March 16, 2020 Update

March 16, 2020

Dear CVSD Community,

We will be sharing regular communications with you as this week unfolds. Recognize that principals, teachers, and District administration have been working to do our very best with this intense situation. Right now, we need our teachers and principals focusing on our students and their well-being over the next few weeks. The CVSD community has been nothing but supportive. This support drives our team forward. Thank you.

We will share information as often as we can. Today, we hope to gather some information from you and provide answers to immediate questions.

Survey for families

We are sharing a confidential, online survey that we ask families to complete and submit as soon as possible.

http://bit.ly/CVSDRemoteLearning

We appreciate the time it takes for you to fill it out. The information will help us with further planning.

Devices and materials going home

CVU students all have their devices already.

Students in the preK-8 schools:

• Chromebooks will be ready and available for grades 3-8 for pick up starting on Friday morning. We will have more details about that in the coming days.
• Other materials may also be picked up at this time.

Maintenance of Learning

The leadership team will be meeting on Wednesday.

Teachers will continue to be working on this during staff meetings, during early-release Tuesday, and on Thursday and Friday. They will be in communication with families as soon as they possibly can. Please give them the time to do the necessary collaborative planning that a change like this warrants.

The ease-in to distance learning will begin next Monday.

There will be continued communication about this from the district, schools, and teachers.

Students on IEPs and 504s:

Please see this communication if your child is supported by an Individual Education Plan or 504.

Food

CVSD is committed to providing good nutritious breakfasts and lunches to our students who qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch during this school closure. Starting on Thursday, March 19th, we will be preparing bagged meals for distribution out of our local schools.

As we move forward, we will consider additional pick-up locations as well as possibly develop a meal drop-off system to increase convenience. We will communicate any updates as they become available.

As a reminder, should your family face economic hardship as a result of COVID-19 you may submit a new free and reduced meal application. Families may apply for school meals at any point in the school year based on their most current income. Applications can be found on the CVSD website at this link.

We appreciate all of the offers to support others with food needs. At this time, the district feels that we can sufficiently meet those needs. Please consider supporting your local food shelves during this challenging time for families. There is a food shelf at CVU that is accepting donations as well.

Information about the Shelburne Community School closing today and tomorrow:

The details we can share are the following:

• The person is not a student or a staff member
• The person has worked with students predominantly outside of our building
• The DOH has done a full case investigation and reached out directly to parties they believe to be directly impacted

We know that this does not satisfy all of your questions, concerns, or worries, but it represents an honest effort to keep you as informed as possible without usurping the rights of the person who has tested positive.

Again, the CVSD community has been nothing but supportive. This support drives our team forward.

Thank you,

The Champlain Valley School District Administration