Dear Coatesville Area School District Families and Staff,

I hope you are having a restful summer so far and staying healthy and safe. I am writing today to share an update about our planning for the start of the 2020-2021 school year.

Our commitment to health and safety drives everything that we do. It drove the transition to remote learning this past March, when closing school buildings was essential to flattening the curve of COVID-19 infection across Pennsylvania. As you know, it was profoundly challenging, but you and your children handled it with effort, patience and flexibility, and school communities came together to make it work. As we have reflected on our practice, we are in the process of making needed adjustments to ensure we meet the needs of our students for the upcoming school year.   

Now, almost four months later, our commitment to health and safety will drive us into the new school year. We have been through so much together, and as we look to September; we see a continuing rise in cases across the country. As the pandemic has continued to evolve, so has guidance from County, State, and Federal health authorities and agencies.

I would like to thank you for responding to our survey asking about preferences and concerns for the upcoming year. Your input has been critical in our planning. What is clear is that this is much bigger than an education issue; it is a health and safety issue, and we must be prepared to adapt. What is also clear is we will begin the 2020-21 school year in an unprecedented way—including new health protocols, physical distancing, and more.

Our re-opening plan is in the process of being drafted and it has changed numerous times given the shift in guidance. Just yesterday, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) issued guidance to schools, and we are reviewing it to see what additional changes we much consider. At the bottom of this note you will see a timeline of our decision-making process.

Our primary goal is to bring students and staff back to school five days a week. Many families want as much in-person instruction as is safely possible, however, the more we see what is happening across the country, the more I believe this goal is becoming less realistic under rapidly changing guidance. A key component of our plan will include the opportunities for any family to choose all-remote learning, for any reason. A model we are exploring is a hybrid model in which some students are taught on-site in school for part of the week, and attend school remotely on the other days of the week. I have been in conversations with my colleagues throughout Chester County about this model as well as others. It requires detailed planning and as plans emerge, I will communicate the feasibility of them to you.

Our plans must be flexible so we can adjust and update as needed, as the public health landscape continues to evolve. Please remember that this guidance may change as public health conditions evolve. Our administrative team understands the anxiety surrounding this issue. We feel it, as well. We will work with you every step of the way to answer questions around scheduling, transportation, what happens if there is a confirmed case in a school, and much more. I am committed to doing everything I can to thoroughly communicate and try to make the school year as positive and supportive as possible - and I will not compromise on health and safety. 

Thank you for your patience and support as we move forward to try to best serve our students in this challenging time. As shared at the board meeting, this coming Tuesday, July 21^st at 5:00 PM, we will hold a virtual community forum, at which time we will share our current re-opening strategy. A link for viewing the meeting will be posted to the homepage of the District website.

Sincerely,

Tomas Hanna, Superintendent

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Students,

I hope this email finds you and your family safe and healthy. I apologize for the length of this email, but as we start to implement our distance learning program for all students on Tuesday, April 14th, there is a lot of information to share. Our primary goal is to provide our students with a daily routine while maintaining engagement in learning. Our first priority is for teachers to connect with students and parents for online learning.

To be prepared for next week, we are asking you to do the following and utilize the following resources:

 

• If you are still in need of technology for online learning, please contact our IT Department Help Desk by emailing IThelpdesk@casdschools.org

 

• We are asking that you make a connection with each of your teachers through your student email. Click on this link for instructions on how to log into your email, reset your password and contact the Technology department:  https://tinyurl.com/CASDstudentHelp

 

• Online Learning Tab Instructions: Please visit our Online Learning tools for Parents and students by going to our CASD website: https://tinyurl.com/CASDOnLine

 

• Desktop of student Chromebooks: Login to your Chromebook with your student ID# (12345678@casdschools.org) and your password.

 

Each student Chromebook has tabs that help direct them.  The tabs are as follows:

• CASD Website Homepage (www.casdschools.org)
• Technology/Student Handbook (https://tinyurl.com/CASDStudent1to1)
• Student Outlook pw Reset directions (https://tinyurl.com/CASDstudentHelp)
• Sign into your Microsoft email (https://login.live.com/)
• BSD Online/Home page (https://app.bsd.education/)

As a parent, it’s important that you understand we are not asking our staff to be online all day as they, too, are sequestered at home and many are caring for young children. Our teachers have been working diligently to create lessons for their students, schedule some time to meet with them and their parents, and take attendance to make sure we have connections with our students.

We realize that we will not have this plan fully operational immediately and expect it will take a week or more for students and staff to settle into a new routine. We are asking our staff to take their time and make sure they make the connections with our families, get them comfortable logging in to receive information from teachers in the platform, and create some small lessons for their students and families to get familiar with the process for instruction.

I would like to once again thank our staff for their adaptability and commitment, and for the many parents and community members who have volunteered to assist us.  Here are just a few ways we have come together as a school community:

• 56, 082 meals have been delivered to students who are part of the Free and Reduced meal program
• More than 50 families have been provided student desks and art supplies to establish at-home learning centers.
• 5, 640 Chromebooks and Hot Spots are available or in the hands of students to use for distance learning activities. We have six more days of scheduled technology pick up, and we are at about 75% distribution.
• Our technology Help Desk has aided with distance learning and has answered more than 900 family and staff inquiries.
• We have provided extensive professional development to staff to prepare them as we enter online learning.

I am so grateful to our staff who have continued to reach out to our families and dedicate countless hours preparing for online learning. 

Thank you for your support for our staff members, and for your students. Please reach out to your school principal with questions.

Sincerely,

Rick Dunlap

Interim Superintendent

Good Evening CASD Parents and Guardians,

I hope this message finds you and your family safe and healthy. As you likely know, Governor Wolf has announced that all Pennsylvania schools will remain closed indefinitely. I would like to give you an update as we move forward with online learning.

Our teachers will continue to support our students through remediation and enrichment type of activities through this week.

On April 14, we will to be ready to start delivering online instruction. This will not be a true replacement for our traditional in-person program. The vast majority of schools in our country are struggling with how to deliver instruction while teachers are at home caring for their own families, and many parents are now working from home while trying to help their children, or, leaving their children with relatives while they work.

• We have been distributing devices to our students. Between now and April 14, our teachers are training on the software we’ll use to deliver instruction, develop plans for instruction, will be connecting with your children, setting up their online classrooms, and linking resources to the platform.
• We are adjusting the marking periods. We are ending the second trimester on April 17. Teachers will be using the April 14 – 17 to work with students closing out the marking period. The new marking period will start on April 20 and close on June 11.

I know these times are extremely challenging as this “new normal” continues to become a prolonged reality for us all. Despite the closure, we will continue to operate remotely and provide administrative and educational services to the extent possible.

Please continue to practice social distancing and safe measures to not only protect you and your families, but to protect our overall community, as well.  

Thank you again for supporting us through these many unknowns and changes. I appreciate your flexibility and understanding.  

We look forward to seeing you all again, hopefully very soon, in our offices, in our schools and in person; until then, stay healthy, stay safe and stay home.

 

Sincerely,

Rick Dunlap

Interim Superintendent