Principal post

Happy Friday!!!

What a week it has been!!!   As most of you know, the decision was made for us to be remote until at least October 16. DPS has put together this document to answer some of the questions about remote learning.  https://www.dpsk12.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-21_RemoteLearningPlan_FINAL.pdf

We will share our plan for remote learning with our staff at the beginning of the week and will share with families after staff has had a chance to review and comment.

On August 4 from 6:00 - 7:00 pm we will hold a Southmoor town hall.  We will share sign-in information on Monday with a survey for questions. We will give a brief overview of what we have planned at this point and provide a time for questions.

Next week the Regional Superintendents for the Southeast  will hold 2 town halls to answer questions that you may have. The first 45 minutes will be a presentation and the second 45 will be a time for questions.  The town halls are August 5 from 8:00 - 9:30 am and August 6 from 6:00 - 7:30.   This link provides information on how to sign in and other details about the town halls.  

Annual Family Update Now Open!

Annual Family Update (AFU), our online registration process, is now open. During AFU families will be able to officially enroll their students in their preferred learning option and verify and update their household information. Click on the following link to get started!   https://myportal.dpsk12.org/

 Families will have the option to enroll in a 100% virtual program option or an in-person learning option, which may include full-time in-person learning or a mix of in-person and remote learning. As a reminder, all K-12 students will be learning remotely until at least Mid October 2020. You will need to make an enrollment decision between the in-person learning option or the 100% virtual program. Please pick the best option you believe will suit your needs through December 2020. All K-12 students who choose the virtual program will still keep their enrollment spot at the school they were expected to attend for the 2020-21 school year. 

Some answers to last weeks surveys:

Thank you to those of you that completed the survey.  There were a few common questions that we want to make sure to address.  Questions about in-person learning, we will address as we get closer to October when we will be preparing to return in-person.

Chromebooks:  As we get closer to the first day of school, we will be distributing chromebooks to all students that do not have one.  Please fill out this survey (https://forms.gle/vbNPeRmmBgHo2rfq9)  to let us know if your student will or will not need a chromebook and if your student’s chromebook is working properly.  During this distribution time, we will also be distributing a variety of workbooks for the students so that students have the opportunity to do some of their work on paper as well as on chromebooks.  

IEPs, 504s, ALPs:  All students that have an IEP, 504 and/or ALP will continue to receive those supports.  If you choose to have your student in the virtual classroom, your student will receive their accommodation.

Learning Pods: We have had multiple questions about learning pods and it has been brought to my attention that many parents are considering creating and engaging in ‘learning pods’. It is our understanding that parents are attempting to work together to support supervision of students while parents work and supporting students with remote/virtual learning. I felt it important to raise this topic more broadly with our families to be transparent about our response as a school regarding these inquiries.

Please know that:

• Class lists (teacher assignments) will change for students all the way up to the first day of school based on student decisions for either virtual learning or the in-person/remote learning option.
• School leaders are not able to take parent requests for specific teachers or for students to be placed in a class with a ‘learning pod friend’, due to the uncertainty of how many of our staff who will need to teach remotely and how many students will choose each learning option. 
• School leaders are not able to place students in specific hybrid days.  
• As a family, if you choose to engage in ‘learning pods’ / ‘pandemic pods’, this is a family decision and the school cannot be involved.  Therefore, we cannot honor requests we are receiving from families about pod and cohort grouping.  We have also received requests for the school to participate in these ‘learning pods’ in the name of equity.  As we agree with the premise, we must uphold the health and safety guidelines and not facilitate or engage in this external school process.
• We strongly encourage that if you are participating in these learning pods, please use caution. It is important that we work as a community to decrease the spread of the COVID19 virus and can only do this by social distancing, wearing masks, frequent hand washing and small social gatherings.
• Please know that DPS employees cannot supervise or oversee ‘learning pods’ because they will be educating students during the school day. Please do not reach out to DPS staff, as this will put them in an uncomfortable position.
• Finally, if you have additional questions or concerns about this information, please reach out to the Office of Family & Community Engagement helpline at 720-423-3054.

Please continue to reach out with questions.  

Have a great weekend!!!

Pam