Superintendent's Message: August 21, 2020
Dear JP Schools Families,
We are ready and excited to see you, both in-person and virtual, for the first day of school on Wednesday, August 26. Just as a point of clarification, the 26th will be the first day of school for ALL 1st - 12th grade students. Hybrid students following the B schedule are expected to report for their first day virtually.
We would like to update you on the progress of our professional development that we are providing to our educators on the new delivery methods to ensure our students get the best quality education we can give during this pandemic. During the four day professional development sessions, the intent is to ensure our teachers have the tools and training needed to start the school year successfully. I met with many teachers over the last few days, and the consensus is that they felt better prepared to teach virtually and in-classroom after completing their professional development sessions. It was a pleasure to see so many of our educators back in the classroom.
As a quick update from our last communication regarding technology, we are still waiting on several thousand Chromebooks to be delivered and shipments are arriving daily. We are combining the devices currently in our inventory from last year with each new shipment, and prioritizing distribution to our virtual and hybrid learners first. We are prepared to start the school year with the devices we have on hand and will continue to distribute more devices as we receive them.
One of the biggest differences for our employees and in-person learners this year will be having to wear a face covering throughout the day. We created a video on the importance of mask wearing. If your child is not accustomed to wearing a mask, this is a great opportunity to start practicing with them. As a reminder, we’re asking everyone to be diligent about temperature checks, wear face coverings and be mindful of social distancing. For a safe return to school, we all need to work together to follow the new health and safety protocols.
Thank you for your commitment to returning students to school safely. We look forward to welcoming everyone back next week.
Regards,
Dr. James Gray