March 27, 2020
Dear Lancer Families,
I hope this letter continues to find you and your loved ones in good health! Congratulations on making it through your first week of remote learning. Now that we’re facing a longer timeline using this platform, we want to provide some updates as we head into week two and beyond. Students should have received a survey through Google Classroom which will allow us to ascertain what is working well and what is not. We also plan to send parents and guardians a survey in an upcoming email. The immediate feedback we’ve received (without surveys) is how responsive our students and teachers have been with one another! There is true collaboration happening, and we are excited about that. Along with meaningful learning that is taking place each day, we want to remind everyone to please remember to maintain a work / life balance. We have asked our teachers to please keep their instruction and assignments to the school day and schedule. Teachers and students need a break in the evening and on weekends. We’ve also stressed that teachers should continue to provide small chunks of learning opportunities for students, remembering that many are working 6 + hours a day to complete assignments, and they are possibly sharing screen time with siblings if they don’t have their own device. We realize that many students have conflicts with video class sessions at the same time, so we encourage brief sessions within the students’ class period that remain optional, and serve as a check-in. We would like all students to use their school email for written correspondence. If families are reaching out to teachers, please share your name along with your student’s name. We hope any questions, concerns, or feedback are directed to the teacher in charge of the class, but in addition, your student has their guidance counselor, administrators, and other school personnel to assist.
Our short-term goal at LHS is to continue our efforts to close out Quarter 3, next Friday, April 3rd. We are going to extend the grading window for teachers to allow more time to correct final assignments and determine a Quarter 3 grade. We will work closely with all students to ensure they’ve had enough time to complete assignments and feel comfortable closing out the quarter. Please contact teachers if you feel there is anything that may prohibit that from happening, as we do have an extended window of time before we issue 3rd Quarter report cards by April 17th. We are confident that 4th Quarter can begin April 6th with new learning experiences developing throughout the month. There is no change in the school calendar at this time, and the district office is working to verify this with the school board.
Our return date as of today, is May 4, 2020. Spring sports dates are postponed again, and the NHIAA is working on a revised calendar for a possible May 5th start date. School events for May and June will remain in the calendar, and we have a contingency plan in place for senior events that could extend beyond the traditional school year. We plan to make every effort to honor the Class of 2020 and will do everything we can to hold these special events for them. We will make those event decisions as we receive more information from local and state officials.
Our students, families, and teachers should all be proud of yourselves and what you’ve already achieved in such a short time. We’re proud of you, and are here to support you along this new endeavor. I’ll convey to you, what I have to our educators. There is no perfect system. There will be set-backs, and we’re all in this together. Time will be on our side to work through hurdles and challenges. Please give yourselves and your students a manageable workload each day/week, as this learning environment is much different, and many students have six or seven classes a day they are working through to carry out this new process with fidelity. Adjust your pacing and know we trust your professional judgement around setting reasonable expectations for students. The same holds true for LHS students and families. Please reach out to us with any questions, concerns, or feedback. You can also visit our school website. At the top you will see a new tab entitled “Remote Learning 2020”. It has all kinds of resources available to assist you.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and take that time to be with your loved ones. Thanks for all you do! We miss you! Stay safe, take care of yourselves, and be well!
Sincerely,
Jason Parent
Proud Principal
Londonderry High School