BEEs are Back!
Greetings Parents and Community Members,
I hope that everyone had a great long weekend and is enjoying the first Independent Learning Wednesday of the school year. Don’t worry if it feels like your child is not being as “productive” today – that is ok! Knowing that this Wednesday is the very first asynchronous day, we will continue to improve on the communication and expectations for these days of teacher planning and student catch up. We are also in a critical time for some big decisions to be made, most notably this Friday, October 16, in regard to whether or not we are still on course for a October 26 return.
In the meantime, we are continuing to plan for quality virtual instruction that can be paired with in person learning. It started yesterday when our buildings had a little more noise than usual. Our teachers began to make their way back to their classrooms and started the process of setting up their classrooms to allow for a safe return for our students. Old furniture, carpets and computers were seen being removed from classrooms to make more space for our students. Some teachers are even moving classrooms altogether to help spread out grade levels across the building, allowing for better social distancing among students and staff.
Monday also brought about the closing window to the APS Intent to Return Survey. At Morris Brandon, 807 out of 858 students completed the survey. Of the 94% of our school that completed the survey, 76% (651) opted for in person learning while 24% (207) opted for site based virtual learning. 55 of these 207 students did not complete the survey which defaulted their results to virtual learning. The next step, per our communication plan, will be to inform our families about our staffing plan the week of October 19. A final detailed plan about a K-5 return will be shared on October 21 at my next Principal Town Hall at 6pm. Additionally, I also hosted a Principal Coffee talk this morning where I shared a little bit more data around our surveys, some highlights of our return and learn (and virtual) schedule, as well as some information about steps we are taking to ensure a safe return for everyone involved. I was able to capture and answer a few questions along the way and will post the ZOOM recording on the www.morrisbrandon.com Parent University site. Additionally, we created a short FAQ around safety and other questions you may have that can be found here.
I look forward to sharing our new ESSENTIAL AGREEMENTS for students, parents, and staff next week as we move closer to face to face learning and bringing our 651 students back to school safely.
Jay