Preble Shawnee Families,

This afternoon, Governor DeWine extended the closure of all Ohio schools to May 1st. All buildings and facilities will remain closed and no activities will take place. We will continue to provide Remote Learning Assignments through online (Class Dojo, Remind, Google Classroom, etc.) or by paper packets for the next several weeks.

These assignments will get us through the month of April. Teachers are available daily from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. to answer questions via email or other online accessibility.  

REPORT CARDS

*If your child is completing work online, there isn’t a need to pick up paper packets

Report Cards for the 3rd quarter grading period will be mailed home to families the end of next week. Grades can be accessed at any time through ProgressBook.

ATHLETICS, GRADUATION, AND OTHER ACTIVITIES

The spring sports season is still up in the air. I know the goal is to salvage something for our students. We are hopeful something can happen. We still plan on providing the other springtime events that our students and staff look forward to such as prom, concerts, banquets, and graduation. We will communicate those plans as they are made. Regarding graduation, there will soon be a communication from Preble Shawnee High School regarding whether students are “on track” or if they need to do specific things to meet the expectation. In fairness, those seniors who are in the position of being “at risk” of not graduating should be well aware of their position prior to this closure. Know that we will work together to provide assistance and flexibility in the interest of doing what is right for students.

FOOD DISTRIBUTION

We will continue to provide breakfast and lunches on Wednesday’s (including 4/1/20) throughout the closure. As of this communication, the time is 6:00 p.m. at Camden Primary, West Elkton Intermediate, and the Gratis Eagles. All are drive thru only. Please remain in your vehicle to limit exposure. 

TESTING

As per legislation passed by the Ohio House and Senate and signed by the Governor, there will be no testing for the spring.

MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT

Our mental health professionals are reaching out to families to ensure they have open lines of communication during the closure and to make alternative plans if necessary. Our mental health counselors will be monitoring emails and reaching out to our school families in need. Teletherapy and in-person sessions will be an option for meeting with your school-based therapist. To reach your school mental health provider, you can email the provider directly through www.gebhartcounseling.org website. Find your provider on the “Our Team” page and click on her name to email directly. You can also call Gebhart Counseling at (937) 456-2805 to leave your provider a message. If a student or parent is in crisis, you can reach out to the following local hotlines for assistance: Preble County Crisis Hotline (866) 532-3097 or Crisis Textline #4HOPE to 741741

EXPECTATIONS FOR OUR REMOTE LEARNING ASSIGNMENTS

I wanted to share a communication made to our teachers this morning regarding the types of lessons we are providing for our students. We are doing creative things for our students and making the very best of a less than ideal situation. We are not in an area where connectivity is consistent nor are we a 1:1 device school district. I know our teachers feel a lot of stress in providing the very best opportunity they can for their kiddos.

I wanted to mention one other thing related to the Remote Learning Assignments we are giving (and will continue to give) as our schools remain closed. As we have said before, please make the work you are assigning to be as creative and enjoyable as possible. Most of our students will be accessing online work via cell phones. Also, let us be reasonable in our expectations for our students and families. Our district will not receive a medal for the amount of work we assign. We need to thread the needle between reinforcing what we have previously taught and provide new content to move our learning forward. However, we have to be reasonable in our expectations on what our kiddos and families can handle. Creating a frustrating situation for our kiddos and families does nothing to reach our goal.

When we return, the impact of this time off will be significant. You can’t take kiddos away from their teachers for weeks or months at a time and not have an impact to achievement. This is certainly a “gap” in their education that we will be dealing with for some time. The article I provided below has been going around on social media recently. I have personally seen it three times over the weekend and it was shared with me today. I realize that planning for these days and weeks is challenging and I know you are doing your best. I just want to make sure you know from my opinion as superintendent, that less is more….that the quality of the experience is more important than the quantity of the work. This is not a time of judgment or evaluation…just continue to do what you do every day…your best for our students. 

Please be vigilant…stay home when you can…avoid close contact with people…wash your hands…and believe that tomorrow will be better than today. Please go to www.psarrows.com for the latest information.

Proud To Be An Arrow!

Dr. Matt Bishop, Superintendent

REMOTE LEARNING ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION

All assignments will be posted on the district website www.psarrows.com. Anyone needing a hard copy, they will be available on Tuesday, April 7th. Parents may pick up their child’s work* and drop off completed work from 3:00-7:00 p.m. at the following locations:

=       Grades K-6:  Camden Primary Gymnasium (K-3 drive up to first gym door...4-6 drive up to second gym door)

=       Grades 7-12:  High School Gymnasium (enter through front doors)

For grades K-6, please remain in your vehicle and staff will deliver the assignments needed directly. For grades 7-12, parents will enter the building to obtain assignments. We will limit the number of people inside and maintain physical distancing inside as well as the line outside to enter (six feet rule).