Lincoln Updates 2020-03-30

Lincoln Families - We hope this email finds you safe and healthy! Thank you for working with us during this unique time, we miss you! My plan is to send an update early each week.

Learning Opportunities – Academic Needs - The district shared the following website that contains various links to a number of learning sites.  These sites can be used by students or families for general student learning opportunities. All learning activities are suggestions to help students stay engaged during the school closure.  Based on guidelines from the Iowa Department of Education no activities will be assessed or used as a measure of student learning at this time. The goal is to keep students intellectually and physically active during the closure. Our staff will be working to send out updates weekly and make contacts weekly.

Social Emotional Learning – Mental Health Needs - We are sure that your students are going through many different emotions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.  It can be hard to know what to say to them and how to explain what is happening in a way that is informative but not too overwhelming. As we know, kids take their cues on how to react to a situation from their caregiver.  If you remain calm and regulated, you child will, too. Please remember as a caregiver to reach out to other adults for support and take care of yourself during this time. This article is one resource that might help you as you have conversations at home.  It is brief but gives some good tips and advice. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also gives general principles for talking to children here.  This next resource from The National Child Traumatic Stress Network provides a guide to helping families cope, ways to reduce risk, and action steps in helping children by specific age groups. In addition, Black Hawk-Grundy Mental Health Center school-based mental health therapists remain available for appointments during this time. The school-based mental health therapists are reaching out to students and families who are currently engaged in school-based therapy to share this information and ensure continued connection to services.

Basic Needs – Attached you will find information related to various food programs that are provided by the school district as well as other community organizations to assist with basic needs.  For those who are participating in the food program at Holmes, North Cedar or Orchard Hill, the USDA has now modified guidelines so that caregivers can pick up meals for individuals under the age of 18 without those individuals being present.  Please feel free to reach out to us if we can be of assistance with other needs.

Food Programs

Community Resources List     

We Coming Back...No Foolin’! The Lincoln staff is planning a second car parade on Wednesday, April 1st at 6:30 PM! What is a car parade? Staff are planning to meet at Lincoln and drive through our neighborhoods to see our students and families! We will follow the route below and ask that families park along the route and wave to us from inside their cars or on the sidewalk at a safe social distance. If you need to stay home because you are not feeling well, we have you covered! We will film the parade and share this via our social media. Our planned route will be:

 - South on Franklin to 12th Street