Dear Kenston Families,
I am writing to you to share the District's plan to begin remote learning on Monday, December 7 through Tuesday, December 22. We plan to return to in-person instruction on Monday, January 4. Along with local health officials, we will continue to assess our ability to return to in-person learning and communicate any changes in return plans to families as information becomes available.
For the rest of this week, your children will be bringing home belongings, textbooks, materials and reviewing procedures to prepare for the transition to the remote learning model.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have worked closely with the Geauga Public Health Department in making decisions in the best interest of the health and welfare of our students, families and staff. Included is a letter from Mr. Tom Quade, Geauga County Public Health Commissioner, supporting the decision to temporarily transition to remote learning by "design and not by default."
The decision to move to remote learning has been made to maintain a high level of academic instruction that is Kenston's hallmark. Positive COVID-19 cases are being traced to exposures outside of school, and we have seen an increase in cases and quarantines with our students and staff. While we believe that the mitigation strategies implemented in our schools are working very well, we cannot control what is happening outside our school, and it is impacting what is happening at school.
As these numbers continue to grow, building operations have become an issue. Unfortunately, substitute staffing levels are extremely low district-wide, and we can no longer be certain that we can effectively maintain in-person instruction.
What does this mean for your child?
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In-person learners: Instruction will be delivered remotely every day. Your child will resume in-person instruction as soon as we can re-open.
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Virtual learners: Your child will remain a virtual learner for the entire first semester (January 15).
The Remote Learning school day schedule will remain the same as during in-person learning and utilize four essential technology tools:
- Google Drive
- Google Classroom
- Google Meet
- District-approved digital resources to support the curriculum.
Instruction will be delivered both through asynchronous and synchronous methods and allow students to work collaboratively and independently. Technology tools already modeled through in-person instruction will continue to be used during remote learning. Teachers will design additional ways to monitor, support, and assess student learning.
At this time, teachers providing intervention will contact families directly to discuss how instructional support will be provided in the remote learning model for students who receive Special Education services or additional support.
