Weekly Update: June 19, 2020
Weekly Update: June 19, 2020
Dear Grinnell-Newburg Board of Education, Staff, Families and Friends:
Happy Friday! I hope that this update finds you well as summer plans progress for the opening of the 2020-21 school year. The District Leadership Team continues to work on the return to learn plan for the fall. Our focus has been planning for health and safety, Iowa Core standard gaps in student learning, and social and emotional support for students and families.
The Department of Education will be providing more guidance on July 1, 2020 that will indicate how we will officially open school. In the meantime, we have been planning for continuous learning opportunities, hybrid, and on-site return to school in order to be prepared at any time COVID-19 spikes in our area. The expectation is that we will be able to support students in continuous learning opportunities at any time during the course of the year with less interruption. It is expected that all students and staff, when arriving on school grounds, will be wearing face masks, or face shields. Currently, the district is making roughly 2,000 face shields for students and staff. We are also purchasing some masks for students and staff. We encourage parents to secure a cloth mask for their students and practice wearing them. We will also be purchasing a plexi desk piece so that students can take breaks from wearing masks or face shields during the day while sitting in their classroom. This safety protocol will be in place while students are on site in the buildings until further notice if social distancing is not able to be implemented safely.
July Activities:
We are currently working on a document that will provide Q&A information for summer band, possible open gyms, and weight room use. This will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. We will keep you posted on these procedures and protocols.
Reimagine Diversity Committee:
I want to thank all of our community members, staff and parents who joined our zoom meeting on June 18 to kick off this group's effort. There will be a message sent out to the committee on Monday indicating how you can sign up for one of the following committees: Curriculum, Training, Communication, Social Engagement, Community Partnership, or Review of Policy.
If you are interested in joining this group please and missed the zoom kick off, feel free to email me at janet.stutz@grinnell-k12.org. I will direct you to the group leaders that will assist in the facilitation of each committee to develop goals and an action plan to reimagine equity and diversity in Grinnell, REDI.
Technology Access Survey: Please take a few minutes to complete this survey for the State of Iowa as they plan to improve access for families.
The survey will be open from June 3 to June 24.
The responses from this survey will help us prioritize $26.2 million in federal relief through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER), which focuses on providing and expanding broadband access and improving access to technology in other ways.
Paper Sculpture and Pop-up enrichment classes
Softball & Baseball Highlights:
Please know that the district office will be closed the week of June 29-July 3 for cleaning and the Holiday. All school buildings are closed on July 3 in recognition of the Holiday. There will be no summer SLICK on July 2 or 3rd for students due to the Holiday.
Please feel free to email me if you need immediate assistance at janet.stutz@grinnell-k12.org
This will be the last weekly update until July 2, 2020 and at that time we are hopeful to have further guidance on the reopening of school.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Janet