Community Update 03/22/20
Hello families,
I would like to start out by saying that I hope you are all doing well. I miss seeing everyone during this time of necessary isolation. It has been a huge adjustment for me as I am sure it has for many of you. Our school prides itself on the fact that we are indeed a community and having to be apart from that community has challenged me. La Tierra has been such an integral part of my daily life for over 7 years and not being there now with my community seems so counter intuitive and strange. All that to say that you are all in my thoughts and I look forward to the day we can reconnect in person.
As you may have heard, the governor made an announcement on Friday afternoon that all school are to remain closed at least until April 10th. Mrs. Buller and I have been monitoring the situation closely and have been in frequent contact with each other. We are expecting some additional guidance from the state this coming week in regards to the expectations for education throughout the end of the school year. When we have received such directions we will be updating you and moving forward with the necessary planning.
We have received feedback that some parents are feeling confused over how to incorporate the information teachers are sending out in to daily curriculum planning. We would like to reiterate that the information the teachers are sending home presently is meant to be used as a tool to help students maintain some of their learning in a fun or enjoyable way. It is also a way for our students to see their teachers and have some familiarity and know that the teachers are ok and still out here in the big world. We do not expect parents to be creating a curriculum or requiring learning from students at this time. As we stated previously, our school is well over the required minimum hours of instruction so we are encouraging our families to use these first few weeks to adjust to this new and very different normal and to connect within the family and help our children work through this adjustment with minimal anxiety and stress. Once we have more detailed information from the state we will be providing more detailed information to our families on expectations for students and learning targets. We are anticipating an increased need for technology usage and have created this very short 4 question survey that we need ALL families to complete to help us inform our decisions on instruction in the coming weeks. Here is the link:
Thank you for all your support during this challenging time. Be well and good care of those you love.
Julie Jongsma
