Dear Lincoln Community,
It’s been about 3 weeks since we started our distance learning format. This has certainly been a change for teachers, parents and students. While there have been bumps in the road, there have certainly been many wonderful stories to share. I have witnessed classroom aides making videos for crafts, stories being read aloud, and Zoom lessons conducted. Today two teachers took their students on a virtual field trip when their planned field trip was cancelled. Teachers have been holding class meetings to make sure students have a feeling of connection with their class. Our student assistance counselor has been working with students as the children navigate this change, and our Child Study Team has continued to conduct meetings and be a source for parents. Our office staff has helped get emails lists ready for teachers and reached out to students needing assistance in on-line learning. Our custodial and maintenance team have continued to come to the building to clean, pick up supplies, and help deliver needed items to our school community. (Our custodial team was so touched when Matera’s prepared lunch for them.) Of course, there have been so many departments behind the scenes helping to safely deliver instruction to students.
In order to keep refining our efforts and meeting the needs of our learners, we have formed a distance learning committee. The committee is composed of various stakeholders: teachers, specialists, CST, paraprofessionals, and parents. This committee will help guide our practices as we try to balance the diverse needs of our learners. We have students whose parents are sick, working, or separated from their children because they work in the health profession. We have some students who may not have resources to join on-line lessons. In addition we have parents asking for more learning activities and some expressing it is too much. This committee will discuss how we can balance all the diverse needs of our school community. It is unrealistic to please everyone, but please know we are going to continue to learn, listen and offer suggestions.
Please use the spring break to catch up on anything and breathe. Take advantage of everyday situations that are learning opportunities. Fractions and measurements are involved in many everyday situations and a game of Monopoly or cards can reinforce addition/subtraction skills. Children may enjoy turning your kitchen into a science lab or reading a book purely for enjoyment. In addition many museums have virtual tours that are for free! We return to school on April 20th.
After ‘seeing’ students over the past three weeks, meeting with teachers, and communicating with parents, I know we all have a renewed appreciation for our school.
Be well and stay safe,
Jeanna C. Velechko, Ed.D, Principal