There is a lot of information coming to Rattlesnake’s community every day from many sources. We hope that this guide helps you find the information you and your family need during this time. We will update this as often as needed. Stay safe and we look forward to seeing everyone again!
This page is very long! It includes information on all the following topics. Please scroll down to find information on:
- Meals
- Remote Learning
- Emergency Childcare
- Mental Health
- Monday Message from Mrs. Wright
- MCPS District Communications
- Community Resources and Updates
- Keeping the kids engaged and entertained
MEALS
During this school closure period, the MCPS school lunch, breakfast & weekend meal programs are open to ALL youth for FREE. Any youth can receive free meals, regardless of free/reduced lunch status. Meals are available to ANY youth under 18 (even private school or homeschool students, or students from other school districts).
DISTRICT PAGE
MCPS is maintaining a page with lots of detailed information on meal delivery for all schools.
RATTLESNAKE SCHOOL PICK UP & BUS ROUTES
- Meals are delivered to the Rattlesnake School bus zone at 12:20 p.m. Monday – Friday. This means if you miss when the bus is at your stop, you can just pick up your meal(s) at your local school.
- Beach Transportation will be delivering meals along regular bus routes Monday – Friday, starting at 11:00am. Please enter your address on the infofinder site to find the time your bus will be at your bus stop each day: http://www.infofinderi.com/ifi/?cid=MCPS4CVNG54XW
- Monday – Friday each child will receive breakfast (for the following day) and lunch for the current day. On Fridays, you can also request a weekend food bag (packaged by the Missoula Food Bank, also called an EmPower Pack). If you would like to be added to the list of families that get an EmPower Pack, please email Stacy Jehle at sjehle@mcps.k12.mt.us and she’ll get you all set up.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO ONLY SEND ONE PERSON FROM YOUR HOUSEHOLD TO PICK UP MEALS AND MAINTAIN 6′ OF DISTANCE FROM OTHERS. LET’S HELP FLATTEN THE CURVE!
REMOTE LEARNING
Starting Monday, March 30 there will be weekly online lessons available for all content areas and grade levels. Thank you to our wonderful staff and teachers for making this happen!
ACADEMICS & ENRICHMENTS
Find grade-level team’s daily lesson plans from our beloved Rattlesnake teachers here starting March 30: https://www.mcpsmt.org/raremotelearning
- These plans include both academic & “specials/enrichment” classes, and are designed to review and reinforce learning- not to introduce new things right now.
- Additional district resources are available here: https://www.mcpsmt.org/Page/15143
- If you have questions about the lessons and resources, please email your classroom teacher.
- If you need help with getting loaner Chromebook from school, or internet access, please email Stacy Jehle at sjehle@mcps.k12.mt.us and she’ll do her best to help.
EXPECTATIONS
Right now, the teachers just want to keep the students engaged in learning- they are not doing any grades, assessments, or testing. Please, if you or your student is feeling pressure, remind them that the #1 priority right now is not schoolwork, via this lovely message of encouragement from our Superintendent Rob Watson: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-LLII5nlAW/
EMERGENCY CHILDCARE
“The Missoula Family YMCA is now offering licensed emergency childcare to essential service workers. Missoula City-County Health Department defines essential service workers as first responders, medical workers, and city-county first responders.” Learn more on the YMCA’s site, http://ymcamissoula.org/emergency-childcare-services/
MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES
A message from our friends at the Missoula City-County Health Department:
“These are difficult times, and it is natural and normal to be experiencing strong feelings. There are a lot of changes and directives coming at us from many directions right now, but one thing we want to make sure you do is be gentle with yourself and take some time for your mental health. You’ll find mental health resources from the Missoula City-County Health Department.”
- https://missoulacountyblog.com/2020/03/26/covid-19-and-mental-health-missoula-county-resources/
- How to Talk to Your Kids About Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): https://www.healthygallatin.org/blog/talk-kids-coronavirus-disease-2019/
MRS. WRIGHT’S MORNING MESSAGES
Mrs. Wright posts morning messages each Monday, with bonus messages the week of March 23rd! Your kids are used to watching these messages at school each Monday, and Mrs. Wright makes them for the audience of your kids! You can find all the messages on her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCFzbSqhNLqrgrZ43RWGaKw/videos
MCPS DISTRICT RESOURCES
COMMUNITY RESOURCES & UPDATES
Governor Bullock issued a shelter-in-place order, currently effective through April 24th, many of us might want easier ways to keep our pantries full and our kids busy. This is just a sampling of local organizations offering helpful information and/or services to our community.
GROCERIES & MEALS
- Fresh Market is also now offering “click & go” curbside pick up of groceries.
- Albertson’s on Broadway is offering grocery delivery
- Walmart on Mullan offers both pick up and delivery options
- Target offers delivery services as well
- The Good Food Store is now offering curbside pickup of groceries Mon-Fri.
- Uber Eats is offering free delivery from many local restaurants in Missoula
- Many local fast-food places offer affordable meals with both drive through and delivery services right now (Burger King, McDonalds, Krispy Kreme and more)
- Support some our nearby small businesses still offering take out and/or curbside pick up (this is not a comprehensive list, email us at rattlesnakepta@gmail.com to suggest to be added to this list):
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- Rattlesnake Cafe
- Headies Brick Oven Pizza
- Five on Black
- Black Coffee Roasting Company and Grist Bakery
- Drum Coffee (Broadway Location only)
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Many grocery stores are VERY busy and may not have delivery or pick up times available right away, but it is worth calling them to find out!
UPDATES & INFORMATION
- Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services
- Missoula County Health Department
- Ongoing updates from Missoula County Government – including Daily Video Briefs from Mayor Engen and our County Commissioners
KEEPING THE KIDS ENGAGED AND ENTERTAINED
Thank you to these great organizations offering online resources for our kids
LOCAL
- Montana Natural History Center
- Missoula Public Library – Digital Services
- Montana Science Center offers some at-home science experiments
AROUND THE WORLD
- Virtual concerts, plays, museums from all over the world
- Many, many, e-books for kids are now available for free on Audible at stories.audible.com
- Museum of Modern Art, MOMA, offers family art-making opportunities
- Pete the Cat is offering all sorts of fun online activities for kids
- Disney Educator nature guides for kids
- Crack a code, design a gadget and more with Spy Museum activities
- Program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the online community with the Scratch lab from MIT
- Mo Willems invites YOU into his studio every day for his LUNCH DOODLE. Learners worldwide can draw, doodle and explore new ways of writing by visiting Mo’s studio virtually.