Dear Cole Families and Upper Grade Students,

 

I hope you’re doing well.  We’re very excited to announce that we’ve been given permission from the Fresno County Department of Public Health to start “low contact sports” at Cole Elementary. Specifically, physical conditioning, practice, skill-building, and training can be conducted outdoors, with 6-feet of physical distancing, and within stable team cohorts.

We’ve been approved to have any students in grades 4^th through 6^th participate in two seasons of sports for the remainder of this year.  Yes, any Cole upper grade student that attends In Person Hybrid Am or PM, Clovis Connect Online, or Accelerated Education/Edgenuity may participate in both or either season of sport. 

Our sports practices will start at 3:15 pm and run until 4:15 pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday during the season.  Unfortunately, we don’t have transportation for the sports practices.  Students will need to have their own transportation to and from practice each day.  Parents, we would appreciate it if you would be on time to pick up students at 4:15.  We will have a teacher or teachers on duty to supervise students.  Students not picked up by 4:30 will be escorted to the office to call home.  Each student will be allowed 2 late passes per season.  In the event a student is picked up late a 3^rd time, the student will be removed from sports for the remainder of the year.  

Students will need to check in at the check in station located at basketball court closest to portables.  Students will need to check in if they did not previously check in for in person class.  Athlete check ins will begin at 3:00.  ALL athletes should line up on basketball courts prior to practice and wait for coaches to arrive. 

The first season will be from February 22^nd through Thursday, March 25^th.  This will be a skills-based season where students will rotate through various athletic skill development stations.  It’s our goal to provide some activity for students and help get them active.  Students will be placed in groups or cohorts of students and rotate through activities based on sports available at Cole.  

During the second season, students will be able to participate in baseball (5^th & 6^th), cross country (4^th through 6^th) or softball (5^th & 6^th).  The student cohort will be the specific team (Example: Varsity Softball is a cohort of students).  Teams are scheduled to play 4 games this season.  There will not be any tournaments with multiple teams.  During season two, we will have transportation from Cole to games and back to Cole.  Students will be required to have their own transportation home from Cole. 

Student cohorts will remain the same for the individual season.  Students will socially distance and wear a mask while participating in the activities and at school.  

Unfortunately, we will not have any opportunity for visitors or spectators to attend practices for the first season.  We’re needing to keep our school safe and provide as much social distancing space for our students and sports.  During the second season, we may be able to have immediate family members attend the games during this season.  We should hear more information later in April about allowing spectators.  

Students interested in attending Season One Skills-Based Sports will need to sign up through Permission Click.  Please type this link https://permission.click/84nnW/us in your browser or you may find the link on our school website.  We would like students/parents to complete this form before 8:00 pm on Wednesday, February 17^th to provide our coaches time to place students in cohorts for the first day of practice.  Again, the first day of practice will be Monday, February 22^nd at 3:15 pm.  Athlete check ins will begin at 3:00 and conclude at 3:15.  Any students who arrive after 3:15 will not be allowed to practice.  Students will receive their cohort group assignment the first day of practice when they check in with the coaching staff.

All students need to bring a water bottle with their name on it.  All students are expected to wear appropriate athletic clothing and footwear.  

Students may sign up after Wednesday, February 17^th for sports, but would need to wait until they are contacted and assigned a cohort group before attending a practice.  We want every student that would like to participate in sports to have the opportunity to attend.  

We’re very excited to offer our students the opportunity to engage in sports this year.  Please let us know if you have any questions or need more information.  You can call the front office at 327-6200 for more information.