November 2020

The Children’s Kiva Montessori Charter School Board of Directors will hold a special Board Meeting at 5pm on November 27th.

All Board Meetings are open to the public.  To join the meeting, click here

The Children’s Kiva Montessori Charter School Board of Directors will hold its regular monthly Board Meeting at 7pm on November 16th, preceded a workshop starting at 5:30pm.

To join the meeting, click here.  All Board Meetings are open to the public.   https://us04web.zoom.us/j/78499419665?pwd=c3EyeWcrMHlCcHM3Qi91WlNvREhpUT09

Meeting ID: 784 9941 9665
Passcode: VKh8dy

November 10, 2020

The School Accountability Committee(SAC) will meet today at 4 pm via zoom. Participating in SAC is another great opportunity to support Kiva’s efforts during this challenging school year.  Please consider joining us. ​This meeting is open to the public.
Please find the agenda and zoom log in information here.

November 9, 2020

Dear Kiva Families:

Due to the increase in COVID-19 cases which could potentially impact the health and safety of our school community, their families and the local healthcare system, Children’s Kiva

Montessori Charter School will begin Distance Learning Mode on Wednesday, November 11th and continue through Thursday, November 19th.

Distance Learning Only (no in-person learning) is scheduled after the Thanksgiving Holiday from November 30th through January 11th. We will continuously monitor the situation to determine if this time period could be shortened or must be extended.

School breakfast and lunch will be available as usual on Tuesday November 10. Kiva will also take orders for school lunch for Wednesday and Thursday by 9am. Please call 970-564-9377.

Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 School District will begin grab-and-go meal service by Monday, November 16th and the order form for these meals will be available later this week on our website and on Facebook.

What to expect this week?

  • Tomorrow your student will have school in-person on their regular schedule.
  • Student Chromebooks have/will be sent home along with learning packets/notebooks.
  • Students will be expected to report to their classrooms digitally at 8am on Wednesday and subsequent school days: home room teachers will communicate with families and students on the new schedules later this week.
  • Paper Packets will available for pickup each Friday morning at school. This will be the day that you may drop off completed work as well (if using packets).
  • Accommodations and differentiation will continue for students and families.

We recognize that this mode of operation presents difficult challenges for families and students, and that the notice is short. Please do not hesitate to reach out to discuss how Kiva can support your student’s learning.

Please feel free to reach out to me at 970-564-9377 or [email protected] with questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Pope
​Head of School

The Children’s Kiva Montessori Charter School will have a special meeting on November 9th at 5:30pm.

The Meeting is open to the public. The link to the meeting is here

November 6, 2020

Dear Kiva Families,

The Return to Learn Committee met last night to review current trends of COVID-19 (with an epidemiological expert from Southwest Health System) and listen to comments from parents.

On Monday evening at 5:30 the Board of Directors will meet to discuss the Head of School’s recommendation that Children’s Kiva Montessori Charter School put plans into place to move to a Distance Learning mode of operations from November 30 up to January 11 (observing two weeks of Christmas and New Years Holiday). This is 17 days of Distance Learning.
The school administration will closely monitor conditions and if they change for the better, may consider returning to a hybrid mode during some portion of this period.

We will make plans to accommodate and differentiate for children and families with special needs. Breakfast and lunch will be available each day through the Montezuma-Cortez School District (more info to follow). In addition, to support your capacity to engage in your child’s learning, we are offering trainings each week for families to access technology or use the paper/packet options. Find out more at the Kiva Konnect email or on facebook.

Monday’s Board Meeting is open to the public. The link to the meeting is here.

This is a difficult recommendation for me to make from the standpoint of student learning because we know children learn best when they learn in person. In addition, I know first-hand that the extra stress put on families in distance learning is significant.

But from the standpoint of health and safety for our staff, students and the community as a whole, public health depends on all of us coming together to do our part. This is what many of your children learned this week as we explored and took part in a Community Service project. I encourage you to engage your child in understanding how public health is a community service endeavor for all.

Which community are they serving?  Those most vulnerable in our community–the elderly and less healthy.

Today, Tony Sudduth, CEO of Southwest Health System, published an open letter informing the community that the hospital is bumping up against its capacity limits for all care, including COVID-19 care, and calling for leadership from all sectors in our community.

Let us help our children understand how they can be leaders in this crisis, right here at home and ensure that those who need medical care can get it.

What can they or you do now?  Reduce risk to your school and the community.

Kiva’s cautious, cohorted, hybrid approach reduces risk for children, staff and their families. And, leading up to Thanksgiving Break, we must focus on staying safe for its own merits and because staying healthy allows us to stay in school. Just one positive case could force the closure a classroom, or even the whole school. And it could put one more person into a hospital already at its limit.

I am requesting that families:

  • Send children to school wearing a mask (regardless of age). Remember, wearing a facial covering both protects your child and the child of another parent. If you don’t have a mask, one can be provided.
  • Continue to screen children before they leave home in the morning.
  • Keep children at home if they are not feeling well (cough, fever, headache, runny nose).
  • Make sure your child gets 10+ hours of sleep so that their immune systems are strong. Consider carefully your social gatherings and how they might increase risk for you and the other students at school.
  • As always, reach out to me with questions or comments at [email protected] or 970-769-0808.

Warm Regards,

Jeffrey Pope
Head of School

The Kiva Montessori Return to Learn Committee will meet Thursday, November 5 at 5:30pm.  The meeting is open to the public.

Join Zoom meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87664879844. Meeting ID: 876 6487 9844

The Board Development Committee is meeting today at 5:30 pm via zoom. This meeting is open to the public. Please email [email protected], if you’d like to receive the zoom link.
Please note that this meeting is separate from the Return to Learn Committee that is meeting at the same time.