04.03.20: Friday Update

From: Julie Smith, Head of School
Subject: Friday update; Spring Break; Parent-Teacher Conference survey

Dear Stanbridge Parents and Guardians,

As we continue to settle-in to this extended period of distance learning, I hope some regularity is starting to emerge to help establish a sense of normalcy amidst this still-new normal. Thanks to your feedback, class schedules in all divisions were refined this past week. Updates from our division heads (posted below) have become a regular staple to share out on Friday evenings, as has my weekly update. Based on the responses from participants during this past Wednesday's SPA meeting, we will continue to have Wednesday morning Zoom check-ins with parents as a way to keep our community connected. As noted in my email to you all earlier this week, staying connected will be vital as it appears this truly will be our new normal for the remainder of the school year. Before addressing that last point, a few important administrative notes and reminders first:
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• We hosted a well-attended SPA meeting on Wednesday morning via Zoom; thank you to all who were able to join us. Among the topics of discussion, some parents indicated they would be interested and willing to organize assorted online and virtual activities for students to participate in over Spring Break (April 10–19). At today's all-staff meeting, some of our faculty also indicated they would be happy to assist in this endeavor. We plan to continue that conversation and develop some specific ideas and schedules at this week's Wednesday check-in, so I encourage you to join, if possible. The meeting will be held online Wednesday, April 8 from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. and I will send a Zoom link to join early next week. If you cannot participate but would like to share thoughts, ideas, and/or questions, please email me or your division's parent rep.
• Speaking of Spring Break, our break begins next Friday, April 10. I want to reiterate that next Friday is not a distance learning day. There will be no distance learning during our scheduled Spring Break which runs April 10 through April 19; online instruction will resume the morning of Monday, April 20. As noted above, we will be organizing a lighter schedule of social activities to help keep your children busy and engaged over the break, but our teachers will be completing report cards during that time and hopefully enjoying a bit of respite themselves as well.
• And speaking of report cards...we plan to send third quarter grades out to you via email shortly after we return from break week. We had planned for a session of spring parent-teacher conferences and still want to accommodate those of you who would like to speak one-on-one with your child's instructor(s). Obviously, this will be a bit tougher to coordinate under current conditions, particularly when our teachers are already spending the bulk of their day teaching online. To assist us in planning these meetings, I ask that you please complete the short survey linked on the Parent Portal. Your feedback will give us a sense of the demand for individual check-ins and inform our plan for conferences moving forward. Please complete the survey over the weekend (it only takes a minute or two) so that I can share more detailed information on this topic next week.

Finally, Wednesday's SPA meeting followed closely on the heels of the announcement that California schools are unlikely to reopen their campuses this school year. This is not yet an official mandate for us, but we are planning for what appears soon to be inevitable. Understandably, I think all of us are profoundly disappointed by this news. Nonetheless, there is strength in our spirit and in our desire to collectively do what we can to make the best of the situation. Though they will look vastly different than we originally envisioned, there will still be a Spring Sing concert/talent show; there will still be a high school prom; there will still be end-of-year class awards; there will still be a graduation ceremony. The specific details on these events are still unknown at this time, but our staff has stepped-up to ensure that we continue to celebrate all of the annual Stanbridge traditions as best we can—and I know that we will.

Again, feeling that there is regularity and normalcy is important, so I hope this provides some sense of certainty in these uncertain times. You have all shown tremendous resilience and strength throughout the past month; I speak for our entire staff when I say thank you for being so staunchly supportive on this journey. Wishing you the time and peace of mind this weekend to recharge, relax, and reconnect with friends and family. Until next week, Stay Strong, Bulldogs.