Gashland News
April 2020
Greetings Gashland Families,
To say that these times are unprecedented is certainly an understatement, but it’s true. As I reflect back to the beginning of our spring break, it is unbelievable the transformation we made in our world/ school community from the beginning of our spring break to the end of it. I am so very grateful to the leaders of our school district who had the foresight to make sure all of our K-12 NKCSD students, especially our primary students, took iPads and MACs home in the event they would need to have a tool at home to connect with our teachers to continue the teaching and learning process. So very grateful for their leadership! As our Deputy Superintendent of Academics, Dr. Chad Sutton, recently stated, “…our facilities have closed, but learning has not!” That is absolutely true, and our focus at Gashland is to ensure this happens for all of our Gashland Stars. For staff, this is a huge transition, transitioning from face-to-face interactions with our students to using digital tools to teach. But as you can see, our teachers are fully embracing the new model and growing more every day in their ability to use these tools to reach their students. While we grow our digital understandings and capacities, we need your feedback and input to make sure our partnership in meeting the needs of our students is working. We have many more important skills and strategies to teach our students before transitioning to the next grade level, so we need YOU in this process to ensure all of our Gashland Stars are ready to be successful for the next grade level and future. We are so very grateful for the many encouraging messages our staff have received from you and the many recommendations and ideas you’ve shared as well. We truly are partners in the most important role we have to play – educating our precious children!
Wishing you and your family good health, safe keeping and blessings. ~ Mrs. Lakin
CONTACT INFORMATION
Expectations During Virtual Learning
We have completed week-one and are moving into week two of eLearning. Toward the end of last week teachers, administrators and families engaged in great conversations to determine how the first few days were going and how we can make the experience better for all moving forward. Below are some common themes that were part of those conversations. We wanted to share some thoughts to provide clarity and understanding as we learn together.
Workload
As we are one week into our new teaching and learning environment, we want to be sensitive to the academic demands we are placing on students. We are aiming to ensure students do not lose ground, learn 4th quarter standards, all while not adding stress. This is a difficult goal to achieve. We want to find as close to a “just right” fit for each student given the situation and give students some flexibility to complete work as they are understanding it. If you are needing anything in regard to help, support, workload, etc. reach out to your child’s teacher. We want to make this experience as positive as possible.
Grading
As it pertains to grading, the bottom line is that we do not want kids to have their grades negatively affected by this circumstance and eLearning. We have lost many of the controls of traditional school such as time, resources, guaranteed interaction with teachers, etc. Because of that, our focus is turning towards effort/engagement as opposed to mastery of content. While some families and staff do not have consistent access to what is needed to guarantee a system that viably delivers content, we cannot allow this to impact student grades. Given that, here is what grading will look like for the duration of eLearning:
· Assignments will be posted through SeeSaw.
· Teachers are logging work completion.
· Teachers will give feedback to kids as far as mastery to push for true learning/ understanding of content during this time.
· As always, if you have any questions, reach out to your student’s teachers or an administrator to work through anything that comes up
This is truly a unique time. This pandemic is affecting every family, staff, and student in a different way. Things that are certain today, may not be tomorrow. We want to partner with you, and you with us to make this experience as positive as it can be. We are committed to doing our best for you and your student(s) during this time! And we cannot thank you enough for partnering with us to enable our students to continue growing and learning!
Health Update: Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
For the latest information and links to technology help or lunch deliveries please see the district link below:
Summer School
It’s not too late to sign up for summer school! In the coming weeks, we will be sending out emails to all families whose student has been recommended for summer school but has not yet signed up. If you would like to sign up now, please email Melanie.kerton@nkcschools.org or call 816-321-5100.
Booster Club yearbook sales
Gashland/Clardy Booster Club has a new Facebook Group!
Creating a group instead of just a page allows the booster club to share forms and files easily which improves transparency and makes it easier to find the information you are looking for.
Please click on the link below to join:
About Us
Fax: 816-321-5101
Attendance: 816-321-5102
Nurse: 816-321-5103
Cafe: 816-321-5104
Email: cindy.lakin@nkcschools.org
Website: www.nkcschools.org/gaes
Location: 500 Northeast 83rd Street, Kansas City, MO, 64118
Phone: 816-321-5100
Twitter: @gashlandstars
Gashland Clardy Booster Club
Email: gashlandclardybooster@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GashlandClardyBooster/
Twitter: @GaClBooster