PLEASE READ

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CLOSURE ANNOUNCEMENT

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The West Washington School Corporation has been notified of a positive Covid-19 result of a staff member. The positive result is from the Jr High School. There are several staff members that must be quarantined as close contacts and it will affect a number of students as well. Additionally, we have several staff members already on quarantine or awaiting results of Covid-19 tests.

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The decision has been made to move to a virtual schedule for a minimum of five days. This could be longer after consultation with the health department. This is for the entire corporation K-12. Due to the nature of our corporation set up, we feel it is necessary to take these precautions for all grades. 

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On Monday, school administration and the health department will be conducting contact tracing and notifying anyone that may have been in “close contact” as defined by the CDC. 

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Virtual instruction will begin Monday 11/2/20. Monday’s virtual schedule may look a little different, because our teachers received very little notice of the closure. Teachers will be contacting students, holding Google Meets and posting important information on their Google Classroom. Students should check into their Google Classrooms and complete work on their normal daily schedule. If you are a parent of a younger child and they cannot access the content until you are home from work, please contact your teacher and your building administrator so we can add you to the list of students that will be completing their work after school hours. 

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Until contact tracing is complete, we are not sure of the impact on extracurricular activities. This could impact a small number of students and staff or it could impact a larger group. We will not know the full impact until the contact tracing process is complete. Teams and players will be contacted about Monday’s events some time on Monday. Prepare as if practices and events will go on as planned. We will notify you if there is a change.

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We apologize for the inconvenience of this late notice. Our administration was notified at 6:00 pm on Sunday 11/1/20 as soon as they received their results. This communication was timely and exactly what we needed to make the best decision for the safety of our students and staff. If we would have had to wait to hear from the ISDH we may not have known until Monday after everyone had already arrived at school. I commend our families for being vigilant and effectively communicating with us.

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With Senator Pride,

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Keith A. Nance, Superintendent

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Virtual Closure Expectations

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Short Term Closure (3-10 days)-

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  • All staff are expected to report to work at normal times unless communicated otherwise. 

  • We will maintain a regular schedule, as close to normal as possible. 

    • Students that are unable to do the work during the normal hours of school must contact the school and be added to the “2nd shift” list. 

      • Building level administrators will determine if their reason to be on “2nd shift” is legitimate. 

  • Teachers will be expected to:

    • Have live lessons during the normal school schedule. (Recorded lessons could be utilized. However, live interaction is expected during each period, subject, etc, in order to check for understanding and answer questions)

      • EX-

        • 3rd Grade Reading during the normal 3rd grade reading time. 

        • 2nd period Geometry during the time frame of 2nd period Geometry. 

    • Have recorded direct instruction for all subjects and periods for students doing their schooling during “2nd shift”.

    • Provide feedback during the hours of 8 am - 3 pm. 

      • You do NOT have to answer emails or hangout calls after hours. 

      • You do have to get back to those emails and calls the next day between 8 am - 3 pm.

      • You do NOT have to answer a question of a student from period 1, while you are working with kids from period 5. 

      • You do have to get back with that student another time during the day. 

  • Students will be expected to:

    • Join live lessons or watch recorded lessons during the normal school schedule.

      • Unless they are assigned to the “2nd shift”.

    • Complete “class work” during the normal class time. 

    • Complete “home work” before the next day’s class.

    • Communicate with the teacher during live lessons.

    • Check email daily.

    • Keep a disciplined schedule of reporting to each virtual class on time. 

  • “2nd” shift students are expected to:

    • Watch recorded lessons nightly.

    • Complete “class work” nightly before the next day.

      • Exception- you have a question and you have to wait for a response from your teacher. 

    • Communicate with the teacher through email and Google Hangouts.

    • Check email daily. 

    • Keep a disciplined schedule of completing lessons and assigned work daily.