Dear Parents,
I know there are many questions as we approach the end of the 2019-2020 school year. While I do not know answers to many things right now, you can be assured that we are working to make the end of the year productive and special for your children. At the same time, we are also busy planning for the summer and for the 2020-2021 school year.
Governor DeWine has indicated there is a strong possibility that school will not look like normal when we return in August. At this juncture, it is too soon to tell what exactly that may mean, but a combination of blended learning is a possibility, as is remaining completely online. I will keep everyone posted as we know more going forward.
I know this is a frustrating time for you and your children. It is also a challenging time for our teachers and staff. It is probably an overused phrase, but we are “all in this together.” Everyone is experiencing this time of “Stay at Home” in a different way….everyone’s circumstances are different, even more so than usual. It takes great patience, empathy and prayer to navigate and implement even the simplest communication, idea, or project. As a faith community, we are so blessed because we know we have the prayer, spiritual, and emotional support of the entire community at all times. As I say to the children everyday….as members of the St. Brigid Family of Disciples, we are called to be the NOW of God. Little did we know when we started the year with this theme how important it would become to us to be the NOW of God to each other.
As the end of May approaches, please know that your teachers, as they typically do, are working on putting together a summer learning plan for your children to have some regular opportunities to practice and review. There will be a small difference in that the materials and opportunities for learning and review will be electronic in nature.
We are also busily planning the end of the year to make sure we have special activities and memories for our 8th-grade graduates and for the whole school community. The details are still in the works but will be released as soon as possible. Please make sure to check out the article below to select a time on May 14th or 15th to pick up your child’s personal belongings.
As we face long-term planning for the possibility of e-learning to continue in some form during the next school year, we are issuing today a survey to parents (all grade levels), teachers, and students (grades 3- 8). The results of this survey will be used by a task force that is being formed of teachers and parents (and students as needed). This task force will look at what we have learned from our experiences during this brief crisis planned e-learning and apply it towards planning for next year. To use another analogy….we just had the sprint and now we need to plan for a potential marathon.
These first-hand experiences will be combined with researching best practices for digital education to design a cohesive, organized digital delivery model based on our students’ developmental ages. Mrs. Jill Carfagna, our assistant principal and director of instruction, is leading this process. She will draw on her expertise in curriculum and planning as well as her own current professional development on instructional coaching. She will work with our teachers to properly prepare for the educational models that are in our future. We will begin planning for several different possibilities since we do not know when the decision will be made for reopening schools in the state of Ohio. Part of this planning will also include potential summer classes depending on the survey results. Our planning will also include how to best transition our students from this year to next. Therefore, a process will be designed to transition our students and fill the gaps as needed. This will be of the utmost importance.
We know and love your children. We know their learning styles, we know their strengths and what they need to work on, we know the names of their pets, and their favorite sports and music. We have a personal and vested interest in all of our students and their success. Knowing this information and using it to plan for transitioning them successfully to next year is important and vital.
In closing, we appreciate your support, feedback, and prayers. All are valuable in this process. We are here to help -- whether that be academic support, emotional support, financial support or spiritual support. PLEASE ASK. We have resources and we want to help, but we can’t if we don't know your individual needs. We are a St. Brigid family and we are here for you.
