The Community Dragon's Den
Fairview Elementary- November 2, 2020
Message from the Principal
The decision to move all of WPS schools to remote learning for the next several weeks was not an easy one. Truthfully, we know kids learn better in the classroom, With that being said, public health cannot be ignored. Most of you are aware that the City of Westminster, Adams County, and Colorado as a whole are experiencing rising COVID-19 numbers. Although this trend has been occurring for several months, in just the past few weeks these upward trends have accelerated at an alarming rate. The State Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) placed Adams County into a Level 3 Safer-at-Home category late last week, which included new restrictions both in schools and businesses. The hope is early action now can prevent future catastrophic COVID-19 spread, leading to an even more restrictive Level 4 Stay-at-Home order like we experienced in the spring. So, reluctantly WPS made the difficult decision to transition to a remote learning environment starting Monday, November 2nd.
I recognize that it is tough to balance your work schedules with childcare needs, but the hard truth is kids don't learn as well without your supervision. Our K-2nd grade students are not able to learn independently to the same degree as say our 3-5th grade school students are. But, it is often our older kids who choose not to engage in learning from home, instead opting to play video games or spend time on their phones. We would very much appreciate if you could support our mission, of keeping students connected to their teachers for real time learning during our remote online transition.
Our teachers have been working hard to provide high quality remote learning for our Fairview Dragons. Unlike last spring, our daily remote schedules will encompass the entire school day. Teachers will begin Zooming at 8:00a and will move through the typical school day until our 3:00p dismissal. Please keep an eye out for direct communication from your child's teacher regarding specifics on class DOJO.
I'm asking every family to prioritize your student's education. Supervise their learning, ensure they are completing their classwork, help them log into Zoom, and hold them accountable if they don't. Our teachers will be online everyday ready to teach and we need our students online everyday ready to learn.
Even though I'm saddened that WPS has been forced to go remote, I'm proud that we safely opened our school for in-person learning the past 10 weeks. That's 10 weeks of classroom instruction, classroom learning, and classroom interactions we can hang our hat on. I'm hopeful this temporary two week suspension of in-person learning can help the community of Westminster reset its alarming COVID curve, so that we can add many, many more weeks of in-person learning to this school year.
More details regarding daily meal pickup and attendance can be found below, as well as a video message from Superintendent Swanson regarding the WPS schools closure.
Best,
Lisa Cyr
Principal- Fairview Elementary