Wynnewood Elementary

Due to the power failure and after speaking to city hall regarding the estimated timeframe for service restoration, we have decided to allow parents or guardians to pick up their children if they are able to do so. It’s not a problem if you can’t we’ll care for and feed whoever is with us. Our regular bus routes will run like normal at the end of the day. Unfortunately, we do not have phone service either. Absences will not count against students.

August 28, 2020 Dear Parents, Staff, Students, and Community Members: Today, we received notification that a Wynnewood student (a senior) has tested positive for COVID-19. While we must protect the privacy of the person involved, we believe it is best to communicate transparently with you so you can make well-informed decisions for your family. We have been in contact with the county health officials to help guide us through this situation. At this time, we are only mandating the quarantining of the student who has tested positive and his/her siblings (one ninth grade student). Mrs. Dixon, our high school principal, and applicable coaches and club sponsors are contacting parents directly of the students whom we can verify that have been in contact with the affected student in accordance with the “6ft for 15 minutes” rule. That said, we are choosing to allow our parents to decide whether or not they wish to quarantine their children. This occurrence is inevitable, and we have known that from the onset. I encourage everyone to remain calm but vigilant. It is important to remember that children are greatly influenced by the reactions of adults when facing difficult circumstances. All we ask is that you watch your children for symptoms and keep them home if they are sick. Symptoms typically appear 2-4 days after exposure. As a district we will continue to follow the plan we have in place. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve you and your family, especially as we face this challenging situation together. Thank you for your support of our Wynnewood School District. Sincerely, Tim Simpson, Superintendent

I have to brag on our kids, parents and staff. We have more policies and procedures in place than ever before, and today was one of the smoothest first days of school that I have ever experienced. Parents were patient, kind, and helpful. Kids were cooperative, happy, and excited; and our staff was AMAZING in their efforts to provide a safe and caring environment for our students. Words can't adequately express the love and pride I feel for our entire Wynnewood School family. I hope our parents and community members feel like they are a part of that family because we couldn't do what we do without their help and support. I also want to say thank you to our Wynnewood Police Department for ensuring that we had a smooth start and end to our day. #YouCan'tHideThatShine! #WynnewoodStrong

Good morning and Happy First Day, Kids!! WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!

!! PART-TIME JOB OPPORTUNITY !! Wynnewood Public Schools is looking for a self-directed, conscientious individual to clean and disinfect classrooms in the high school after classes are dismissed for the day. Start time is flexible. Beginning pay is $9.00 an hour. If interested, please call the superintendent's office at 405-665-2004.

Reminder- Blended/Virtual parents and guardians only. Please be sure that you and your student stop by the Superintendent's office by the end of this week to fill out the Blended/Virtual intake form. The office is open from 8:00am-4:00pm. 702 E Kerr Blvd (405)665-2004

DON'T FORGET... Beginning August 27, the first day of school, breakfast and/or lunch will be available for pickup for all virtual learners grades PK-12 at the Wynnewood High School cafeteria on days when school is in session. Breakfast will be available for pickup between 8:00-8:30am, and lunch pickup will be available between 11:00-11:30am. Breakfast is free of charge to all students, and lunch prices for virtual students are the same as traditional students. Parents or students picking up meals should come to the outside double doors leading into the cafeteria (southeast side of the building).

Wynnewood Public Schools is partnering with Delbert's Grocery Store to hold a Stuff the Bus drive on Saturday, August 22, from 7:00am-7:00pm in Delbert's parking lot. Please consider dropping off a few items from the suggested supply list. The list can be found on the Wynnewood Public School's website, on flyers at Delbert's Grocery Store, and will be published in this week's Wynnewood Gazette. Thank you!!

** This post is lengthy but contains important information concerning this school year. It can also be found in our “2020 Back to School Plans” on our website** When schools suddenly closed their doors last March for the remainder of the school year, everyone was thrown into a tailspin. Distance learning was something that most of us didn’t want to do and most certainly weren’t prepared to do. Maya Angelou said, “Do your best until you know better, and when you know better, then do better.” Well… five months later, we know better. We, as a school district, feel much more prepared for distance learning, but right now the only thing we know for sure is that our plans seem good in theory and look good on paper, but until we actually put our plans into practice, we just don’t know for sure. With that in mind, we’ve decided to implement two virtual days in September and one virtual day a month after that to ensure that our students can successfully connect and access their virtual learning content, and that our students who cannot connect because of lack of available or reliable internet service will receive meaningful instruction in a way that allows them to progress academically and that makes sense for them and their families. We are not making this decision lightly because we know the inconvenience, and, in some cases, possible hardship that it will cause for many of our parents and guardians; however, we absolutely believe that it is vitally necessary to practice our plans and work through our problems and issues before we end up in a situation like we did last march. It’s unfortunate but we need to be able to transition between traditional learning and virtual learning as seamlessly as possible in order to eliminate as much stress and anxiety from whatever situation we as a community are experiencing at the time. Our virtual practice days will all be held on Wednesdays, meaning each of those days, your child will learn from home. All of those days will count as school days. In September, virtual days are scheduled for the 16th and the 30th. Each month after that, they are scheduled for the last Wednesday we are in school through March 2021. No virtual days are scheduled in April, May, and June of 2021.You will not need to purchase anything. Information regarding devices and connectivity will be forthcoming. We hope you know that we do not take your support, patience, and flexibility for granted. These are trying times, and forging unified relationships with our families and community partners is the only way we will successfully navigate through all this while doing our best to ensure that our students' academic and physical needs are not only being met but are also continuing to move forward in a healthy and positive way. As always, please contact your child’s building principal or the superintendent’s office for additional information or questions. Thank you.

Please click the "2020-2021 Back to School Plans and Information" link on the front page of our website to find detailed information regarding our virtual learning plans, including an overview and short informational videos about Edgenuity Courseware and Pathblazers, our virtual learning curriculum platforms.

This information is for parents/guardians who are choosing either the full virtual or blended learning options to begin the 2020-2021 school year. We are requiring at least one (1) parent accompanied by the student or students being enrolled to fill out the Virtual/Blended Intake Form and the Device Check-Out Agreement (if necessary), These forms MUST be completed before students can access their virtual learning coursework. This registration process begins Monday, August 17th through Friday, August 21st anytime between 8:00am-4:00pm at the superintendent's office (702 E Kerr Blvd-the far east end of the high school). Also, please plan on attending an important virtual learning orientation on Monday, August 24th. We will be discussing and demonstrating how to log-on and navigate the Edgenuity and Pathblazer educational platforms. The meetings will be held in the high school cafeteria. Meeting times are as follows: Grades K-5 at 5:30-6:15pm Grades 6-12 at 6:30-7:15pm Please enter the cafeteria through the double doors at the east end of the front side of the building. If you have any questions, please contact your child's building principal. Thank you for your continued support.

Wynnewood Public Schools is hiring a full time maintenance person to begin immediately. Basic electrical and plumbing knowledge and experience is desired but not necessary. Common sense, honesty, and a good work ethic, however, is required. Also, candidates must be willing to obtain his or her commercial driver’s license (CDL) and be willing to drive a school bus. Please call Eugene Dixon at 405-207-8046 for more information or pick up an application at the Superintendent’s office located at the east end of the high school (702 E Kerr Blvd).

Good evening to our Wynnewood friends, neighbors, and families. After much thought and many conversations, we've decided to delay the beginning of school by two weeks. This is not a decision that we are taking lightly, and we hope that the inconvenience to our families is minimal. The reasons for this delay revolve around preparedness. We are just not ready. We feel good about the plans we have in place and the direction we are going, but as we worked through the details and contingencies, we have come to the conclusion that beginning our school year on August 13th would inevitably lead to very frustrated students, parents, and teachers. Our new start date for students is August 27th, and we're not promising that we'll have all of our issues resolved by then, but we will be in a much better position to serve our families in the way they deserve by a staff that is much more comfortable with all of our new programs and procedures. It's our hope that the additional two weeks will give us enough time to work through our technology related issues and enough time to work through some questions, details, and concerns associated with our virtual learning programs. Athletics and other extracurriculars will not be affected by this change. As mentioned earlier, the new start date for students will be Thursday, August 27th. We'll have our new end date soon. We realize our Pauls Valley Co-op students and our students attending Mid-America Technology Center will be affected by this change, but we will have a plan in place for them early next week. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call me or your child's building principal. Thank you for your patience and flexibility.

Wynnewood Public Schools is looking to hire dependable and responsible bus monitors for the upcoming school year. We need six monitors for our morning routes, which run from 6:30-8:30am, and we need two monitors for our afternoon routes, which run approximately from 2:30-4:30pm (a couple of routes take a little longer). A background check is required and will be paid for by the district. This position pays $8.00 an hour with a start date of August 13th. Please call the superintendent’s office at 405-665-2004 between 8:00am-2:00pm Monday through Thursday for more information or to apply.

Educational plans and options have been posted to the website.

Most of us have witnessed the bitter ugliness circulating through various mediums of social media revolving around “the best” plan or options for coming back to school this fall. The truth, however, is that there is no “best” plan or option for opening school. Everyone has his or her own unique set of circumstances and beliefs that shape his or her opinions about what school and education should look like this August. It’s my belief that each school district needs to implement a plan that makes sense within the context of the community it serves. In all likelihood, no plan will meet the needs of every student and family, but it won’t be from a lack of thought, planning, effort, and consideration of our staff, students, and community. Wynnewood Public Schools is prepared to offer three enrollment options that we hope meets close to all of our student and family needs. We realize that there may be situations and circumstances that require individual attention. With that said, we believe that direct instruction is the best instruction, especially for children in Pre-K through second grade. Interpersonal interactions and hands-on activities are central to early childhood learning and are difficult to recreate virtually. We also acknowledge that some parents and students might not be ready to move back to traditional learning and be back in the classroom. As you read through and consider our plans and options for the upcoming school year, I would respectfully ask that rather than becoming worried or angry about something you disagree with or becoming upset about a situation that we may have inadvertently failed to address, please give me or your child’s principal a call and let’s try to work through the issue together. More often than not, we’ll find a solution to the problem that works for everyone involved. Now more than ever, the partnership between school and home will be integral to a successful year. Our educational options along with other very important district and building information will be available by noon today on our website. You can access those documents by clicking the “2020-2021 Back to School Plans and Information” tab located on the front page. Even amidst the chaos and uncertainty, we are excited to begin the new school year and re-connect with our students and families. Sincerely, Tim Simpson

We are almost a month away from the start of school, and we know that students and their families are waiting anxiously to see what that's going to look like. The plans we were working on last week look differently than the plans we are working on this week, and quite honestly, that's been our story since late spring. We think we have it figured out, and inevitably something happens or we learn new information that causes us to rethink our plans and direction. I work with an AMAZING group of administrators, teachers, and support staff, and because of their ideas and insights, I went home last night and told my wife that I haven't felt this good in months about how school will look for us this fall. We feel that we have the big pieces of the puzzle in place; we just need another week to work through some details. It's our intention to begin rolling out our plans to everyone by the end of next week. We appreciate your patience and look forward to sharing information with you soon. Tim Simpson Superintendent

Yesterday afternoon, one of our football stadium light poles broke at the base and fell into the parking lot. Thankfully no one was in the vicinity and no one was injured. Until all of the light poles are replaced, the stadium, track, field house, and weight room are off limits to everyone, including staff unless specific permission has granted by the superintendent to be on site. Information revolving around graduation and summer pride will be forthcoming.

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