March 25, 2020
Today, the State School Board voted that Oklahoma students will not return to the classroom for the remainder of the current school year, as our state continues to fight the spread of COVID-19. They voted to implement a continuous learning plan that will allow students to complete the school year at home. This means that all extracurricular activities and special events will be canceled as well unless determined otherwise at a later date.
We do have good news…we have been developing a plan to ensure your child will continue to have opportunities to learn and to grow academically, especially with parental support. Because we are unable to safely gather together, these lessons and activities will primarily be delivered and communicated by email, text, on-line, picked up, or delivered by mail. As you can imagine, this is a significant transition for our students and our teachers. Collinsville will spend the remainder of this week and all of next week planning for this effort and will share details with your family as soon as they are available, both by your building admin and by your teacher. Many of our staff members have reached out to our families and will continue to do so in the coming days. Please know we are considering all situations and will do the very best to meet everyone’s needs where they are at currently. This means that some of our “Distance Learning” will look different for different grades and even classes. We recognize that not all families have the same resources available and will plan accordingly. Our goal is to be as “user-friendly” as possible and be as accommodating as possible.
For students and for our staff, it will be sad and disappointing to learn that the remainder of their school as they know it will not resume this year. Please give them a safe place to express their feelings and to vent about the changes in their life. For our seniors and their parents, we know it is an especially difficult time. We will do everything possible to ensure their efforts are recognized and celebrated in special and unique ways. This is an unfair situation, but please reassure them that it does not diminish their achievements. In fact, it will become one more example of how they demonstrated their strength as Cardinals. For our students currently being served by an IEP or 504, the schools will be reaching out to you to make sure we can serve those needs the best and safest way possible. Also, we will have the ability for our students that are in need will be able to reach our various counselors during this stressful and anxious times.
We have posted numerous resources on our website, including information about free breakfasts and lunches for students under the age of 18, which will continue. You can find these details and more by visiting collinsville.k12.ok.us. The site also includes recommendations from the CDC about protecting your health and the health of your loved ones. We ask you to please follow their advice by: (1) washing your hands regularly; (2) staying at home, if you can; and (3) practicing social distancing of at least six feet from others.
This is an unprecedented situation, and it has required an unprecedented response. We can still take care of Collinsville’s students, though. This is a community that sticks together in challenging times, and we know this experience will be no different. As soon as we identify our next steps, we will share them with you. Please keep in mind that this situation is very fluid and we must all be flexible in all of our efforts and responses. One thing that I have stressed to our staff is the great need to be compassionate, gracious, and patient. I know that this causes many of you additional stress and anxiety and I wish I had all the answers to help. I would ask that you keep each other in your thoughts and prayers during this time…we will all need each other.
Please stay safe. As always, we appreciate your support of Collinsville Public Schools.