Dear District 58 Families,
Between the period of April 15-22, District 58 received nearly 1,900 unique responses to a family survey, and over 340 unique responses from a faculty survey. Between the two surveys there were nearly 4,000 open-ended responses. Feedback ranged from extremely positive to extremely critical with everything in-between; as a district we certainly acknowledge that remote learning is an imperfect situation and can never fully replicate in-person instruction. While teaching during a pandemic is less than ideal, we also believe that our remote learning plan is robust, reflecting and meeting the needs of our entire community of learners in the best ways currently possible.
We want to share two updates with you at this time. First, based upon the Governor’s suspension of in-person instruction through the end of the 2019-20 academic year, we have finalized our Remote Learning Calendar through June 3, 2020.
Additionally, based upon the feedback that has been received from all stakeholders, we have made some revisions to our remote learning plan, effective May 4. Those revisions are detailed in this document, which will be added to the overall plan document as well: Remote Learning Plan Revisions.
Finally, we remain committed to obtaining continuous feedback on remote learning experiences. Today is day 15 of remote learning in District 58; our original intent was to release a second survey this afternoon to continue to capture that feedback. However, as we are implementing changes to the plan beginning on Monday (based upon the prior survey information), we feel it will be more appropriate to survey families after those changes have been in place for a few days. We will send a survey to all families on May 7, and appreciate your continued honest feedback.
We are finalizing third trimester grading and reporting procedures and will share this information during the week of May 4; we are similarly working on year-end plans and procedures, summer learning opportunities, and our plans for the eventual transition back to onsite learning. All of this information will be shared with families as soon as reasonably possible.
In closing, while we recognize the challenges of remote learning as a district we are incredibly proud of our teachers, families and students for the tremendous efforts they are making. Our community’s continued engagement in education is visible and impressive. It is because of that dedication - and our support of each other - that District 58 children will continue to grow and thrive in spite of any obstacle.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kevin Russell Superintendent of Schools