March 16, 2020
Dear St. Andrew’s Parents,

I have never been more proud of our faculty and staff than I am right now. In an increasingly uncertain world, my colleagues have fully embraced the challenge of transitioning our community to the virtual realm. In meetings and conversations today, the question “How can we best teach and support students and families while we are apart?” motivated everyone as they refined their plans for distance learning. My colleagues’ dedication to each other and to our children inspires me.

In that spirit, I am proud to share our Distance Learning Plans for Lower School and Middle and Upper School . These plans will be living documents, because St. Andrew’s is a research-based learning organization that seeks continual improvement. In the coming days and weeks, faculty and administrators will review and adjust our techniques and our communications to ensure the best possible experience for our students and families.

What to expect this week
On Tuesday evening, you will receive an email with the schedule for Wednesday’s classes. You can expect to receive a similar email each school night while distance learning is in effect. The same email you receive will also be sent to Middle and Upper School students.

Distance learning will commence on Wednesday at 8:40 a.m. for Middle and Upper School students and 9 a.m. for Lower School students. As detailed in the Distance Learning Plan, students in Preschool through Grade 4 can find the video conferencing link to Morning Meeting through the Seesaw app, while students in Grade 5 will receive their link via Schoology. As always, if you have any questions about distance learning and accessing your child’s apps, please reach out to the appropriate Division Head (PS-K – Jordan Love, 1-5 – Judy Kee).

All Middle and Upper School students will receive Google calendar invites from their teachers that contain links to their Google Meet virtual classes (teachers reviewed this process with students last week during their pilot distance learning classes). It is critical that Middle and Upper School students check their school email for these links before each distance-learning class.

In the coming weeks, our entire St. Andrew’s community will be living into our core values of dynamic growth, visionary leadership, transformative achievement and inspiring community. Together, I am confident that we will navigate this time successfully.

Faithfully,
Robert Kosasky
Head of School
St. Andrew's Episcopal School |  8804 Postoak Rd.
Potomac, MD 20854  | (301) 983-5200