By Julie Maxwell
Returning to school this fall has required many adjustments by families, students, and the Davis Elementary staff. Plans were made to help keep everyone healthy through physical distancing, face coverings, and hand hygiene. Strict cleaning and disinfecting routines were put in place to keep our classrooms and common areas sanitized.
The four day in-class learning and Friday home-based learning has prepared us to better face current and future learning needs. Our Foods personnel found ways to provide meals for every student, whether they we at school or learning online.
Most importantly, however, Davis Elementary has put the focus on behavior and emotional support at the forefront. When we meet students' basic needs at school, learning is more likely to happen.
Davis Elementary has a student support staff that is prepared to address stress, anxiety, frustrations, and other mental and emotional needs of our students. We have been able to focus on anti-bullying, Red Ribbon week, and promoting kindness to change the world one random act at a time.
Each year, the school chooses a theme song. This year’s song is Moment of Truth from the movie Smallfoot. The lyrics of the song are:
It's time, time to do
Something drastic, something new
Right here and right now
We need to find a way, somehow
It's about reaching out, closing up the distance
Instead of hate, celebrate all the ways we're different
I am optimistic, yes, I do believe
We have the power to make this world a better place
But if it’s ever gonna change
We gotta come together, me and you.
The school has adopted “Come Together” as its theme for the year.
During November we are having a coat drive. This drive will allow us to offer coats to our students and families to help others stay a little warmer this winter. We feel that the social and emotional needs for our students are important outside of school as well.
Currently, we offer the For The Kids program, which is sponsored by our local TJ Maxx store. The program delivers food to students and their siblings over the weekend to help fight childhood hunger.
In the near future we will hold a food drive for the upcoming holidays. We are also going to set up a Secret Santa program to give a little holiday cheer and comfort to those we are able to help.
We sincerely care about our students and those in our community, and hope to make a difference where we can.
Julie Maxwell is the social worker at Davis Elementary.