberry

To all KDG - 2nd Grade parents: All iPads at the grade school are ready to pick up. I will be in the office until shortly after noon today, Friday March 27th. Thanks, Mr. Granberry

Jon Granberry

To Kindergarten - 2nd Grade parents:
If you took a school issued iPad home, PLEASE return it to the school at your earliest convenience. We are having a software issue and it needs to be updated by our technology supervisor. Even if it is working, it will need to be reset at the school or it will soon quit working. If you cannot bring it back today by 4pm please call the office at 785-421-3425 to schedule a drop-off. My apologies for the inconvenience, Mr. Granberrry

Jon Granberry

Dear Parents and Students of Hill City Grade School,

I hope this letter finds you well. We will be allowing students into the Grade School this Wednesday and Thursday, March 25 and 26th (whichever day works best for your family) starting at designated times based on the first letter of their last name. This will start at 8am with last names beginning with A, B, and C runs 1 hour at a time. This is in the hope to minimize exposure to family, students, and staff. We would appreciate it if you could come at the beginning of your hour. We will only be letting 10 students in at a time, please do your best to be on time. Please bring backpacks, bags, grocery sack or trash bag to clean out lockers and pick up needed supplies, and drop off all library books. You will be allowed to take home your students' computers/iPad. To do so, parents will need to review the attached technology agreement. We will only release the computer/iPad to students who are accompanied by a parent/guardian or trusted adult with a signed permission form. The person signing the technology agreement will be responsible for all damages or loss. The full schedule is listed below. At the bottom is the link to the Technology Agreement. Please review it in advance.

Both Wednesday and Thursday, March 25th, and 26th
8-9am A-C
9-10am D-G
10-11am H-J
12-1pm K-M
1-2pm N-P
2-3pm Q-S
3-4 T-Z

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fm42vi-RsI02dq8LbJGRpy4XgbEQBnGj/view?usp=sharing

If you need to reach the school please don't hesitate Mrs. Kennedy or Me via email: jongranberry@usd281.com; melaniekennedy@usd281.com
Thanks,
Mr. Granberry

Alan Stein

I hope everyone is doing well. Starting Tuesday, March 24, students of Hill City Jr./Sr. High School will be able to come to the school to pick up books for classes, computers and charging cords, music instruments, and to clean/gather personal items out of their lockers. Please reference the schedule below for your date and time to come to the school. Your time is scheduled by the beginning letter of your last name. If there are multiple students in one household, please come at the time designated for the oldest student. I will meet you at the main entrance and will only allow one student in the building at a time unless; they are from the same family. If you have any questions, please reach out to me at alanstein@usd281.com. Sincerely, Alan

Tuesday, March 24
9:00 AM - Seniors with the letters A-B-C-D-E-F-G
9:45 AM - Seniors with the letters H-I-J-K-L-M-N
10:30 AM - Seniors with the letters O-P-Q-R-S-T
11:15 AM - Seniors with the letters U-V-W-X-Y-Z

Wednesday, March 25
9:00 AM - Juniors with the letters A-B-C-D-E-F-G
9:45 AM - Juniors with the letters H-I-J-K-L-M-N
10:30 AM - Juniors with the letters O-P-Q-R-S-T
11:15 AM - Juniors with the letters U-V-W-X-Y-Z
1:00 PM – Soph. with the letters A-B-C-D-E-F-G
1:45 PM – Soph. with the letters H-I-J-K-L-M-N
2:30 PM – Soph. with the letters O-P-Q-R-S-T
3:15 PM – Soph. with the letters U-V-W-X-Y-Z

Thursday, March 26
9:00 AM – Freshmen with the letters A-B-C-D-E-F-G
9:45 AM – Freshmen with the letters H-I-J-K-L-M-N
10:30 AM – Freshmen with the letters O-P-Q-R-S-T
11:15 AM – Freshmen with the letters U-V-W-X-Y-Z
1:00 PM – 8th Grade with the letters A-B-C-D-E-F-G
1:45 PM – 8th Grade with the letters H-I-J-K-L-M-N
2:30 PM – 8th Grade with the letters O-P-Q-R-S-T
3:15 PM – 8th Grade with the letters U-V-W-X-Y-Z

Friday, March 27
9:00 AM – 7th Grade with the letters A-B-C-D-E-F-G
9:45 AM – 7th Grade with the letters H-I-J-K-L-M-N
10:30 AM – 7th Grade with the letters O-P-Q-R-S-T
11:15 AM – 7th Grade with the letters U-V-W-X-Y-Z

Jim Hickel

Educational Update
Since the announcement last Tuesday of closing school buildings, administration and teachers have been working on retooling to deliver instruction to our kids. Thursday, the Kansas Department of Education provided guidance to us for this process. Friday, principals met with teachers to begin discussion for developing our plan. Over the next two weeks, teachers and administration will be developing a Plan for Continuous Learning. The Department of Education is giving us two weeks to get our plan developed and begin instruction. Due to the limitations on face to face contact, USD 281 will be evolving to a digital instructional delivery model for our primary mode of instruction. This will require students to have access to the internet. In the event internet access is not currently available to the student, we are asking parents to try to get service through a phone hotspot, MiFi access point, or contact a service provider about providing temporary access. If you are unable to do so due to finances, please call your child’s school office and let us know. Working together we will figure it out.

The next two weeks:
Principals will be developing a schedule for children to get in the school, retrieve their personal possessions, and pick up their computers and books to take home for the remainder of the school year. Look for this in the upcoming week.

Teachers will be lesson planning. When they are ready to start instruction, they will post it on the live feed or/and will be contacting your child through their district google email.

7-12 grade students – Teachers are working toward starting some instruction March 30 with the digital plan and be fully immersed by April 6. Communication will be through a variety of apps: Google Classroom, Google Meet, posting links provided through student email.

K-6 grade students – Instruction will begin April 6.
Communications through: Google Classroom, Class Dojo, See Saw, and others.

Teachers will notify parents and students of the app to be used and prepare training videos if needed. Contact your teacher by email once instruction begins if you have questions. If a problem with technology arises, contact the teacher or principal and if needed the student will switch to an individual learning platform.

We are definitely building this plane while flying. Please be patient with us. Teachers are working to do their best for your children.

Jim Hickel
Superintendent USD 281