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March 15, 2020
Dear Families,
Where do I begin?
Many of you are still sending your children to school. Some of you have chosen to keep your children at home. We trust that each of you will choose to do what you think is best.
Let me explain what education looks like in the present for 75 Morton students both in school and at home.
For the students who are attending school:
We continue to practice social distancing, hand-washing, etc.
Because we have no way to predict how many students or teachers we will have day to day, the students cannot be guaranteed their usual teachers and we may have to combine classes. Although each department's teachers plan together, they teach the curriculum differently, use different resources and adhere to different timelines. Therefore, it is possible that your child and your child's current class will not be at the exact same place in terms of curriculum that they would have been pre-COVID-19.
In addition, our related service and special education providers will have very altered schedules. They will continue to use their time to manage and oversee their students, but it is possible that they may also be pulled to substitute-teach at times.
Needless to say we apologize for these disruptions and wish it weren't so.
For students who are not attending school:
While we are not able to provide a curriculum that equals what we would have done at school pre-COVID-19, Google Classroom continues to be the place for the students to access their schoolwork. Our teachers are updating the work there as they normally would, and soon will be providing test prep, resources, projects, and altered school curriculum there. Be sure that your student continues to check Google Classroom every day.
In addition here is the link for the at-home curriculum (6th-8th grades) that the DOE has provided: Learn at Home
Unfortunately, we are not anticipating that we will have the ability to grade everything or to give detailed feedback. Nor do we have the ability to offer lessons via video conferencing.
For all students:
Please know that we are still planning for the ELA state tests and will continue to do test prep unless we get other instructions.
If your child will not be attending school for any reason please remember to email Melissa@75Morton.org. This will help us plan for the day ahead.
In closing, I would like to take a moment for us all to acknowledge the staff and educators of 75 Morton. I am in awe these days when they arrive calm and confident, to provide for the children while they too are living through the news, worry, commuting, hand-sanitizing craziness. Like us, they have families, friends, and colleagues who need them, and are being pulled in many emotional directions.
In these difficult times we must pull together as a community, no matter where we are, in a spirit of generosity and kindness.
With Respect,
Jacqui