Good evening staff, students, and parents of Springfield School District,
This Zach McLaughlin, the Superintendent of Schools. As I watch our school community, I continue to be incredibly impressed by the way in which we have all pulled together. I know that in previous messages I have sung the praises of our staff. Whether it is paraeducators and food service workers making sure that families are fed, custodians who continue to monitor the state of our buildings, or teachers who are completely redesigning the way in which we deliver education, our staff are rising to the challenge while trying to balance the difficulty of their own changed circumstances. Yet, I know all too well that these are not the only members of our school community that are going above and beyond. Each day our students and families are stretching in ways that previously wouldn’t have been imaginable. It is an amazing process to watch.
As we go through all this radical change to our lives, the district is working hard to answer a large number of questions that our new reality is creating. I am committed to keeping all you informed as we build what the next few months will be. So, tonight I can give you an update on April Vacation. Based on our school calendar, our April vacation was scheduled to begin on Monday, April 13th. I can confirm that the district will indeed go on vacation as scheduled. Remote learning opportunities will cease during that time. This will give our staff, students, and families a break from these first few hectic weeks of our move to distance education.
While we also need to give our food workers a chance to catch their breath, we want to make sure that there is not a gap in food service for the students who need it. To allow both of these things to occur, we plan to do a week’s worth of food delivery on Monday, April 13th. The plan is to provide students with a grocery bag with five days’ worth of breakfasts, snacks, and lunch for the vacation week. More information will be provided as we get closer to that drop date.
Thanks again for all that all of you are doing to push through this time together. As I said before, you can plan to hear more from me as we build our plan for the remainder of the year. In the meantime, I stand proud to be part of all the work that each of you are doing.
I hope you and your family have a peaceful evening.
I wish you a good night.