CVSD Update: December 13, 2020

 

December 13, 2020

Dear Friends and Families,

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday, and I appreciate the steps everyone took to stay safe and healthy. We were able to keep our schools open for in-person learning because of your efforts and are hoping that a similar commitment to adhering to the Governor’s orders will enable us to reopen in-person on January 4th. We understand that we are asking you to make enormously heart wrenching decisions. On behalf of all the Champlain Valley School District, thank you in advance for your vigilance.

I had the great fortune of observing early elementary students participating in an engaging and exhilarating physical education class last week and it reminded me that an eventual snow day is just around the corner. As I’m sure you know, there has been much discussion about whether or not we need to take snow days now that we have a fully remote option available to us. As you can imagine, there are individuals on both sides of this issue.  Some say, “save our snow days”; others say, “we’ve already lost enough student days”. In the end, there is more than just the ability to provide remote learning that comes into play when we make these decisions. Therefore, we will be using a combination of traditional snow days and remote learning days when faced with inclement weather. The timing of the weather event and the forecast will guide our decisions. 

• If the severity of the weather event is not known until the wee hours of the morning, we will have a traditional snow day. This will be a snow day for all of our students - in person, in hybrid, and VLA.

• If the severity of the weather event is known to us by noon of the previous day, we will prepare for a remote learning day. This will ensure that students have the materials and devices with them when they leave for the day.

We will communicate with you about any weather event in all of the traditional ways: by phone and email notification, the district’s website, CVSD social media channels, and local media outlets.

Celebrate! Starting this week, all of CVSD's PreK-6 students will be in school, in-person four days a week. We can’t wait to have them all in. Our experience to date confirms what we all know - students are best served by in-person schooling. They thrive and so do their teachers. Our Grades 7-12 students will continue in the hybrid model for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, we are unable to meet the social distancing requirements that would allow us to bring back these older students.

Reminder: December 21 and 22 Schedule

Families of 7th through 12th-grade students should be aware that the final two days of school before the holiday break will be divided between the A and B cohort. This is taking place across the district to ensure equitable access to in-person instruction for all students in grades 7-12.   

Winter sports

We’ll keep everyone informed if/when any updates are available from the Governor and the Vermont Principals Association. 

Important Information

CVSD Reopening Site

CVSD Positive Cases Guide

CVSD Reporting Dashboard

Contact us with any questions using this form

Tis the season, and I wish you all love, light, and happiness.

Take good care-

Elaine