Dear Washington School Parents and Guardians,
I trust that you were able to have an enjoyable Spring Break. While conditions were not ideal, it is my hope that you were able to find ways to relax with your families and to make connections with friends.
As you are aware, per Governor Murphy’s recent announcement, we will be continuing with distance/virtual learning through at least May 15.
I am very proud of the efforts of our classroom teachers, specials teachers, and support staff over the three weeks that preceded our spring break. Their commitment, professional service, and care for our students was outstanding. The efforts on the parts of our students and you, their parents and guardians, along with the inspirational support you have afforded us, have been equally admirable and certainly appreciated.
While we achieved considerable success during that initial timeframe, we also realize the need to continue the evolution of our instructional program in order to provide the best educational experience for our students and to function as close to our curriculum standards as possible. We need to do so in order to help our students approach and reach the levels of achievement that are expected within their current grade level(s), and, we need to do so in order to have our students as prepared as possible for their next grade level. To do this successfully, we will need to continue our collaboration between home and school.
We also realize the need to be continually mindful of the challenges that distance/virtual learning may still present. Understanding that parents and guardians have family, work, and other professional commitments that sometimes make adherence to our 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. scheduled day difficult, our teachers will continue to demonstrate flexibility utilizing multiple instructional platforms, prerecorded lessons, and readily accessible online resources to deliver new lessons and to reinforce important concepts.
We understand that you may need to work with your child later, rather than earlier, in the day. We understand that some assignments may take extra time to complete. Please do your best so that by the end of the day or, if necessary, by the end of each week, your child has adhered to the lessons shared and taught, completed all related activities, and submitted all work that was assigned and required. This is important so our teachers can accurately measure student growth. Communicate any concerns with your child’s teacher(s).
We have always placed great value on the relationships between our Washington School staff and the families we work with. If we stay strong and renew our commitment of collaboration, we will make the best of a challenging situation for our most valued commodity, our students.
Should you have further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher(s) or me.
Wishing you and your families the best,
Mr. Mulcahy