November 17, 2020
Dear Parents/Guardians:
Over the course of the last twelve weeks we have been overwhelmed by the patience, support, and understanding exhibited by our parents, students, and staff as we have navigated our current reality as a result of COVID-19. We have successfully implemented protocols and procedures in our buildings to allow for in-person learning. However, even with our diligent efforts to mitigate COVID-19, our community, county, and State is seeing a significant increase in positive cases and even more significantly for our schools, in quarantined individuals due to close contact with a positive case. This rise is causing Manhattan School District 114 school district to experience a shortage of qualified staff members and substitutes to provide proper coverage for staff members who are in quarantine. This has become increasingly more difficult to the point we are falling behind and are unable to maintain our staff. It is evident that numerous districts in the county and surrounding counties are faced with the same challenge.
In the coming days or weeks, it is very possible that the Governor may issue a quarantine. We understand how difficult this situation is for families and we respect your need to be able to plan for the future as best as possible. With that being said, we are recommending and planning for all schools in Manhattan School District 114 to implement full remote learning for the three weeks after Thanksgiving, from November 30th through December 18th. After Winter break, we will remain full remote as recommended to the Board of Education, in the two weeks after winter break, from January 4th through January 18th. We will return to the current in-person model with the option of full remote learning beginning on Tuesday, January 19th.
For those students currently in the full remote model, we have purposefully maintained a connection with their originally assigned teacher(s) through morning meetings at Wilson Creek and Anna McDonald or live zooms at MJHS, so that each child would continue to build a relationship with those assigned teachers. For the duration of district wide remote learning from November 30th - January 18th, students will receive instruction from their originally assigned teacher(s) who provided remote instruction for the first six weeks of the 2020-2021 school year.
Updated Learning Schedule:
November 30, 2020 through December 18, 2020 Full Remote Learning
December 19, 2020 through January 4, 2021 Winter Break for Students
January 5, 2021 through January 15, 2021 Full Remote Learning
January 18, 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (No School)
January 19, 2021 Return to Current In-Person/Remote Option Learning
The Manhattan Park District will reopen Camp Coyote 2.0 for the duration of remote learning to meet the needs of working parents. Registration opened on Monday, November 16th. Visit www.manhattanparks.org for full details and online registration.
While it was our hope to remain in in-person instruction as long as possible, it is our goal to support our learners emotionally, socially, and academically throughout this period of remote learning, to the very best of our abilities. We are grateful for your support and partnership in education.
Sincerely,
Rusty Ragon, Superintendent of Schools
Kristen Morphew, Director of Curriculum and Instruction