Welcome

April 13, 2020

Dear Meredith Families,

Welcome back from Spring Break. We hope you enjoyed the holiday season with your family. I am writing with the most recent updates I have. The guidelines for school leaders continue to evolve quickly. By this time you should have received individual communication from each teacher that informed you of their office hours, new review and enrichment activities for the week, and guidelines for where to find their classroom information throughout the school closures. As per the Continuity of Learning Plan, set forth by the School District of Philadelphia, we are continuing with review and enrichment at this time. The district timeline for the digital learning rollout is listed here:

Phase 1:
Learning guides available March 16 – March 27 for students

Phase 2:
Learning guides available March 30 – April 17 for students

Phase 3:
Digital learning activities available April 20 for students

The timing of the district plan is based on the ability to get access to all students regarding chromebooks and access to the internet. Many schools are distributing chromebooks this week. Our distribution was able to occur earlier because we had working chromebooks housed in our classrooms. The district is committed to principles of equitable access for all students, and to this end has been working to build capacity through technology, training, and supplemental resources for our students with special learning in mind. This plan is intended to reinforce prior learning and enrichment activities for students and will lead to an introduction of new learning.

All of our teachers are working well ahead of the district schedule. Meredith teachers have listed resources and assignments through Google Classroom and Google Sites. Teachers have begun class meetups through online platforms, provided multiple pre-recorded mini lessons and read alouds, and engaged with students and parents on a weekly basis.

During this inherently stressful time, these activities and structures are not meant to contribute to added stress for students and families. Many of you have already developed a schedule and are using the resources teachers have sent. If you have not done this yet we encourage you to create a schedule with your child this week so they will be ready for digital learning which officially starts on April 20th. Our hope is to engage students as often as possible within the given circumstances.

You can help your student stay engaged by supporting them in the following:
Check to see if you have received recent emails from your child’s classroom teacher. If not, please email them directly to be added to their class lists.
Read communication sent by their teachers/specialist teachers/school leadership so you know how to access materials
Help your child to create a schedule that works for you and your family. Their participation in the creation of a schedule helps them to take ownership.
Have your child demonstrate how they access Google Classroom/Site and the student portal if appropriate.
If you have questions and need support, please reach out to classroom teachers during their office hours or via email.
Continue to check our schoolwide Google Site for updates here:
https://sites.google.com/philasd.org/meredithschoolnews

As always, please reach out to me at loverton@philasd.org should you have any questions or concerns.

Best,

Principal Overton