Now what? Closed for the year, Peninsula schools plan “next stage” of off-site learning

With its schools shuttered, the Peninsula School District is planning to roll out a “the next stage“ of what it called a “continuous learning opportunity program” on April 20, the district told parents on Tuesday.

Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday ordered all state schools kept closed through the end of the 2019-20 school year to slow the spread of coronavirus. Schools have been closed since a previous order on March 15.

“This is disappointing news for all of us; we miss our students, students miss their friends, teachers and other staff,” the district said in an unsigned March 7 letter to parents.

The district acknowledged that the extended closure “raises numerous questions for students and families. We are working quickly to answer these questions as soon as possible.”

It asked parents to “watch for specific information coming out this week about the next stage” after spring break, which ends Monday, April 20.

Support for seniors

High school seniors will receive support from guidance counselors on ways to earn and document credits they will need to transition to college, the letter said. The district is “working creatively” to come up with some kind of graduation ceremony “that honors seniors and maintains everyone’s safety.

The district will continue to provide takeaway meals onsite at five schools.

In a separate letter to all staff, acting Superintendent Art Jarvis acknowledged the loss to students.

“Our students will miss the entire fourth quarter of their school year, beyond the 25 days they were already scheduled to lose,” he wrote. “Members of our senior class will have lost virtually all of their senior activities and celebrations.

“Students throughout the system are wondering if they will need to repeat their school year and others wonder if they will have lost required learning that will damage their education in the future.”

However, he said, “We have very minutes to mourn the loss. The obligation is now on our shoulders to do something about the challenge we have been given.”

Poor broadband coverage and weak wireless signals in areas like the Key Peninsula, “points to the complexity of ‘just putting it online,’” he noted.

‘Dream it, think it’

“We must now help our seniors in every way we can imagine,” he said. “We will be determining final credits, grades, transcripts, recommendations, and whatever it takes to help these young people get what they need at the moment to be able to move on.”

Jarvis called on the district’s educators to “dream it, think it, make it happen.”

“Now, in a way that none could have foreseen, we are free of the restrictions and free to innovate — because we can, and because we need to,” he said.

In its letter to parents, the district added these points:

▪ Take-home meals will continue to be provided for qualifying students Monday-Friday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on-site at Artondale, Evergreen, and Purdy Elementary schools, Key Peninsula Middle School and Gig Harbor High School

▪ Child care will continue to be available in a limited capacity for children of first responders and health care workers. If a child is already enrolled in child care during school closures, no further action is needed.

▪ If a child needs a device or hotspot, parents should contact the child’s school.

▪ Spring break is still on as scheduled next week, April 13-17. School-based employees, including teachers, will not be working over spring break. Meal hubs and meal deliveries via bus routes will continue next week.

▪ The district is awaiting information from the governor on whether school facilities will be open to provide summer school.

For the full text of Superintendent Art Jarvis’s letter to staff and faculty, go to: https://www.psd401.net/

This story was originally published April 7, 2020 at 2:06 PM.