PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE___________________________________

10/19/20

Destin Elementary Family,

Good day DESTIN DOLPHINS!! As we continue our educational journey, one of the goals for our students is to approach every obstacle with energy and focus. This week's word of the week is Energetic! Our students and staff are fully invested in the growth and success of each individual on campus and we know that approaching rigorous curriculum with a positive energy level will get us to where we want to go!

Please see each section below for some important updates.

Staying Healthy:

Thank you for your continued support in completing a quick health screening of your student prior to bringing them to campus. We are working through potentially the most uncharted school year on record and keeping kids and staff healthy and safe will always be our top priority! Students and staff have done a tremendous job in developing healthy habits on campus with wearing masks when appropriate, washing hands, and social distancing where possible! Keep up the great work Destin Family!!

Please check out the Chronicles In COVID-19 published by the district. It provides highlights and updates on the district pertaining to COVID-19.

Halloween Spirit Week:

Please keep an eye out this week for our guidelines about next week's DES Halloween Spirit Week! Because we are having to postpone our annual Fall Festival for the foreseeable future, we will be showing our school spirit over the course of next week through our DES Halloween Spirit Week.

Student Lunches:

An update provided by the district on Friday of last week shared that student's across the entire country regardless of Free and Reduced Lunch status will be receiving free Breakfast and Lunch through December. This is very impactful for many families and we are glad to be able to accommodate every student, regardless of whether they are our student or not, with a set of meals daily. Pickup of breakfast and lunch for those that are not in the building or not our student is located in the front office between the hours of 9:15 and 10:00 AM on Mondays and Wednesdays. Each pickup day will provide the meals for the days following through the end of the week.

mySchool Online or Brick and Mortar Change Options:

The second nine weeks begins Tuesday, November 3rd. Parents who wish for their student to return to the school building for the second nine weeks are asked to call their school no later than Friday, October 9th. Again, parents who wish for their student to return to the brick and mortar building for the second nine weeks should contact their school no later than Friday, October 9th. As a school district, we will need the time between October 9th and the start of the second nine weeks to plan for and implement any teacher changes needed to accommodate student movement. In some cases, this may result in the reassignment of teachers back into the school building and the changing of online teachers. We will work to keep teacher changes to a minimum. Families who plan to continue with the my school online program for the rest of the semester do not need to take any action. Students who don't return to the school building at the nine weeks are expected to remain in the my school online program until the end of the first semester in January. This information will be posted on our website and be available at your school and we encourage you to contact your school for more information.

Transportation:

- Please help students, particularly our younger students, recognize and listen for their car tag number in the afternoon. Often times we must call the letter and number multiple times prior to a student recognizing that they have been called.

- We have multiple pickup locations on campus for walkers. One option that those looking to not wait as long in the carline may opt for is to pick their student up at the Yellow Gate closest to the Church next door on Beach Dr. Parents may walk up or wait for their student in the Church Parking lot. there is a large walkway in place just for this purpose. The less cars that come through the carline the more smoothly and quickly it will flow.

Cookie Dough Fundraiser:

Cookie Dough Fundraiser orders and money were due Tuesday, Oct. 6th! Please turn all orders and money as soon as possible. Thank you for your continued support of our students and programs by helping fundraise for DES. Students and parents have done a tremendous job of raising funds for our students, programs, and campus!

Community Reminders:

Thank you to all of our community members for being gracious neighbors and supporters. We want to send a big THANK YOU to the City of Destin for their role in helping maintain our facilities that truly enables us to be a community school. Please help us to continue to improve our facilities through proper usage and following all signage that is posted. Also, please remember to not park in our neighboring houses or on the side streets. We and they appreciate all of our families being good neighbors.

We hope that you and your family are doing well, staying safe, and healthy. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to support your family!

Joe Jannazo