Good afternoon!
I hope everyone had an enjoyable Mother's Day weekend!
If you or your student has not yet completed your course requests for 2020-2021, please do so as soon as possible so that we can begin modifying the master schedule and scheduling students. If possible, please complete these requests by May 15th, 2020. If you haven't completed them by then, we will be contacting you to make sure that you have the classes you need and want. If you have questions, you are welcome to email me or Mrs. Hurt or you can schedule a short meeting with me using the following link: https://calendly.com/hwright-a...
I know that we are all worried about what school might look like in the fall. I'd like to share what we have planned and all of our contingencies for instruction this fall.
Plan A: We are all on campus and school functions mostly as normal. We will continue to follow all state and CDC guidance including but not limited to: temperature/health checks for students, the wearing of masks by students and teachers, frequent hand sanitizing, surface sanitizing, reduction of group size and increased physical distancing. If a student can not come to school because they are vulnerable or have a vulnerable family member, we stand prepared to offer them an online substitute for in person instruction. Students sent home for fevers or illness symptoms will be placed on temporary homebound status and can complete assignments digitally in order to avoid absences until they are fever-free and cleared to return.
Plan B: Half of our students will attend school on Monday and Tuesday, then complete digital instruction on Wednesday and Thursday. The other half of students will complete digital instruction on Monday and Tuesday, and be on campus on Wednesday and Thursday. On Fridays, students who need remediation or extra help will come to campus to work in small groups while everyone else continues digital instruction. Again, we would continue to implement and follow all guidelines from the state and CDC. In this scenario, we would make every effort to ensure that siblings would be scheduled for the same on campus days.
Plan C: One quarter of our students will attend school each day Monday-Thursday and meet with each teacher for approximately 45 minutes (think Fast Fridays at other schools). Fridays would again be reserved for small group instruction with students who need extra help. Again, the same guidelines would apply to this scenario as to all of those above.
Plan E: This is our electronic learning plan. In the event that we are not allowed to meet in person, we would continue online learning. There would be some major differences. Grades would be given for all work. That work would be tied to mastery of a standard for the course. Students would be expected to participate in Zoom sessions as scheduled. Given enough flexibility from our state and federal governments, we would like to still hold small group, in person instruction for our most academically vulnerable students following all sanitation and health guidelines.
We have no concrete guidance from any government entities regarding next school year as of yet. There is a good chance that we may start out with one scenario, move to another, and then back and forth between them as the virus cycles through the population. I wanted you to know that we are thinking about it and we are as prepared as we can be for a variety of situations.
Our teachers miss their students and understand the value of in person instruction. So much of what we do comes from being able to read body language and tone, especially in arts instruction. Our teachers are thinking of creative ways they can continue to offer high level instruction while maintaining student safety. These include: face shields for singing or acting practice, using clear shower curtains to create isolation booths for wind instrument practice, building sanitation practices into the normal procedures of a class period, hand sanitizer stations outside of classrooms, and many others.
As soon as we have definitive guidance from the state, we will let everyone know. I watch the Governor's update every afternoon. Until then we'll keep our fingers crossed that we all get to see each other in person this fall.
Heather Wright
Currently Reading: Charting a Course to Standards-Based Grading by Tim Westerberg