Dear NHS Community,
This has certainly been a week like no other. First of all, I hope you are all home safe and that you are well. Student safety and well-being are always our first priority. Next, I’d like to thank you for your support and patience as we have attempted to do our best to provide distance learning experiences for our students. The pick up of student items on Tuesday went more smoothly than I could have hoped for. We know a few things got mixed up and we appreciate your understanding as we did our best to get things home in that one day.
They say that on dark days, the clouds can have silver linings. In Venice, it seems the canals are suddenly cleaner with no boat traffic and they have even seen dolphins nearby. Here is my list of NHS silver linings:
We have amazing teachers and staff members who LOVE your children.
This is a community in which each member feels the support of others in the town of North Hampton.
SAU 21 is supporting all of its member schools in ways we could not have anticipated, but are much appreciated.
We have the ability to connect with one another remotely via online resources.
All North Hampton School staff are working from home. If you need our assistance, please reach out. The office staff is available as are the teachers. Food service is providing meals for those who requested them. It is not too late to ask if you have reconsidered your family needs. Check out the link to the food/wifi need survey on our website.
Here are some important updates:
The school will be professionally sanitized next week by an outside vendor who is sanitizing all SAU 21 schools.
All SAU 21 buildings are closed to students, staff, and families until further notice.
Teachers are reaching out with learning opportunities, assignments, and resources. (More on this below.)
Believe it or not, K-5 Report Cards have been mailed out to families. (Thanks to our amazing teachers and office staff!)
Report Cards for grades 6-8 will be available through Powerschool next week. We will send you more information about how to access them next week.
We are working on updating the Distance Learning Tab on our website related to the school closure. It should be updated soon. Thanks for your patience.
Your children’s teachers REALLY MISS THEM! It’s true, and I bet you can already tell.
Jaggy misses everyone.
Distance Learning Expectations
I hope you have been impressed with the quality of the resources that our staff has put together in a very short time. That said, we know we haven’t found the sweet spot yet. We know that there are many kinds of learning opportunities that may be available outside of what teachers send to you. We are also well aware that many of you are trying to work from home AND help your child with the school work we are sending. We do not wish to add to your stress or to that of your child, so if it is too much, please let your child’s teacher know. Our hope is that our older students will independently access Google Classroom as they do in school, and be able to communicate through google apps with their teacher and their peers. We know that younger children will need some help with activities. Teachers may send sample schedules, but feel free to adjust the times to meet your family needs and work schedule. We also know that some students are sharing devices and they cannot all use them at once. Case managers and service providers are reaching out individually to students they serve to provide guidance and support. The bottom line is: Do what you can. Have your child do what they can and ask for help if you need it.
Each teacher has or will communicate their office hours to you. Please be respectful of these hours if you need to video chat. Obviously, you can email any time and they will respond when they are working. Many of our teachers are in the same position as those of you with young children at home. They are also working and managing family life. I hope you have seen a few funny memes about Distance Learning for kids with working parents-- as we all need to maintain a sense of humor through these stressful times. This one caught my eye:
“Home schooling going great: Two students suspended for fighting and one in detention for talking back.”
I am attaching a letter from Ms. Vas. Please utilize the resources or reach out to her if you need her. Among the resources is a great sheet about talking to kids about Coronavirus.
Parent Virus Letter.pdf
Stay safe. Oh, and Happy Spring!
Best regards,
Susan Snyder