The Frontier
The Final Frontier of 2019-2020
A Note from Mrs. Mitchell...
Today marks what would have been the official last day of the 2019-2020 school year, and it has been quite the journey. I could never have imagined that my first year back to Gregory as the building principal would be this challenging. I am looking forward to a much needed break from remote learning for both your children and mine.
My family will be taking a road trip to the Gulf Shores of Alabama in late June. There won't be many places to go other than the beach, but at least we won't be at home! We're looking forward to a change of scenery and leaving work completely behind. Working from home has required me to pretty much ignore my children for the majority of the day. At this point, even though we've been stuck together in the same house, they're craving some quality family time.
As businesses begin to reopen this summer, I hope you're able to truly enjoy doing the things we once took for granted - having dinner at a restaurant, playing at a park, shopping in a store, dropping kids off at practice, and visiting friends and family. Remember that when we lost these things there was a grieving process. However, brace yourselves because I believe that we're in store for yet another grieving process. When things finally get back to normal, whenever that might be, we will grieve again. For me, I will miss waking up without an alarm, taking a 7:00 AM walk with my husband and dogs, eating dinner as a family every night, knowing my children are home and safe, and saving a ton of gas money! Hopefully, if we ever find ourselves in a lock down situation again, I will remember these things and not take them for granted.
Although this is the final Frontier of this school year, you can expect to hear from me regularly throughout the summer. I will be providing updates in regards to the 2020-2021 school year as I receive them.
From the bottom of my heart, it has been a pleasure to serve as your principal, and from my family to yours, have a safe and healthy summer!
Summer Resources
Many parents have expressed concern in regards to next year, wanting to ensure that students are ready to take on the next grade level. Not having our students in front of us for the duration of 4th quarter definitely posed a challenge, and we recognize that they may not have mastered all we hoped they would. I can assure you that this will be a huge consideration as we're planning for next year. In the meantime, teachers put together a list of resources that you're welcome to check out this summer. I will be using some of these for my own children in hopes that we can reduce the summer (and spring) slide as much as possible. The resources are linked below.
Summer Resource Link
8th Grade Virtual Promotion Celebrations
These presentations were sent to parents at 9:00 AM on Thursday, May 28. I'd like to extend a final congratulations and farewell to our amazing 8th graders! They have been an absolute joy, and we will miss them dearly!
Student Materials & Yearbooks
At this time we have wrapped up our scheduled days for materials and yearbook distribution. Per CDC recommendations and Governor Pritzker's guidance, administrators will continue working from home in June. Therefore, we will not be in the building unless it is deemed essential. If you were unable to pick up locker materials or yearbooks, please continue to look for email updates from Gregory throughout the summer. If you still have items belonging to Gregory, please hold on to them and return them when school reopens.
If you would still like to purchase a yearbook, parents will be able to do that through PushCoin. This process is not yet set up, so please look for updates about in the near future. 6th and 7th grade students who purchase yearbooks will receive them when school reopens in the fall. 8th grade students will receive their books in the mail.
