Korematsu

Sorry this took so long folks. Handing out powerschool codes in the heat has me fried! It also is way longer than I anticipated which made the upload process long. Hopefully this help our kids start the year. I’ll be sending out more info this weekend and yes, you’ll get more of my calls…

Powerschool Access/Orientation/ askkorematsu@wccusd.net

Hello Korematsu families. We are another day closer to the opening of school. I know many families have received a call, text, or email from their homeroom teacher. Teachers will continue making calls tomorrow. Hopefully your student now knows their google homeroom code, and powerschool access username and password. The powerschool username and password are very important as it allows student to see their schedule. We plan to open powerschool up on Friday night once we finish balancing the schedule.

If your child does not have their powerschool username and password you can come by the school tomorrow for a drive through style handoff. We will be handing out this paper from 9 until 3. Simply drive down Donal Ave., stop in front of the main office, and let us know the student’s name. Please make sure you are wearing a mask. Most of our 8th grade students should know how to get into powerschool already so I do not anticipate seeing many 8th graders…

Also I will be posting a video tomorrow night at 5:30 as an orientation to the school year. Please also continue to check this website. And we now have an email you can send to for questions. It is centralized and we can route it to the person best suited for support. The email is askkorematsu@wccusd.net.

We know this is an anxious time, and we are working to create a soft landing for our students. Please continue to reach out directly to me as needed.

Matt

Hello Korematsu Community, It’s me again. Today and the next few days you or your child will receive a phone call from their homeroom teacher. It is really important that you take this call. Homeroom teachers will provide their google class code and they will also provide the username and password to access Powerschool. Having powerschool access will allow students to see their class schedule once they are live in a day or so. I will make a call once that they are ready.

Beginning at 10 AM tomorrow and running through 3 PM any student without a district issued tablet can come to school to pick up a tablet. Based on our information about 80 – 100 students are without tablets. Students and families must wear a mask and practice social distancing. Students will go to the library to check out their tablet. We will have clear markers of where to go. Please park along the school or in the lower parking lot. Please do not park in front of our neighbors houses

Please continue to check the Korematsu Middle School dot org for information.

8/10/2020

Hello Korematsu Community,

I know we are all anxious about school starting on Monday August 17th. Please know that the first two weeks will be a soft opening. Much of what we do with students will be centered around getting to know each other remotely, learning how to maneuver in this digital learning environment, and developing community. Over the next few days teachers will be working with each other to develop lessons, organize google classrooms, and prepare for the first day of school. I’ll be sending out an orientation video on Friday that will have google class codes and other pertinent information. Here is a look at our distance learning schedule. As you can see students will be under the care and instruction of their teachers in 55 minute blocks three times a day This can be either synchronous or asynchronous. Homeroom class will be a live session daily at 10:00 AM for 25 minutes. During homeroom teachers will take attendance, check in with students, and provide some social emotional learning. Monday and Wednesday will be periods 1,2, and 3. Tuesday and Thursday will be periods 4/5, 6 and 7. Friday will be asynchronous learning as well as opportunities for student enrichment. We are beginning to develop our Friday opportunities, but this work will be ongoing. We will be seeking support from parents and community members for our Friday activities. So If you are interested in hosting a fun zoom enrichment class please reach out!

Materials – our main focus right now is ensuring all students have a working tablet. We are planning to hand out tablets to those students on Thursday and Friday. Textbooks will be distributed in the afternoons during the first two weeks of school. Nearly all of our core textbooks are on the tablets, but we do recognize students may want the hard copy as well.

Student Schedules – This week homeroom teachers will begin calling students/families to invite them to their homeroom classes. Our plan is to have schedules available through homeroom.

Class Changes – Aside from major schedule problems (ex. 2 math classes, only 4 classes) we will not be making changes until we know how many students will attend Korematsu. Students will be able to reach out to their counselor for support. This year due to district budgets cuts we cannot offer Independent Study PE. we do not have enough elective space. If space opens we may offer Ind. PE.

Key Dates –
8/12 – 8/13 Faculty Professional Development
8/13 – 8/14 Tablet distribution for students without a device
8/14 5:30 PM Orientation Video Posts with possible chat Q and A (More to come)
8/17 First Day of School
8/19 Virtual Back to School Night

We will continue to provide updates. It is important to let your student know that we are here to support them. Distance learning is hard for all of us and we will do our best to be adaptable, creative and flexible as we continue learning apart.

Please stay safe and well,

Matt Burnham

Dear Korematsu Community, 

As the new school year is fast approaching we are working to prepare the school for distance learning. A key learning from the Spring experience is that communication is essential. No surprise of course, but at times we struggled with contact information for some students and families. We need to be able to communicate with all families via email and phone. Please take some time to update your information using the link below. Many families have already updated the Annual School Forms and we thank you for that. Having email in particular will allow us to sign parents/guardians up for summary reports from google classroom. These reports will allow you to follow your child’s learning activities. 

Please take a few minutes to update annual school forms here:
https://www.wccusd.net/Page/11026

Thanks,

Matt Burnham

Instagram: official_korematsums

Twitter: @KorematsuMS