• Every student must submit test results (positive or negative) via ParentSquare no later than 6 p.m. on Tuesday, January 3. To make sure the results are as accurate as possible, do not take the test before 12 p.m. on Monday, January 2. Every student received a COVID-19 test this week. See Chief Academic Officer Rikki Hunt Taylor’s ParentSquare post to access the form.
  
• Everyone is REQUIRED to wear masks while indoors the week of January 4 – 6. Beyond that, we will continue monitoring COVID-19 case rates within the E.L. Haynes community and across the DC-VA-MD region, and adjust our mask policy as needed. If we extend our mask requirement, we will let you know via email and ParentSquare.

To make the most informed decisions around COVID-19 safety, we need you to report any positive COVID-19 test results via the Positive Case Reporting Form; and to report if you are identified as a close contact — especially for anyone in your household via the Close Contact Reporting Form. Thank you for your support in helping provide accurate COVID-19 data for our community.

If you have any questions, contact COVID-19 Operations Coordinator Evelyn Marquez at emarquez@elhaynes.org.

We invite all prospective families to join an upcoming Open House to learn more about our Pre-K – 12th grade community. Attendees will connect with school leaders, explore our academic and student wellness programs, and meet other school staff.

To keep everyone in our community healthy and well, we will host both in person, and virtual Open Houses this year.

Please sign up to attend an Elementary School, Middle School, or High School Open House on one of the dates shared on our events calendar.

Celebrating Our Community

Beginning this month we will regularly honor students with high in-seat attendance (ISA) through two new honorary titles: Attendance Ambassadors (95% or higher ISA) and Attendance Accelerators (90-94% ISA). We will acknowledge these students, along with homerooms and advisories with high attendances, their teachers, and their families through a series of special activities, shout-outs, and gift card prizes. 

Students

We will celebrate individual students and homerooms / advisories that achieve in-seat attendance of 90% or higher in the following ways.

• Daily shout-outs in school announcements naming the homerooms / advisories with the highest attendance the previous day (elementary and middle school only)
  
• A quarterly “Celebrating Success” shout-out bulletin board that lists all Attendance Ambassadors and Accelerators for the quarter (elementary and middle school only)
  
• Quarterly attendance festivity for the top five homerooms / advisories with in-seat attendance of 90% or higher
  
• In the spring, all students who have maintained 90% in-seat or attendance or higher will receive non-transferable tickets to their school’s attendance dance and brunch with their principal.

Families

For our youngest learners, getting to school on time every day requires extra support. To recognize the special role that families play in attendance at our elementary school, we will give families the chance to win one of five $25 Visa gift cards every month and every quarter. To be entered in the raffle, their child must be in a Homeroom that achieved 90% or higher in-seat attendance for the previous month or quarter.

Teachers

Teachers play an important role in creating learning environments that excite students to come to school every day, and in building strong connections with families. We will reward teachers who go above and beyond to boost attendance in the following ways:

• Gift card prizes for teachers whose Homeroom / Advisory earns 90% in-seat attendance for the month or quarter.
  
• Gift card prizes for teachers who regularly connect with families within two days of an absence and document their engagement in our school engagement system.

And the Attendance Awareness Month Art Contest Winner Is…

Lastly, we want to say THANK YOU to the 17 students who participated in our Attendance Awareness Month Art Contest. The poster that received the greatest number of votes was created by students in Mr. Craig’s 5th-grade class: Yessenis B.-M., Yesica M., Angelina C., and Kennedy W. See their beautiful artwork below! 

We look forward to spotlighting all of this year’s submissions on our social media channels throughout the school year. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

September Shout-Outs

Congratulations to all our students, teachers, and families who helped us achieve excellent attendance together during September!

Homeroom / Advisory with the highest in-seat attendance for the rate of September:

• Elementary School: Grizzly Bears (95.8% ISA)
• Middle School: Mr. Baggett’s Advisory (97.9% ISA)
• High School: Mr. Hunt’s Advisory (97.4% ISA)

Elementary School parents who won a $25 Visa gift card:

• Francisco Hernandez-Salazar 
• Ella Barnes-Williams
• Destiny M. Thompson
• Isayana Lopez Cruz
• Veronica Alvarenga

On November 18 and 19, our Wellness Team will host the annual E.L. Haynes Thanksgiving Mutual Aid Support Drive – where our families can get and give support this holiday season. Last school year, we supported 78 families and 360 children and adults. We are excited to continue this important tradition this year. Through the Support Drive, families can receive ingredients and food, toys and gifts, and winter clothing. 

Read more about from Director of Health & Wellness Melissa Beasley:

“The E.L. Haynes Thanksgiving Mutual Aid Support Drive allows families to receive and give support, regardless of economic status. Families facing economic hardship may also have the ability to support others in their community. This drive is centered in making sure every family is treated with dignity and has the opportunity to be a part of a community collective.”   

Sign up to Get or Give Support by November 15

We kindly ask that families indicate if they would like to receive or give support by November 15 so that we can coordinate all gift exchanges. If you are bringing a turkey or fresh food, please do not bring them until the day of the event.

• To participate, complete our E.L. Haynes Mutual Aid Form

Available and Accepted Items

Families can receive and give the following types of supports:

• Perishable food items (i.e. meat, vegetables, fruits, herbs, bread)
• Non-perishable food items (i.e. sauce powders, powder-based foods, dried foods, spices and herbs)
• Children’s toys and games
• Cold-weather clothing for children and adults (i.e. coats, jackets, mittens, socks, hats, scarves, gloves, boots)

Click here to see a sample food shopping list. If you’re unsure about an item, submit a form and our team will reach out to you.

Who Can Participate?

Families of all E.L. Haynes students in grades Pre-K3 – Grade 12 are eligible to participate. Staff may donate, and they may receive support after we meet all of our student families’ needs.

For more information about the E.L. Haynes Thanksgiving Mutual Aid Support Drive, contact Director of Wellness Melissa Beasley at mbeasley@elhaynes.org. 

If we experience case rates over key thresholds outlined below, organizational leadership will discuss and re-evaluate potential shifts to mask-wearing, which could include:

• GRADE-BASED MASK-WEARING:
  • If grade-based (or schoolwide for high school) case levels hit more than three cases in the grade/school which can be tied via contact tracing to the same school-based case then, masks could be required for that grade level/school for at least 10 days from the trace of the outbreak, with decisions made on a case-by-case basis dependent on the scope of the spread.
    
• ORGANIZATION-WIDE MASK-WEARING:
  • If a five-day period has more than 5 cases at a single school, then masks could be required for that school or the LEA for at least 10 days.
  • If the city returns to a medium spread level or the Mayor or DC Department of Health make recommendations then we may return to mask-wearing based on current factors.

The above meetings align with the requirements of the E.L. Haynes bylaws, and are no fewer than are required in the bylaws. All meetings are open to the public in accordance with the Opens Meetings Act. To register for any of the above meetings, contact Joe Callahan (jcallahan@elhaynes.org).

Submit Proof of Your COVID-19 Vaccinations

Send a copy or photo of your COVID-19 vaccination card to Evelyn Marquez, COVID-19 Operations Coordinator (emarquez@elhaynes.org).

Thank you to the more than 400 families who shared input through our recent Community Survey. Your feedback helped us create a calendar that prioritizes instruction – including critical learning and planning time for staff, provides meaningful opportunities for our staff to engage in learning and meet with families, and that gives our students and staff the ability to rest and recharge throughout the year.

Calendars and Snapshots

• 2022-2023 Full Academic Calendar: Full calendar for SY 2022-23
• 2022-2023 Calendar Snapshot: List of important dates including days off, early dismissals, breaks, intersessions and holidays

Feedback-Driven Changes for 2022-2023

• This summer, we will once again offer three weeks of summer intersession for students at the elementary school and middle school, as well as Extended-School Year programming for qualified students, and grade-level programming at our high school this summer.
• We will maintain a full week-long Thanksgiving break.
• Because of the timing of the winter holidays, our winter break will run from December 22 to January 3, 2023, and the first day back for students is January 4, 2023.
• We extended the holiday weekend in October and shortened February break.
• We adjusted our professional development calendar to reduce the number of early dismissal days while making more space for staff professional development.