April 6, 2020

Dear Rangers,

Today Governor Inslee ordered the continuation of the closure of in-person, at school building school for the rest of the school year. While this is sad news, as friends will not be able to spend time together at school, our spring sports season is no longer possible, and our typical spring activities and traditions such as Prom and graduation in our gym all fall under the school closure order. However, education and the celebration of learning will continue. The bringht noe is that it gives all of us the opportunity to be creative, involve students in helping us re-create these spring traditions and find ways to engage as a community while staying safe and learning apart from each other.

Last week Mr. Moss and his team communicated our plan to continue to engage secondary students through Project-Based Learning. Brick-and-Mortar Elementary students, at the same time, will continue to work with their teachers to extend their learning and build new academic skills. We had hoped that these learning-over-distance measures would end and we would be back to our classrooms later in April, teachers were also building in the possibility that school would continue in a distance learning model for the rest of the year.

Parents, we need your help and partnership, as you have been so generous in providing already. Now that we are not able to bring students to the school building, it is essential that each student has a place to engage in learning while staying home. Your children will depend on you even more, as they are not able to see their teachers, to help them maintain a schedule and routine for learning. I recognize that each family has its own concerns and circumstances, and we are more than willing to speak with each of you to help find ways to support student engagement.

Our expectation for ourselves is to provide interesting and engaging learning opportunities for our students. Our expectation for our students is to stay healthy, safe, and to continue their learning. Our partnership is never more important than it is right now. We will continue to host on-line meetings where parents and student can ask Mr. Moss or me questions they have about our district and school plans. Your child’s teacher will continue to connect with your children at least once a week. We have support services set up if students need help with their work, and we continue to engage in developing interesting ways to learn.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me or Mr. Moss if you have questions about this letter or our plans to continue to engage students in learning for the rest of this school year. There are still many questions that we have not found answers to yet, such as what will graudation will look like this year, but as we create those plans with students and parents, we will communicate that as well.

I am proud to be a Ranger with you!

Frank Redmon

Superintendent