4/24/20
Hello Belmont High School Students and Families!
We wanted to share with you an update of important and exciting information as our remote learning plans and strategies continue to develop! Our teachers and support staff members are doing an outstanding job, addressing individualized student needs in an unprecedented time. They, and our students, were asked to adjust recently when a decision was made to continue remote learning through next week rather than maintaining what had previously been scheduled to be April Vacation. We can't stress enough how vital communication and collaboration continue to be in our collective efforts to enable students to be successful. Perhaps more than ever, it is clear that "it takes a village" to guide and support our community's young people!
Our passionate, dedicated, and caring team of professionals are here to meet your needs as best we can, so let us know what we can do to make this period of remote learning successful for you and your family!
End of Year Planning and Dates
As you know, by the original SRSD Calendar next week would have been April Vacation had we not encountered our health crisis and entered remote learning. By maintaining an (adjusted) approach to working with our students next week (more details regarding 4/27 - 5/1 are later in this update), we've changed the end date(s) of our school year. We are hard at work, planning and preparing for the final stretch of 2019-20, including coordination of end of year events. As you would surely expect, there will be a great deal more communication in the coming days and weeks, but here are two important dates for you to be aware (or reminded) of:
Big News - PARADE COMING YOUR WAY!
Hearing from you via emails and seeing you all through computer screens is just not enough, so we're doing something about it! This coming Wednesday, 4/29/20, Shaker Regional teachers and support staff will be assembling and heading your way via PARADE! We're in this for plenty of smiles, waves, and some noise-making to communicate just a small amount of how much we miss you!
Our plan is to depart and head down the parade route starting at 1pm. We'll work to post updates (via the Shaker Regional School District Facebook page) of where we are as we travel - but we hope that many of you will hear us coming anyway! Our anticipated route can be found HERE!
You'll see that we'll be travelling through both Canterbury and Belmont, accompanied by our local communities' emergency service partners! Our vehicles will obey traffic laws, and we'd like to remind our entire community to remember and maintain social distancing recommendations. We can't wait to see you!
Progress Reports Available!
Students' Semester-Two (Quarter 3) progress reports are now available in Empower! Be sure to take an opportunity to review those in-progress snapshots of your progress toward proficiency in course standards. If you find that you have questions, please reach out to the teacher of the course (if it has to do with the course scores); if you have any difficulty logging into Empower, please email administration and we will work to provide you with that access!
Need step-by-step support on how to maneuver through Empower and access the information you are seeking? Topic-specific videos are on our website and can be found at: https://bhs.sau80.org/b_h_s_c_b_e_resources!
Expectations and Formats of Our Upcoming Week:
Monday and Tuesday, 4/27-4/28:
These two days are specifically set aside for teachers and support staff to engage in professional time. Students have already received SRSD-wide communication that, particularly for those who are caught up in their courses' remote learning assignments, these are intended to be two days spent as personal time. However, if a student has found him/herself behind in assigned work, this would be an ideal time to 'right the ship' as we enter the final stretch of our school year!
Should you have questions for our teachers, as always, know that you can submit these via email; however, as their professional focus is intended to be on planning for future days/weeks, a response may not come until Wednesday, 4/29 (or shortly thereafter).
Wednesday, 4/29, Including the Shaker Regional School District Faculty/Staff PARADE!:
We are following the BHS Flex Day schedule for 4/29.
As has been previously established, no new work is assigned and no deadlines fall on Flex Days.
Afternoon Parade, starting at 1pm!
Thursday and Friday, 4/30 and 5/1
We're back to our Remote Learning schedule, meeting with groups of students, presenting opportunities for instruction, assessment, etc.
Student work can be assigned on and/or be due on either of these two days!
I hope this provides some clarity regarding the upcoming week and gives you some guidance regarding how to take advantage .
Thank you for the opportunity to serve the great communities of Belmont and Canterbury! Please reach out if and when you have questions, concerns, or ideas!
Mr. Matthew Finch
Principal, Belmont High School
