Hello Badger Families!
I wanted to give you all an update of all that has been going on behind the scenes with our administrators, child nutrition, and custodial personnel. We have all been thrown into deep water and are managing to keep afloat, with the help and support coming from our Badger community.
The custodial staff at all three sites spent all of Spring Break and the following week disinfecting and cleaning every square inch of all of our buildings and busses. Currently they are only working a few days each week to maintain the buildings in order to keep them from being unnecessarily exposed to the COVID-19 Virus.
Our child nutrition staff has worked hard making and putting together meals for our students. We have also had several volunteers come and help pass out or deliver meals to students at drop off locations. Today, the child nutrition staff made and bagged up 1400 meals for our students to have a week's worth of meals at a time. This allows them to also have limited exposure to the virus. We had a great team of volunteers handing out meals, in the rain, today as well as volunteers who took meals to drop locations.
The administration team has been working together to help teachers set up their teacher pages and begin planning for our continuous learning framework which will begin April 6th. With guidance from the State Department of Education, we will offer learning opportunities to our students through several learning modes. We know that not all students have internet or computer access and each principal will work with those individuals to get resources to the students.
Most of our resources are links that are easily accessed on a smartphone through the district app. If you have not yet downloaded the app, it can be found in the Google Store and in the Apple store by searching for ECP Badgers. Several teachers are using Google Classroom and it may be necessary for parents for students in grades PK-2 to sign up for a Google account. All students in grades 3-12 already have a school email account and have their login information. We are working with our IT vendor to set up accounts for the lower grades, and hope to have it up soon. Additionally, teachers all have set their own office hours during which time they can meet with students virtually to check-in and or offer assistance.
Now for the bad news, at this time Prom has been postponed indefinitely. Mr. Willis, Mrs. Henry and I are looking at all possible options for graduation for our class of 2020 seniors. We know that our seniors, and their parents, have put in countless hours of hard work and dedication over the last 18 years and have looked forward to the celebrating their successes. My heart breaks for them, but they have been a class filled with determination in the face of adversity and have overcome much in their short lives. I am confident they will continue to overcome any challenges that come their way and they will be able to look back at their senior year and be proud of all they accomplished.
We miss the smiling faces, the frowns, the groans, the silliness, and even the graffiti on the bathroom stalls. We miss the hugs and the relationships we have developed with all of our students. We miss the laughs on the playground and the long lines during lunch at the store. Even though we miss much, we know it is better for us to sacrifice now so that our students and their families are safe. We will get through this! We will be better when it is over and we will be back together as a Badger family! We love you Badgers!!