Longfellow Elementary Continuous Learning Family Letter

Kimberly Sanchez, Principal
Longfellow Elementary School
700 East Fourth Street
Raton, NM 87740
575.445.9261
Fax 575.445.5306
visit us at ratonschools.com

April 9, 2020

Dear Longfellow Students and Families:
I hope this finds each of you in good health and good spirits as we continue to be out of school
in this time of the National Health Crisis. I wanted to share some information with you about
the ways in which Longfellow Elementary School will be striving to continue the teaching and
learning process through the end of our scheduled school year. Our plan has been developed
within the guidance and parameters set by the New Mexico Public Education Department
(NMPED) and in consideration of the needs and resources of the community of Raton.

● Contact from the school : Classroom Teachers and Specialists (Special Education, Title 1,
and Counselors) will have already been in contact with you and your student to check in
and will continue to do so on at least a weekly basis. Teachers have also been charged
with assessing technology resources that you have available at home. Follow us on
FaceBook and our school website for ongoing announcements and information. Staff
may also utilize student email accounts as well as phone and text contacts to make sure
we are able to stay in touch.

● Continuing Instruction : Paper-based packets of instructional materials will be
distributed every 2 weeks in a Grab-n-Go from the school. These may include texts,
manipulatives, worksheets, curriculum workbooks, and materials such as crayons,
pencils, and scissors. Teachers are also starting with digital delivery of resources and
online communication for teaching. Some of the platforms teachers might use include
Google Classroom, Google Hangouts / Meets, Classroom DoJo, private Facebook
Groups, and ZOOM. In addition, there are a number of online learning resources
students will be familiar with that they may continue to utilize, such as iReady,
Accelerated Reader (AR), I Know It math, and others which your teachers will have
already started informing you about. Based on the needs determined by teachers in
their contact with you, we are issuing a small number of laptops to families to help
ensure those with internet capabilities can access these online supplements. Please
note we have a limited number of devices to check out and will be doing our best to
match the needs to that which we have available.

● Time recommendations : The recommended daily amount of time students should be
spending on paper based assignments, online work, projects, and instruction time (video
conference / ZOOM) with teachers is
○ 30 minutes per day (PreK)
○ 45 minutes per day (Kinder and 1st grade)
○ 60 minutes per day (2nd grade)
This is based on the guidelines of the NMPED. In addition to these daily recommended
minutes, remember that supplemental reading time, creative play, outdoor play, and
time for music and movement are also vitally important for your child’s continued
development and health!

● Grading : While the assignments sent out via packets as well as those issued online will
NOT be graded, teachers will be asking for responses and feedback from students to
determine their understanding and readiness for next steps in instruction. This may
take the form of online question responses, quizzes, sending in pictures of completed
projects, and other means of assessing student participation and understanding.
I wish each of you, our Longfellow students and families, health and calm during this stressful
time! Know that teachers, support staff, and administration are missing seeing you and are
greatly looking forward to being with students in school again. Until that time, we are ALL
learning to teach, learn, and stay connected in new ways. Please feel free to contact teachers
and administration with questions or concerns that arise. We will persevere through this
challenging time by working together.

With great appreciation,
Kimberly Sanchez
Principal, Longfellow Elementary School

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