SIS/SMS SUMMER UPDATE
August 12, 2020
~~~~~~~~~~~culture.relationships.future ready~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Parents, Students and Staff;
First and foremost I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. I hope that this newsletter finds everyone having family time and making memories. As we reach the midway point in August, and we are only about a month away from the start of school. I thought it would be a great time for you to get an idea of what your child’s school day will look like once we begin Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL) on September 14th.
Before I provide you with a sample schedule at each grade level. Let me start with saying that we have been working on this non-stop since the first part of June. This has been a challenging time in education with the uncertainty of what school would look like for the fall of 2020. We have been meeting as administrators all summer and making adjustments each time the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) put out a new revision based on the Governor's mandates.
I know that many of you have students at multiple grade levels on our campus or across our district. I will try and be as clear as possible at this time. Just know that as a school we have been tasked with creating a Comprehensive Distance Learning schedule, while also keeping in mind that our ultimate goal is to return to school as quickly as the Governor says we can.
The learning day minutes for a 4th through 8th grade student must meet the minimum requirements of 2 hours and 30 minutes a day of teacher facilitated learning. That comes out to 12 hours and 30 minutes a week. So when designing our CDL master schedule, we had those parameters to follow. Also remember that attendance is required and grades will be given during CDL. Teachers in grades 4 and 5 will be required to take attendance twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Teachers in grades 6 through 8 will be taking attendance each period of the day. Students will be assigned to a cohort (same kids each class), this is to limit the amount of contact each student has with others once we return to in-person learning. The design of the CDL schedule is to then be able to roll it into a hybrid (at home and in person) schedule once we can return to in person schooling. Students will be starting the year in CDL within their cohort and then remain in this cohort once we return to in-person learning.
Here is what a typical day would look like for each grade level. Please note that the schedules may change still. We are constantly receiving updates from ODE. Each cohort will have a slightly different schedule than the schedules below. These are merely examples so that parents can understand what a typical day may look like.
The Oregon Department of Education continues to update districts daily. I will continue to update parents, students and staff often. I will be meeting with specific grade level teams this week for greater clarification. My hope is that within the next week or two you should be hearing from your classroom teachers.
This continues to be a challenging time for educators. Please know that with every decision that is made, students and safety are at the forefront of our thoughts. I will do everything possible to ensure that your student receives the best education possible during these trying times.
Sincerely,
Mr. Proctor
Stayton Intermediate/Middle School
Email: michael.proctor@nsantiam.k12.or.us
Website: http://sms.nsantiam.k12.or.us/
Location: 1021 Shaff Rd, Stayton OR 97383
Phone: 503.769.2198
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/staytonintermediatemiddleschool
Twitter: @SIMSPrincipal