Office of the Superintendent

March 20, 2020

Greetings, 

“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”

This famous movie quote from The Wizard of OZ is spoken by Dorothy when she realizes that she is no longer in the safety of her farm house in Kansas but rather has been chaotically thrown into the unfamiliar and somewhat bizarre land of Oz.  Sound Familiar? 

Major events have been cancelled; restaurants, malls, and other businesses closed; and “Social Distancing”, and “Flattening the Curve” have become the trending phrases of the day. In just one short week our daily routines have changed and we are still getting used to a different way of life. Amongst all of this change, parents have had to add the role of teacher to their other responsibilities. I want to thank all of our parents for the support and kind words that have been shared with us during the past week. We appreciate all that parents are doing to support our new way of learning for the weeks ahead. 

Of course, there wouldn’t be any on-line lessons, virtual classrooms, or remote learning if not for the incredible work of our teachers. Almost overnight they transformed our schools by creating lessons, developing plans, and moving their classrooms from the confines of four walls to the openness of the internet.  I cannot thank and compliment them enough for the outstanding work they have done to ensure our students will have meaningful learning experiences while our buildings are closed. 

The learning may not look the same for each school or even each grade, but what is common is the connection these teachers are making with their students. That can be difficult to do through a computer screen, and yet our teachers are doing it.  They do it by sharing personal stories; photos and videos of their pets, children or hobbies; and by demonstrating how learning can happen anywhere at any time. They are doing it because they are passionate about teaching and have the expertise in their field. I appreciate all of their hard work and commitment to our students.   

There are so many people to thank for all they have done this past week. Our administrators, our engineers, crisis team, union heads, custodial staff, all district staff, and of course the hard working team in our technology department. Mr. Troy Patterson and his entire team have done, and continue to do, a tremendous job of supporting the technology needs of our teachers and students. In addition, they were instrumental in distributing more than 5,000 chrome books to students this past week. 

When it comes to distributing items to the students no one does it better than our Food Service department. This week  Mr. Jeff Murphy, Mr Josh Bains, and their entire team in the Food Service department were able to provide more than 35,000 meals to students in our district, 20,000 being handed out on Friday alone.  Thank you to everyone who was part of that program including the dozens of volunteers coordinated by our PTA.