Welcome Back Grizzlies!

We want to officially welcome all of you to the 2021-2022 school year! Summer has come and gone for us and now we must move forward with many exciting changes and updates. This summer felt a little more “normal” as many of us got to travel and spend time with family and friends which wasn’t a possibility last summer due to COVID-19. We have all worked together this past six weeks to make the best of the uncertainty and have been progressing steadily to
preparing for a fantastic opening of school on July 26th, 2021. We are very privileged to have the opportunity to return to school this year as part of your administrative team. We are honored to have the opportunity to work with our highly qualified and dedicated staff, our wonderful students, and all of our supportive CGS parents. This school year, Clover Garden School begins our 21st year in operation as a distinguished charter school! We have many exciting projects in the works and the future is bright for Clover Garden School! We are glad that you choose to
continue or are choosing to begin and participate in this adventure and journey with us!

The educational years are critical times of development for students and families and we look forward to working with all of you to make this school year successful! We understand that this school year may continue to be a challenge as we continue to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic. But, we are committed to our students and families and will work hard to ensure that your child has the best quality education at CGS! This year can and will be one of the best with plenty of hard work, determination, and flexibility.

In-Person Learning

Beginning on July 26, 2021, Clover Garden School will be returning to a traditional educational setting operating in Plan A for all students K-12. All students will operate on a normal school day schedule of 8:00 A.M. until 3:00 P.M (MS/HS students will resume their normally scheduled 6 class daily schedule) Clover Garden School will continue to follow the guidance provided from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), Governor Cooper’s executive orders, Center for Disease Control (CDC), Alamance County Health Department (ACHD), and the NC
Strong Schools Toolkit.

Remote Learning:

Remote learning will only be an option for students that identify as high risk from Covid-19. If you believe your student is considered high risk and you would like to explore alternative learning options, you will need to reach out to administration immediately. Please reach out to Mrs. Jennifer Cox, Covid-19 Coordinator at jennifercox@cgsnc.org or by phone at (336) 586-9440 ext. 309.

Mitigation Updates in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19:

Clover Garden School will continue to keep the following mitigations in place to help prevent the spread of Covid-19. Mitigations that will be in place on July 26, 2021 until further notice are as follows:

• Face Mask Requirement:
  • Face Masks will be required to be worn on campus while indoors. Please see additional guidance below. We will continue to update our CGS families on changes or updates that take place in regards to this policy.
    • “Face coverings will be worn by all workers, teachers, guests, other adults and children age five (5) or older. In public and nonpublic schools, all workers, teachers, guests, other adults and children five (5) years or older must wear face coverings when indoors, at all times, unless an exception applies.(Examples of exceptions can be found in Executive Order No. 163)” (Information provided can be found in the NC Strong Schools Toolkit)
      • (This requirement could be subject to change pending current legislation pending in regards to Senate Bill 173 “Free the Smiles Act.” This would give local boards of education the authority to decide whether face masks would or would not be mandated in the school district. Currently, Executive Order No. 163 (which is set to expire at the end of July) requires schools to abide by the NC Strong Schools Toolkit guidelines which mandate face masks to be worn in schools. This document was last updated on 7/9/21. This document is also subject to change.)
  • Face Masks are required to be worn while riding on a school bus.
• Limiting Non-essential Visitors
  • Visitors will continue to be limited during the school day. Parents may come into the front office to check in/out a student but will not be permitted to travel throughout the building into classrooms.

Cafeteria:

• For the 2021-2022 school year, the cafeteria will operate and be available to serve hot lunches.

• There will be an increase to our vendor catered cafeteria lunches. Lunches will now be $4.00. Please contact our Cafeteria Coordinator, Mrs. Melissa Quimby at melissaquimby@cgsnc.org for questions or concerns regarding setting up your student’s lunch account.

• At this time, the cafeteria will not be used for eating lunch. Students will continue to eat lunch in their classrooms or outdoors during their designated lunch time.

• Vending Machines will not operate until further notice.

• Water fountains will continue to be utilized as filling stations for student water bottles.

Partitions:

• Partitions have been removed from elementary classrooms.

• Partitions will only be located in high traffic areas such as in the front security office and building 2 commons area.

Social Distancing:

• Social distancing of 3-6 feet will be encouraged throughout the school day.

Quarantine Guidelines:

• Quarantine guidelines have been updated from our local health department and has been reduced from 14 to 10 days of quarantine from date of potential exposure to Covid-19.
• No longer will household members/siblings, etc. be quarantined if students are identified as “close contacts”.

Screening Procedures:

• The daily symptom screening process via Google form has been removed as a requirement for our CGS families. We trust that our families will NOT send their students to school if they are exhibiting any symptoms of Covid-19.

Testing:

• We will not complete antigen or diagnostic testing for Covid-19 on campus at thistime. This decision was based on liability on the school for collecting testing samples, staffing needs, and reliability of the antigen testing kit which only is successful if a student is symptomatic.

Committee Work:

• The CGS Health and Wellness Committee that consists of CGS faculty/staff and CGS parents will continue to meet monthly during the 2021-2022 school year.

Cleaning:

• Daily sanitizing and cleaning practices will continue to take place by teachers and custodial staff.
• Hand Sanitizer stations will continue to be filled and located throughout the buildings.
• Air filtration systems will continue to be monitored and evaluated for efficiency

Canvas Learning Management System:

This year we will continue to use the online learning management system Canvas. However, the material placed within Canvas will be more limited than what was provided online last school year. This is due to the fact that our instruction will be taking place “in-person” this school year versus fully virtual which was our instructional plan last year. Canvas expectations differ amongst grade levels for our teachers so they will be in touch with you in regards as to what will be available on Canvas. Students will be able to access Canvas at any time. Parents are expected to create their parent accounts within Canvas so that you can monitor your student’s progress throughout the school year. Teachers will continue to use the Canvas Gradebook and PowerSchool to document your student’s progress. Things that will be available to students and parents on Canvas include but are not limited to: Sunday announcements, assignments,
resources, parent information and updates, etc. Students will be expected to bring their school issued devices to school every day as teachers will continue to use Canvas to drive their instruction. Our Canvas Committee will continue to exist this school year and will be able to assist in any way possible to help make the school year a success for you and your student. Their email address is canvasassistance@cgsnc.org.

• Instructions on how to set up Parent Portal and Canvas Observer Accounts
• Canvas: http://cgsnc.org/home/grizzly-life/parents/canvas-resources-for-families/
• ParentPortal: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D5gZ0pHMgrH6ziar8xwhTmR0gFXjZM3R/view?usp=sharing

One-to-One Initiative:

We are very excited to announce that this school year all students in grades 5th-12th will have a school issued laptop. This is a wonderful advancement for our school and for our students. We are excited about making this an available teaching tool for both our students and teachers to utilize. Students will be expected to take care of their devices and bring them to school daily. Laptops for 6th -12th grade will be distributed during Open House in our school’s cafeteria. 5thGrade Laptops will be distributed in the classroom. Parents, you will need to assist your student with picking up their laptop. You will need to help your student complete a User Agreement document and pay the laptop insurance fee if interested. There will be faculty/staff available to assist you with this.

Buses:

Our Clover Garden School buses will run as according to schedule this school year. Our 2021- 2022 School Bus sign up will open up for our CGS families on Monday morning, 7/19 at 9:00 A.M. This will be sent out via email. Please make sure that you review the bus routes carefully as they have been updated for this school year. You can click on this link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jpfRGmGJ6yc5XYcK7Y0e0xcgj_maOCfe/view?usp=sharing to access the bus routes. Bus availability is first come-first serve. Once spots are filled, students will be placed on a waiting list.

Ways to get involved at CGS?

Volunteer with Mobile Serve!

We believe that students perform better in academics and future endeavors when parents are actively engaged in their education. As an organization, we ask that all families volunteer at least 40 hours a year. Hours can be earned in the classroom, through committee work, at special events, by sponsoring a club, by working on a special project at home, and through work with book fairs, clean-up days, etc. We track volunteer hours through the Mobile Serve App and once 40 hours is completed, volunteers are publicly recognized and celebrated. To download the app, follow these instructions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vfnFOdbRNZMPyAH6GGpnVt2Ucp4CZKWuc2_0tTxAG0c/edit?usp=sharing

Join Parents and Teachers Together (PTT)

Our Parent and Teachers Together organization is in a unique place where they are changing and growing!!! PTT supports the school in many ways which include hosting teacher lunches during workdays, supporting extra curricular clubs, hosting family events, and fundraising for special projects. Meeting dates for the 2021-2022 school year have not been identified yet, but more information about the organization can be found here: http://cgsnc.org/home/grizzlylife/parents/volunteerism/ptt/

Join Athletic Boosters

We have a strong and vibrant athletic program at Clover Garden! If you have a love for sports and the life lessons that athletics instill in children, then Athletic Boosters is for you! For more information about our Boosters, check out this website: http://cgsnc.org/home/athletics/athletic-boosters-2019-2020/ If you have any specific questions, please reach out to our Athletic Director, Kelly Moyer at kellymoyer@cgsnc.org

Attend or Tune in to our Board of Director Meetings

Our Board of Directors is made up of parent and community stakeholders and meets at least once a month. Currently, the audience is invited to join us virtually through YouTube live. It is our hope that in the new school year we will be able to host our audience in person.

Agendas for each meeting are available at least a week in advance here: http://cgsnc.org/home/grizzlylife/board-of-directors/

The YouTube page for our Board Meetings is named: CGS BOD https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFW7b5C69h9nWvdbREC1f_A

Follow us on Facebook!
We have an active school Facebook page and we would love for you to be a part of the positive buzz on Social Media! https://www.facebook.com/Clover-Garden-School-1051939424817603/

Attendance:

The first 20 days of school is IMPERATIVE to our school’s financial health since we are a charter school. NO field trips/educational trips, vacations, etc. will be approved for the first 20 days of school. All students MUST be on campus and in their seats to be considered enrolled at Clover Garden School for the 21-22 school year. If your student does not attend school on the first day of school, we will assume you have moved them to another school and will look to
replace and fill their spot. This is not to be “mean” or “unfair” but simply is based on the factual information that attendance is VITAL during the first 20 days in order for our school to be compliant with directives from DPI in relation to our school’s financial health. Thank you for understanding the importance of attendance and having your student(s) enrolled in school during the entirety of the academic school year. Please plan your student’s appointments, vacations, etc. on “non-student” days or “academic breaks” whenever possible. Thank you!

Other Updates/Improvements:

Over the summer, we have been very busy making improvements for the new school year based on feedback that we received from all of our teachers, parents, and students last school year. In order to serve you more efficiently, we have made some positive changes and moves in and around the building to best prepare for this school year. One of our biggest improvements will be in progress beginning this week! Clover Garden School is paving our front circle!! Our front circle was in desperate need of some TLC. We are excited to be able to complete this improvement project. This project will cause some disruption to our normal traffic patterns at the beginning of the school year but we have planned accordingly and will work around this “beautiful chaos” we have created! Thank you ahead of time for your patience as we complete this project. Please pay close attention to our directions for traffic patterns for events on campus and the first week of school to ensure you don’t have any issues or complications due to our front circle being CLOSED until project completion.

Open Houses:

Open Houses will take place beginning this week. Due to traffic, limited parking, and congestion that will be created due to the front circle paving project, we are asking that families come in a staggered fashion for our 1st -12th grade open house nights. We ask that both days families with students with the last names of A-M come between the time of 6:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. We ask that students with the last names of N-Z come between the time of 7:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M. Please park in our back over flow parking lot and enter through our Building 3 Gym entrance. We also have permission to use the gravel parking lot located on Burch Bridge Road behind our sign at the road entrance if needed. We will have a shuttle system in place to help get you safely to the entrance from your parking spot. Face Masks are also required to be worn by anyone inside our school building. We appreciate your flexibility and willingness to help us make our Open House nights safe and successful! We are very excited to see everyone!

• Kindergarten Orientation for families will be on Tuesday, 7/20 and Wednesday, 7/21 from 9:00 A.M.-11:00 A.M. Please park in our overflow parking lot located in the back of our school off of Burch Bridge Road and enter through our Building 3 Gym Entrance. Kindergarten families, please look for signs and staff guidance to locating the Gymentrance.
• Open House for our 1st-5th Grade students will take place on Wednesday, 7/21 from 6:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M.
  • Homeroom assignments will be listed for 1st-5th grade students in our school’sgymnasium.
  • Families are welcome to bring in supply list items to take into the classrooms ahead of time to help expedite the first day of school drop off procedures.
• Open House for our Middle and High School Students will be on Thursday, 7/22 from 6:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M.
  • Middle and High School student schedules will also be located in our school’s gymnasium. All students were mailed their schedules over the summer but will need to go to the gym to get their most updated schedule.

Traffic Pattern for 1st Week of School:

Due to the front circle being CLOSED until the paving project is complete, our traffic patterns will look “different” until we are able to bring traffic around the building.

Drop Off Procedure:

• All traffic will enter from the Burch Bridge Road entrance and exit through our “Hug and Go” line.
  • All students will enter and exit the building through our Kindergarten door entrance. Faculty/Staff will be available to assist your student as to “where” to goon the first day. Students will get out of the car in the Hug and Go line and follow the paw prints to the door entrance. Student drivers will enter the building through Building 3 Gym’s entrance.
  • Students in Grades K-5 will go straight to their classrooms upon arrival.
  • Students in Middle and High School will go to the gymnasium upon arrival until
  • 7:55 A.M. when they will go to their classrooms.

Pick Up Procedure:

• All traffic will enter from the Burch Bridge Road entrance and exit through our “Hug and Go” line. We will be doubling up cars as much as possible to get everyone through one car rider line. Please be patient with our process as it is temporary. We will be running 12 cones on the Hug and Go car rider line side. All students in grades K-2 will go to our school’s band room at the end of the school day with their teachers for dismissal. Any older siblings that have a younger sibling in grades K-2 will also be expected to go to the band room at the dismissal bell to wait with their younger sibling until their ride has arrived. Students in Grades 3rd-8th will go to our cafeteria at dismissal. Any high school students waiting for dismissal will go to our school’s library.
  • Students will be responsible for watching the silent dismissal sheet that will be running with the student’s name and cone number listed for dismissal. A faculty/staff member will also be supervising students to assist with helping them see their names/cone assignment.

Student Drivers

• Student drivers will park in the overflow parking lot on the left hand side starting at the cones located at the dumpster and work the way back to the entrance from Burch Bridge Road. Siblings of student drivers can walk with their older sibling into the Building 3 Gym entrance in the mornings and go to their designated places. In the afternoon, siblings of student drivers will go to their designated “holding area” until their sibling driver pulls through the car rider line and an announcement is made for siblings of /student drivers to exit the building.
• Student Parking Permits will be available for purchase at Open House on Thursday, 7/22 in our school’s gymnasium. You will need your driver’s license, insurance information, license plate number, and $50 fee.

Driver’s Ed Opportunity:

• Who? Students eligible to take Driver’s Ed.
• What? Driver’s Ed class available for ABSS students and Charter School Students
• When? Tuesday, September 7th to Friday, September 17th from 3:35pm to 6:55pm
• Where? Western Alamance’s School Cafeteria
• Registration Link: https://forms.gle/iPMEZPp3SbPPgzLfA (Oldest 50 Students Will Be Notified Once 100 Students Sign Up)
• Contact Information:
  • Mr. Chad Aharon at chad_aharon@abss.k12.nc.us

Immunization Reminder:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eU5iG5FbCYFRKsRVbWeZrOgy__utbWy?usp=sharing

Upcoming Dates/Events:

• July 28th – Mandatory Fall Parent and Athletic Meeting in the Gym at 5pm
• July 29th – Mandatory Fall Parent and Athletic Meeting through Zoom at 8pm
• August 9th and 27th = ½ days
• August 30th – September 3rd = Academic Break
• September 6th = No School, Labor Day

Mandatory School Forms and Handbook:

Students and Families will receive access to the Student/Parent Handbook and required forms for the beginning of the school year on Monday, July 26th. The handbook will be available in Canvas for review. There were not “major” changes to our handbook but it’s important for you to review the handbook policies and expectations with your student. Dress Code will return to “normal” for all students in K-12 and will be centered around professional dress for the professional learning environment. Details can be found in the Student/Parent Handbook.

Shout Outs of Appreciation

We’d like to take a moment to send a special “shout out” to our maintenance and custodial crews for all of their hard work over the summer helping to clean and complete much needed maintenance projects on and around our campus. They have worked very hard to ensure our school is ready and safe for our students to return. Another “shout out” goes to all of our teachers and CGS families who helped assist with our Saturday clean up day! We greatly appreciate you spending time helping us clean up and improve our campus! Thank you all for everything that you do to make our school successful! #CGSisBETTERthanBEST In closing, please enjoy the remaining days of summer! We look forward to seeing many new and familiar faces on our first day of school! Please remember to check our school’s website and school’s social media page on Facebook for updates.

Tags: CANVAS, COVID-19, Open House