Rock County Public Schools

Don't forget about breakfast and lunch available for pick up Monday, March 30 and Tuesday, March 31! Please call the school if you have any questions, or to sign up. Also, stay tuned on Monday for some exciting news!!

The Bassett Arts Council is now accepting applications for Junior and Senior Interns for this coming year, June 2020-July 2021. Students currently in grades 6th-11th grades that are interested should take the time to fill out the appropriate app from the links below if interested! A reference letter is required. Any questions, please call/text Amber Blessin at 402-730-0654 or email her at [email protected]. APPLICATIONS ARE DUE APRIL 10, 2020. Intern apps will be reviewed and selections made at the April 14 monthly BAC Board meeting. JUNIOR INTERN APP LINK: https://forms.gle/eJiMVS6SXUCttPvi8 SENIOR INTERN APP LINK: https://forms.gle/ao2tYaRKtotpw5su5

The is Mr. Becker. After consultation with the North Central District Health Department and the Nebraska Department of Education, it has been determined that Rock County Public Schools will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. I repeat Rock County Public Schools will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. Parents, families, and staff will be notified accordingly if things change that would affect this decision to close. This is a precautionary public health measure; at this time there are NO confirmed cases in the ESU 17 region; however, local health and school officials are monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely. It is of the upmost importance that we ask for your assistance in supporting and encouraging strict social distancing during this time of closure. This would include encouraging students to stay home and limit their time with people from outside of their household. Keeping interactions to a bare minimum will help in disrupting the exposure period and periods of contagiousness. What this really means is our buildings are closed but education will still take place for our students. Our school will stay in communication with you as remote learning plans for educational opportunities take place to serve the students from Rock County Public Schools. Thank you.

Grab and Go Breakfast & Lunch Menu 3/23/20-3/30/20: Monday: Hot Dog/Bun, Vegetable, Fruit, Milk. Tuesday: Ind. Sausage Breakfast Pizza, Fruit, Milk, Turkey Bacon Ranch Wrap, Vegetable, Fruit, Milk. Wednesday: Cereal, Bread for Toast, Fruit, Milk, BBQ Pork/Bun, Vegetable, Fruit, Milk. Thursday: Yogurt Parfaits, Bread for Toast, Fruit, Milk, Ham & Cheese Lunchables, Vegetable, Fruit, Milk. Friday: Breakfast Burrito, Fruit, Milk, Bologna, Turkey, Cheese Hoagie, Vegetable, Fruit, Milk. Monday: Long John, Fruit, Milk, Beef & Cheese Burrito, Vegetable, Fruit, Milk. Call the school at 402-684-3411 to get signed up or email Brandi at [email protected] Pick up times are 7:00-8:00 or 12:00-1:00.

For a list of days and times that teachers are available please go to the school website www.rockcountyschools.org and go to the Menu (top right of website), School Closure Information and Teacher Availability. A google doc will open and at the bottom of the google doc is a tab for each teacher. This is not available on the school app.

Parents/Guardians of Rock County Public School students Rock County Public Schools will all be closed from March 16-30 as per recommendation from the North Central District Health Department, Governor Rickett’s office, and the commissioner of education. During this time, our staff will be working to provide the best education we can provide for your students in an online or remote learning scenario. Some of the work may begin this week but a majority of the work will be starting Monday. We ask that you work with us and monitor your child’s learning from home and communicate any issues you are having to their teachers or administration via email. Teachers will be sending schedules to students and parents so they know what times of day they are available for classes and to answer questions. If you have multiple children in the district, understand it will not look the same for all grade levels and all classes. The teachers are instructed to prioritize reading and math instruction while also providing instruction in other areas but not focusing on the other areas. We feel that we need to provide this education based on the uncertainty of timing for the resumption of classes as normal. This will provide us an avenue to educate over the course of 6-8 weeks if needed, which is the time frame the governor’s office has mentioned several times in the case of a school shut-down. We will continue to work with the NCDHD, governor’s office, and department of education to make decisions based on what we feel is best for our students, staff, and community. If your child didn’t bring materials home from school yesterday or your child was not in school yesterday, please contact your child(ren)’s teacher to set up a time to come get their materials they will need over the next couple weeks.

Due to recent closures at Rock County Public Schools due to COVID-19, the school will be providing breakfast and lunch to RCPS students starting tomorrow through March 30th. If you wish stop and grab meals for your children, please contact the school so that the kitchen staff will have an accurate count. This will be offered as “grab and go” on the west side of the building at the multi-purpose room doors. We will charge for meals the same way that we currently do during school hours. Pickup will be from 7:00-8:00 a.m. and 12:00-1:00 p.m. Please contact RCHS at 402-684-3411, or email Brandi at [email protected] to let us know if you would like to receive these meals or if you have any questions. We need to have an accurate count by 4:00 today to ensure that we have enough supplies on hand to accommodate everyone.

This is Mr. Becker. Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17 Rock County Public Schools will be closed until March 30. At this time we are planning to reassess this as we get closer to this date. All activities are cancelled. Prom is postponed with the possibility of being cancelled in the future. The code club is also cancelled. The weight room is also closed during this time. All staff are to report during their normal work time. For your information we do not know of any active COVID-19 cases in our area. This closure is a safety response that is supported by the health department.

From the NSAA: All, Effective Monday, March 16 all NSAA activity practices are suspended until Monday, March 30 and all NSAA activity competitions are suspended until Thursday, April 2. These suspensions may be extended should the conditions warrant. Member schools and student-participants are expected to adhere to the NSAA Constitution & Bylaws and activity manuals during this time. As more information becomes available, official updates will be posted on the NSAA website and the NSAA social media platforms.

Code club this afternoon! 3:30-4:30

Due to our inability to guarantee that we will be able to hold Prom on Saturday, we have spoken with the Whistle Stop and have decided to cancel all flower orders.

This is Mr. Becker. Tomorrow, Monday, March 16 we will have a ten o'clock late start for a required staff meeting. There will not be morning preschool. I repeat, tomorrow, Monday, March 16 we will have a ten o'clock late start. There will not be morning preschool.

The public speech performance at the Old Feed Store Art Center Sunday, March 15 has been cancelled due to concerns with the health and safety of the students, staff, and public at this time.

For your information: After listening to Governor Ricketts’ news conference this morning Rock County Public Schools will follow the directions provided by the Governor and the Commissioner of Education in regards to our reaction to COVID-19 situations. This means, at this time, we will have school. If and when things change we will keep you informed by information releases through our school app and webpage. We want to remind you that if a student presents to the office with a fever, cough, headache, muscle or joint aches, sore throat, nasal congestion, or shortness of breath they will be given a face mask and will need to wear it until a parent/guardian arrives to pick them up. Parents/guardians will be advised to CALL the families primary care provider and ask for further direction. We ask that you DO NOT GO TO THE CLINIC/ER/URGENT CARE! Should the student need to have testing done by their primary care provider, those arrangements can be made with them via the telephone. Once a student has been cleared of anything contagious, the primary care providers’ office will need to e-mail, fax, or call the school to give the student clearance to return to school. If it is felt that the student may be contagious with anything other than COVID-19, they will need to stay out of school for the recommended amount of time per the discretion of the primary care provider. IF a student is being tested for COVID-19, then the student will remain out of school until the results of such testing are made available. Negative results will warrant a call from the provider to the school to let us know that the student will be able to return to school. Parents, we ask that you speak with your children regarding washing their hands for 20 seconds with soap and warm water and using your elbow or a tissue to cough or sneeze into. Also, frequently cleaning touched surfaces and objects helps to prevent the spread of illness. At the school building level we are constantly cleaning the buildings to provide your children a healthy environment. Thank you, Mr. Becker

Just a reminder that Prom is next Saturday, March 21.

Prom will be held as scheduled on Saturday. Due to the unconventional circumstances we are experiencing this year, the way we handle Grand March will be different. Parents and siblings of our students attending prom will be the ONLY ones allowed in for viewing of the Grand March. These names will be on a list and only these people will be allowed in. The doors will open at 8:15 and Grand March will begin promptly at 8:30. Additional pictures will take place until 9:00 at which time students will enter the dance and all parents will be asked to leave. For others wanting to view the Grand March it will be streamed live on our Facebook page. We apologize for this inconvenience. We are doing this for the health and safety of our students and community members. Thank you. Mr. Becker

This was received from NSAA today: The NSAA is aware of the fluidity of COVID-19 and the potential impact hosting statewide events could have regarding the on-going public health threat. Many of our member schools are making decisions in the best interest of their student participants, coaches and communities. The NSAA is regretfully suspending district and state speech contests until further notice. This is an unprecedented event. The NSAA Board of Directors and staff understand the hardship this has created for our membership. The NSAA will use this time to evaluate potential alternatives and the next steps for moving forward.

For your information - Northeast Scholastic Contest and Quiz Bowl have been cancelled.

For your information, State FFA Convention has now been canceled by the State Leadership Group due to the COVID-19 issues.

The Northeast Community College Scholastic Contest and Quiz Bowl scheduled for Wednesday, March 18, 2020 is CANCELLED. The health and safety of students and employees, as well as campus visitors, is the main priority of Northeast Community College. Due to the concerns related to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and its reported spread into our area, College administration has deemed it prudent to cancel the Scholastic Contest and Quiz Bowl on March 18. At this time, no decision to reschedule the event has been made.