Dear Parents,
Welcome to the 2020-21 school year and what a year this has been! We hope this letter finds you and your loved ones well and acclimating to our new temporary norm of staying safe while at home. First, let me thank you for your support and understanding as we, as a nation and community, responded to the unexpected invasion of COVID-19 in March. Albeit not perfect, I am very proud of the way our VES students, parents, staff, and community handled the demands we were faced with in the spring to protect everyone as we continued to educate our students during the most unusual of circumstances.
Understandably, there continues to be concerns and questions related to how schools plan to virtually reopen in August 2020. We are preparing to temporarily transition from the classroom to distance learning, to move teaching and learning beyond the four walls of the classroom for all of our students. We appreciate your patience, as launching a distance learning plan to meet the needs of all of our varied learners is a complex challenge. We acknowledge that distance learning pales in comparison to daily in-person instructional programs; however, we are committed to providing students with a robust virtual learning experience. Our instructional staff has, and will continue to develop their skills for providing instruction to our students within an online environment. During this time of social distancing, we want to ensure that each of our students continue to have access to a high-quality curriculum and assignments. Be assured, we have been working diligently on our VES 2020- 21 Virtual Learning Plans. All students will participate in the learning of new grade level content material, continued standards-paced instruction, interactive lessons, graded assignments, and assessments.
I encourage our parents to frequently visit the DCSD website and our Vanderlyn webpage for up to date and accurate information. There are many false rumors being disseminated which leads to unnecessary confusion. Everyone must understand there is no way for us to please all individuals as we make extremely difficult decisions. We recognize that what is best for children is not always convenient for adults. However, our priority is to keep everyone safe while not making life more difficult for our parents. Each family situation is uniquely different. We fully understand your varied concerns about health and safety, distance learning, the importance of face-to-face instruction, parents needing to work, the economy, and all of the other unexpected consequences of not being in school in a traditional manner. Our goal is to find the most effective way to have our students participate in the virtual learning process until we are able to safely return to the school building to ensure the health and well-being of all.
This school year promises to be an unprecedented one as we continue to work together to build our new school community. Our school-wide theme will be “Mission I’m Possible,” a deliberate attempt to drive home the message that “anything is possible”. When reflecting on the countless strides that the Vanderlyn School Community has made within the past few months, and the plans it has for the year ahead, the Mission I’m Possible theme pulls inspiration from JFK’s famous speech about landing a man on the moon – an effort also once considered impossible.
In addition, this theme will guide us to think outside of the box and focus on what we can do rather than what we can’t do. Most importantly, Mission I’m Possible will help frame our efforts to combine the resources of district and school leaders, teachers, and parents to turn every challenge and obstacle we face into a “Mission Possible”. Such a theme will ultimately translate and resonate within each student the powerful mantra, “I’m Possible” and “All Students Matter”. It is my ardent desire to show our students that no matter how uncertain things seem right now, they are, and will continue to be educated in a world of possibilities, not impossibilities. Our mission this year, as parents and educators, is to get into the minds of our children and infiltrate their brains with vast amounts of 21st century knowledge, including book smarts, life skills, respect, manners, social skills, and emotional intelligence. We have exactly 179 days to complete this critical mission!
As we work to finalize the virtual restart planning process, we will update you with the Virtual Learning Plan that will provide a daily schedule, resources, and an overall blueprint for instruction.
Thank you for your continued support and positivity as we strive to do what is best for ALL of our students and employees during these challenging times. We are missing you, wishing you well and looking forward to virtually connecting with each of you soon.
