Dear Parents,
I hope you and your families are enjoying your summer break!
Please remember, both the primary and middle school buildings are food sites. Breakfast and lunch can be picked up each day between 9:00 and 1:00. Each day you will be given three breakfasts and three lunches for every child in your home. This is for ALL families and community members.
There has been much discussion in the news about schools reopening in the fall. Right now nothing has been determined about the fall. Here is an article from the Chicago Tribune Tribune Article where Mayor Lightfoot shares the latest. I know and completely understand this is not what you want to hear right now. With that being said, our classrooms are in the midst of having a deep summer cleaning and we are working on how to make remote learning better if that is what will be asked of us this fall. At this time, we do not know what the fall will bring, but if we are put in a position to do any type of remote learning we want to make sure it’s better than it was this past spring. I hope many of you took the time to fill out the parent survey on remote learning at the end of the school year. We used this information to create our current Remote Learning Plan and have also been planning for face-to-face and Hybrid (a combination of the two) instruction.
I know there is a good deal of anxiety surrounding the unknown for the fall, and everyone is trying to find the best possible solution for their family. I have heard that if schools open with remote learning, some families are considering the option of withdrawing from school to seek other options for face-to-face learning. I want to remind families of the long term impact this can have on our schools resources. Because we are funded per-pupil, a small or large drop in enrollment will negatively impact us for the 2021-2022 school year. We may see a loss in programs (art, music, band, intervention support, one gym teacher) and teaching staff who are the least senior among staff. If enrollment increases again in 2021-2022, the school will not receive funding until the 20th day of fall 2021 to re-hire for these programs. These positions are very hard to fill with highly qualified teachers due to the pool of teachers being very small. Basically, each school is competing with each other for the best teachers.
Parents, I understand the fear and anxiety for what is to come and the need for students to have face-to-face instruction. However, we want to make sure that for whichever option is chosen, our staff and students are safe and remain healthy. Please be patient as I will continue to update you as I know more.
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Principal Shelton