Balancing – Our current situation has brought “balance” to the forefront in several areas at our school:
Social/emotional connection and support balanced with academic needs – Teachers and staff have been giving lots of thought to the importance of supporting the emotional and social needs of our students and families during this time. Helping us all get through this with the least amount of trauma is clearly a priority. Yet, we do have attendance requirements (state mandated), academic obligations, and need to track and measure how students are doing. We are sending an envelope of assessment material (by US Postal Service) to Elementary and Middle School families. Please read through it and let us know if you have any questions.
Planning for the future balanced with knowing that options and plans will change –
- End of Year Ceremonies – We are working to make plans for end of year ceremonies that bring community, celebration, and closure. That being said, we know that restrictions will be changing and options might open or close. Flexibility is key.
- SummerFun – We do not know if we will be permitted to be together in person during the weeks scheduled for CH and TP SummerFun, or during other weeks this summer. We’ve gotten an early start on playground re-grading and fence repair that needed to happen. We are working to remain flexible to provide our prepared Montessori environment for when we are able to meet.
- Next Year – We are considering the many possible scenarios (early start, late start, more distance learning, meeting in person but limited class size, staggered attendance days, preschool versus school age options) and how these might influence teacher contracts and addendums that might be appropriate for student contracts and financial obligations.
Limiting screen time balanced with providing connection and direct engagement – We’ve all experienced ‘Zoom Fatigue’ and yet that is the best available venue for “direct” teacher contact with students.
Providing meaningful, program-level appropriate content and structure balanced with each family’s flow, connectivity, and ability to be present – Some families thrive in this setting while others are really struggling to make it work. We keep working to better define and communicate what should be our expectations at each program level and how we can best serve individual students/families and the whole community of students/families.
As we work to strike a balance in all of these areas, and more, your feedback and engagement is critical. Many of you have been communicating directly to the teachers and many of you responded to our survey (more than 50 so far!). Today is the final day to submit a survey response. These responses and the analysis provided by Resonance Insights will be critical to us better addressing our families’ needs at this time, and in finding the balance between expectations and delivery of what we can do for remote learning and for families’ considerations for the next academic year.
Stay well,
Tamara