February 5, 2021
Dear District 2 and District 157 Families,
On March 13, 2020 our educational system was disrupted due to the COVID pandemic. During that time teachers moved their classrooms to their living rooms. Many areas of our homes became learning spaces. In the current school year we have been able to bring students back into school using a hybrid model. We are fully aware that in remote or hybrid settings student academic and social emotional experiences will vary. To proactively address how COVID-19 impacted academics and the social emotional health of students, a Joint District Stakeholders Committee was formed. The Committee is made up of students, parents, support staff, Board members and administrators. The purpose of the group is to collaboratively:
Address how COVID-19 has impacted learning;
Identify steps for learning recovery plan(s); and
Build community capacity for Social Emotional Learning that will improve the lives of all D2 and D157 students and families.
The committee had its first meeting on February 3, 2021. The goals of this first meeting were to:
Review the area(s) of need for learning loss;
Identify ways to address learning loss via learning recovery;
Understand the current steps schools are taking to address Social Emotional Learning
During this two hour meeting the team identified the essential elements of an effective stakeholder committee and reviewed results from the Fall iReady assessment for the 19-20 and 20-21 school years. Committee members asked great, clarifying questions pertaining to the test results. The Committee also discussed some of the challenges students faced while taking the Fall iReady assessment at home and how these challenges may have impacted the results.
The next meeting is March 3rd. The Committee will review ideas on learning recovery along with action steps and review results of the student survey on Social Emotional Learning given the week of February 8th.
Sincerely,
Patrick Enright, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent