November 18, 2020
Good Afternoon,
As you know, this year, and part of last, has been a real challenge for schools. This year, we have worked hard to put together a plan to keep everyone safe and stop the transmission of COVID -19 within our schools. I am extremely proud of how hard our families, students, and staff have worked to maintain a safe learning environment.
With that being said, we are starting to experience an increase in both positive cases and individuals being quarantined due to exposure or illness. While we still have no confirmed transmission through contact at school, COVID-19 is still placing a significant burden on our system to function. Weekly, we have seen an increase of positive, or presumed positive, cases within our schools and community. This, in combination with the number of individuals quarantined for symptoms, awaiting results, or having direct exposure to someone with COVID is negatively impacting student and staff attendance. We, as a District, want to do our part to help slow the transmission.
As a result, and to assist in slowing the spread, our last day for in-person learning for the first semester will be Monday, November 23 for students attending Monday and Wednesday and Tuesday, November 24 for students attending Tuesday and Thursday in-person learning. We do not have school Wednesday, November 25 – Friday, November 27 for our Thanksgiving Break. On Monday, November 30 remote learning will be in place for all students through the remainder of the first semester. We are hopeful that we can return to in-person learning sometime in January, most likely mid-January, and will communicate an exact date at a later time.
We are strongly encouraging your child to log in daily to Google Classroom, join their live meets, and complete all assignments. Grades will continue to be taken for assignments during remote learning and teachers will continue teaching new content. It is very important that your child(ren) keep up with their assignments. You can monitor grades through your TeacherEase account. If you have specific concerns about your child’s achievement or missing assignments, please contact their teacher.
This decision was not made easily, and involved a lot of thought, but it is our hope that this will help protect everyone affiliated with our District - students, families and staff. Please be patient and understanding as we attempt to navigate these extremely difficult times in our community and nation.
Sincerely,
Julie Brown
Superintendent
Click here for a printable version of this letter on District 105 letterhead.