Dieterich Unit 30 -

Don't Forget!

JH Softball at Neoga for today 9/8, has been canceled. The team will travel to Community Park Sehy Diamond to play St. Anthony at 4:30. Bus leaves at 3:30.

Stang Art After School Program for September! Wednesday, Sept. 9th. Online or in-person. See flyer for details.

Mrs. Mammoser’s third grade class enjoyed the weather and read their story outside this morning!

September 2, 2020 Announcement Regarding Food Service EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. ALL students are eligible for FREE breakfast and lunch. USDA has approved a waiver allowing all students to eat breakfast and/or lunch at no cost. This is effective through December 31, 2020. Any extra items are NOT included and would still require payment.

Mrs. Jackson’s class went outside for their math lesson today and enjoyed this great weather!

Fourth grade students enjoyed some time outside this morning reading their AR books!

The Post Prom annual Dieterich Apparel fundraiser is now on. Check out their store at https://www.ssgdesignco.com/dieterich-post-prom-2020

August 26, 2020 We are now a week into the new school year and are very thankful for every day we have with our students. Just a quick update on some of the things that are happening in, and around, our school. • Our students and staff are AMAZING! The cooperation, excitement and creativity shown by everyone here at Dieterich Schools has been very impressive. • In-person and remote learning have been going very well. The students are eager to learn and the teachers are eager to teach. We are seeing some great progress in a very short time. Again, we are thankful for every day we have with our students. • Symptom checks have been going well. Thank you all for your cooperation in pre-certifying your children on a daily basis. • We are starting to see some COVID-19 cases that are having an impact on our school and students. Due to privacy issues, we are unable to share details surrounding these cases, but we will mention that we have had students go into quarantine for the required 14 day timeframe. Any student that is required to quarantine is provided remote learning until they return to school. The Illinois Department of Public Health exclusion flow chart can be found on our website here: https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/875191/IDPH_COVID-19_EXCLUSION_GUIDANCE_August_20_2020.pdf • IHSA and IESA are strongly urging everyone to adhere to the required guidelines when attending athletic events. Athletics are such a valuable part of what we do. We want to continue providing those opportunities for our students. Please follow the guidelines. https://www.ihsa.org/Resources/COVID-19 https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/sfc/servlet.shepherd/document/download/069t000000CyCndAAF?operationContext=S1 • Our community has been very generous with mask donations. Masks are available to anyone who would like or need one, just visit the office or let your teacher know. A special “thank you” to Relay for Life of Effingham County for donating over 500 masks to our school. Again, thank you all for your continued support and cooperation! We couldn’t do what we do without you.

Representatives from Relay for Life of Effingham County presented Dieterich Schools with 503 masks. Those individuals responsible for the project were Alice Zumbahlen, Amy Tolch, Ron Mietzner, Tomi Tolch, Khloe Tolch, Mary Ervin, Peg Schmidt and Ruth Herschberger. A huge THANK YOU for the support! Pictured (L - R) Alice Zumbahlen, Tomi Tolch, Amy Tolch and Ron Mietzner)

Changes to the JH Softball schedule: CANCEL - Tuesday 8/25/20 which was a home game against Windsor ADD - Thursday 8/27/20 which is an away game against Neoga at 4:30pm

Our 6th grade students have done a great job this first week, as have all of our students! Today our 6th graders spent some time outside on the ball diamond!

Sportsbackers’ Fall Fundraiser Who doesn’t need trash bags? Sportsbackers are introducing a new fundraiser – multiple sizes of trash bags. The order forms are being sent home with Jr/Sr High school students. We have also attached a copy. If you would like to order please contact an athlete or send in the form and payment to the Jr/Sr High school office no later than Friday, September 18th. If you have any questions please call Justin Funneman at 217-821-1381. Please make checks payable to Dieterich Sportsbackers. Thank you for helping support all of Dieterich’s sports teams, Scholar Bowl and Trap!

Our first grade students have been enjoying this great weather to start the school year and had some socially distanced class time outside today!

This week marks the beginning of home games for the fall sports season. Tonight the Jr. High Baseball team is in action against North Clay @ 4:30. Thursday night the Jr. High Softball team takes on Altamont @ 4:30. On Friday night the HS Baseball team will play Neoga @ 7:00. Please remember that all spectators are required to follow the IESA & IHSA social distancing guidelines when attending games. These guidelines include the following: All fans must maintain 6 ft. social distancing at all times Fans must remain at least 30 ft. from the dugouts at all times Masks must be worn by spectators at all times Keep groupings in one area to under 50 people At this time concessions will not be available at ball games. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Tuesday, August 18, 2020 Thank you all for a great 1st day of school! We thought things went about as well as they could have. Things that worked well: • Bus riders that had the PAPER symptom pre-certification form helped tremendously. Our drivers do not have access to TeacherEase out on their routes. To make the process easier for the students and the drivers, the paper form works great. • TeacherEase symptom pre-certification worked extremely well. For those who do not ride the bus, this is the best option. It is quick and easy to complete and it allows us to admit the students into the building very quickly. • Masks. A huge THANK YOU to everyone for their cooperation with the mask requirement. • Elementary parent drop-off went well, but we did experience a long line around 8am. We will see improvements in the upcoming days. We appreciate your patience. • Jr-Sr High parent drop-off. In order to help alleviate some of the congestion around the buses, we would like to re-route parents directly to the south end of the parking lot and then move north past the greenhouse, stopping to drop off near the HS gym lobby doors. You can then exit the parking lot in the normal traffic flow. We feel this will help separate the bus traffic from the drop-off traffic. • Please DO NOT pass a stopped school bus. Not only is this against the law, it dangerous. Overall, we had a GREAT DAY! Thanks for all of your patience and support!

Welcome back students! Let’s have a great day! Thank you PTO for the balloons!

Further clarification regarding symptom screening forms. For now, it is best that our bus riders complete the PAPER form. The bus drivers do not have access to TeacherEase at this point. Students who walk or get dropped off can complete the TeacherEase form. Thanks for your patience as we work through this process.

August 17, 2020 Some final information before we start school. We would highly recommend that all parents complete the symptom screening for their children. This can be accomplished in two ways. TeacherEase has developed a portal for symptom pre-certification. The portal can be found on the menu of options on the home page, once you have logged into your account. You will need to complete the form for each child. This is the fastest/easiest way to pre-certify. The second way is to complete the paper form. The paper form would need to be with the child as they board the bus or enter school. If you child is experiencing any of the COVID-19 symptoms, please keep them home. We are to exclude any student exhibiting 1 or more symptoms. Detailed requirements are made available by the Illinois Department of Public Health and must be followed. Please contact the school if you have questions regarding symptoms or exclusion. Drop off points are the Elementary entrance and the high school gym lobby entrance. Do not drop off students prior to 7:30am as the doors will be locked and there is no supervision prior to 7:30am. We are encouraging parents to bring your children to school and pick them up, as much as possible. Due to restrictions on transportation and social distancing, it is best to drop off and pick up your children at school. Carpooling with other families is highly discouraged. Unfortunately, visitors are not allowed to enter the building. Please know that your child will be safe and cared for once they enter our school. Dismissal will be at 2pm. We value your cooperation and support. This has the potential for an unusual school year. Circumstances and plans could change at any moment. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

We wanted to remind parents that they will not be able to enter the school when dropping off their children. We will have staff inside to help students to their classrooms. We apologize for any inconvenience. Also, parents can self-certify that their children are symptom free with the form Mr. Jackson sent last week or by logging into your Teacherease account and completing the COVID-19 screening. Any student who was not pre-screened will be screened before entering the building. Tomorrow, the doors open at 7:30, elementary students who are parent drop off must come to the elementary office entrance. Please try to drop off your students as close to 8:00 am as possible. First class period will begin at 8:10 am and students will dismiss at 2:00 pm. After school tutoring will not begin until after Labor Day. This will allow teachers time to get an idea of each students academic needs.