Phone Message 4.26.2020

Hello Cub Families, this is Mr. Vernon with a few announcements.  Recently there have been a lot of questions about Kindergarten Round Up.  This Friday, May 1st on the Charlotte County Public Schools website and the Deep Creek Elementary School website there will be a link to complete online registration for incoming Kindergarten students.  This link will also be posted on our DCES Facebook page.  If you have children that will be attending Deep Creek next year, please be sure to start this registration process.  Please also share with any friends who have children that will be joining us as well.  However, due to our school population we are closed for any families that live out side of our school zone.  Families with siblings at the school will need to fill out reassignment paperwork for approval.  The next question is how are we going to get students their belongings from classrooms, now that we know we can't return this school year.  Once we turn to May 1st and we are able to see the governor's decision on the stay at home order, we will start getting information out to pick up belongings.  The plan will have to start with teachers being able to get into rooms and start their summer organization process. From there we will come up with a safe plan for parents to get students' belongings as well as yearbooks that were purchased and 5th grade promotion items.  We will make sure we keep you updated with phone messages, Facebook updates and regular communication from your child's classroom teacher.  We miss our students a lot and thank you for keeping them motivated as they work through learning at home.  Please keep reminding them We are Cubs and we will get through this.  Once again, I can't wait to see our Ready, Responsible, and Respectful Cubs.  Have a great night.

Phone Message 4.10.2020

Good morning Cub Families.  Just wanted to make sure you knew that our entire DCES staff is sending warm wishes your way as we work through this challenging time.  Thank you all for your assistance in helping our students and teachers with this new adventure of online schooling. 

I do want to make sure you all know that today is Good Friday and was a holiday on our school calendars.  Students are not required to complete their required minutes of online learning at home today.  However, you are the boss, if you want students working today that is your choice, especially if they need some time to catch up.  Teachers will once again be available next week Monday through Friday during their office hours. 

One last reminder is to not forget that meals are still being served Monday through Friday at Peace River Elementary, Neil Armstrong Elementary, Punta Gorda Middle and LA Ainger Middle in Englewood.  They are not serving today, but will start again Monday at those locations M - F between the hours of 10am - 1pm.  I wish you all a wonderful weekend and again thank you for all your support and patience. 

Phone Message 4.5.20

Good afternoon Cub families,
This is Mrs. Sare with some important messages and updates for this week.  This message is a bit long, so please be sure to listen or read through to the end.  First of all, we hope that you and your family are settling in at home and are staying healthy.  We miss our Cubs so much, but know that right now home is where they need to be!  Thank you for helping our students transition to learning at home.  Giving your kiddos a quiet space to work and a daily schedule to follow will help to set them up for success.  Be sure to add in some brain break time into their schedule too!
With our Governor announcing the new Stay at Home order, many changes have needed to take place here at our school site.  Champ's Cafe will be moving their food service locations.  Starting Monday, April 6th, our Cubs can still pull through to pick up a breakfast and a lunch from Champ's cafe by visiting one of the four designated pick up locations.  These locations are now Peace River Elementary, Neil Armstrong Elementary, Punta Gorda Middle School, and L.A. Ainger Middle School.  Any child 18 years of age or younger can come through the service lines between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm to pick up their meals.  Also as a result of the new order, we are having to close our school office.  Although you will no longer be able to reach us by phone, we want you to know that you may continue to reach out to your child's teacher through Remind and email.  If you have questions that are specific to the office staff they will forward your question to the appropriate staff member.
We wanted to be sure that you are aware of some of the other opportunities that are available for your child from DCE in addition to their core online academic programs.  The first resource is our WCUB news broadcast.  Mrs. Rhodes has worked hard with her Cub Leaders to find a way to bring school news into your home.  Your child can access WCUB by clicking on the icon in their ClassLink account daily.  Parents can also view the news by visiting our DCE Facebook page at 8:00 am daily.  Our specials team is awesome.  In addition to WCUB, they have also made a Specials Hub.  This hub can be accessed through Classlink, our DCE webpage, and through links on Facebook daily at 10:00 am.  Within this hub our special area teachers are placing plans and videos for your child.  There is even a spot where our Cubs can keep checking for new book read alouds that are being completed by our staff members!  Our Scientist of the Week challenge is continuing as well.  Each week on our DCE webpage students can view their grade level's question by visiting eLearning and then clicking on "Weekly Science Questions."  On Friday mornings on WCUB, the scientists will be reviewing the answers to these questions and announcing the names of the student Scientists of the Week.  The child from each grade level that is randomly selected will receive their award and science spirit stick in the mail from Mr. Vernon and me!  We hope your child participates.
Monday starts the Big Bucket Book Bash Challenge.  This year our challenge will be taking place virtually!  This is a great time to snuggle up with some good books or check out a few digital ones in MyOn and take some AR tests.  Please tell your child to read, read, read!
Finally, our quarter three report cards have posted digitally to our Parent Focus Portal.  Teachers have been provided with information to assist you in logging in to this program if you have not done so before.
Alright Cubs.  That is it for now.  We hope that you know that whether we are here at school together or apart in our homes... we are in this together.  We are Cubs!  Stay healthy and enjoy this additional time with your families!

Phone Message 3.29.2020

Good afternoon to all of our Cub Families. We hope all of you are making the best of this situation and are able to stay positive.  We will get through this.  Our DCES staff this week had a mindset that we know we can't control this situation, but we can control how we respond to this situation.  Our choice has been to react in a manner where we stay positive and do whatever we can to help our students.  You should have had some form of communication from your child's classroom teacher this past week.  If you have not, please reach out to your child's teacher and let them know the best way to contact you.  Teacher's email addresses are located on our DCES webpage.  Also on our web page is information on the district's Instructional Continuity Plan and more information on the programs that students will be using.  If you have any questions or issues as this new process of learning is navigated, please reach out for assistance.  We will additionally be posting our WCUB News each morning with messages from the school for our students.  Our morning news can be reached by going to the DCE WCUB Folder on your student's Classlink page.  This Classlink page is also where students will be able to access i-Ready, MyOn and for grades 3 - 5, USA Test Prep.  One other additional item on Classlink will be our DCE Specials folder.  Our specials teachers will be posting activities for students in here each day, Monday through Friday.  Tomorrow, when your child logs into i-Ready they will have access to the diagnostics in both Reading and Math.  This diagnostic is extremely important as it will set the learning paths for your child.  Please make sure that students do their best on these and they do not have any assistance.  If they have help it could set their learning path at a level which will be too difficult for them and if they don't do their best the path could be too easy.  Thank you all for listening and I can't stress enough to reach out to classroom teachers if you need assistance. Remember, we are Cubs and we will work together to make the best of this situation.  Please be sure to tell our Cubs I said hello and to make sure they remember that Cubs are always, Ready, Responsible and Respectful. 

Superintendent's Phone Message 3/17/2020

Below is the content of Superintendent Dionisio's phone call this afternoon to our district's families:

“This is Steve Dionisio Superintendent of Schools.

I am calling with an important message for parents and guardians.

The Commissioner of Education has instructed School Districts to prepare for the possibility to implement an Instructional Continuity Plan if schools must remain closed for an extended period. This means students would need technology at your homes to continue to do their coursework regardless of grade level. In order to implement this plan, the School District must know what parents and guardians have available at their home. We will be placing a survey on our District website later this week to gather this information. We will send another phone message to let you know when the survey is open.

No decision has been made, as of yet by the Commissioner as to how long the students will be out of school. As soon as that decision is made, I will get the information to you.

Charlotte County Schools will continue to do updates through these phone messages as well as placing information on our School and District Websites.”

Phone Message 3/20/2020

Good afternoon to all of our Cub Families.  We know that this Spring Break may not have been what many of us had planned, but we hope that you have had some quality time with your families playing board games and watching movies.  We know this is an uneasy time for many of us, so we are hoping that this call brings you some peace of mind and a reminder that we are Cubs and that we are in this together.

We wish desperately that we were starting school back in person this week, but as you know attending school is currently on hold.  Charlotte County Public Schools is working on a virtual learning plan that will be shared with staff and families next week.  Virtual learning for our students is set to begin on March 30th.  To facilitate virtual learning families will need access to technology and the internet.  We need to know what resources your family currently has so we can assist if possible.  Please be sure that you complete the District survey through the link below no later than Tuesday. If you do not have resources to be able to complete this survey digitally, please call the DCE front office on Monday between 8am and 2 pm to complete it with one of our staff members over the phone.
 http://bit.ly/ccpshometech

Charlotte County Schools and Champ’s Cafe have worked hard this week to get a plan in place to provide food to all students 18 and younger on all regular school days.  On Monday, the COW bus will be set up at the Hampton Point Apartment buildings from 12:30 to 1:00 pm.  Beginning Tuesday and running through April 15th, breakfast and lunch meals will be available for curbside pickup at Deep Creek Elementary School from 10 am to 1 pm.  In order to receive meals, parents must have identification and students under the age of 18 must be present.  Meals will not be available for pickup on Good Friday, April 10th.

As you know, things are changing on a daily basis.  We will do our best to stay in contact with you as we are informed of changes that impact your families.  If you have not already followed our DCE Facebook page please be sure to click the like button!  We will also have read alouds and other fun activities that will be popping up to our Facebook page next week that will allow us to stay a bit connected in these unique times.

Last, remember that We are Cubs and as a school family we will get through this.  We expect all of our Cubs, whether they are at home or at school, to be Ready, Responsible and especially Respectful during this challenging time.  We will get through this and I can’t wait until I see you all back at school.

Phone Message 3/12/2020

Good evening Deep Creek Families.  This is Mr. Vernon with reminders about tomorrow's big day.  We are so excited that the Teddy Bear Picnic is finally here.   The school will be open at 10:45am, but classrooms will not be open for student-led conferences until 11:15am.  Parking will be a challenge and this is why we have the school open at 10:45am.  Parents can visit our Student Expo in the cafeteria or wait in our courtyards until classrooms open at 11:15am.  Also to assist with parking the back Deep Creek Walker gate will be open at 10:45 as well.  Please also remember to plan ahead for food as lines at restaurants in our area may have long lines.  Last, remember that any time you come to the school, please be sure to have your IDs.  We are looking forward to a great day and kicking off a terrific Spring Break.