Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal
Please accept my best wishes for your student and family on a successful completion of the 1st semester and an excellent Winter Break. I am grateful for the dedication, resilience, and commitment shown by D’Evelyn students, teachers, staff, and family members this school year as we continue to face unprecedented challenges to our core mission - the education of our children. I know that this semester has presented many challenges for D’Evelyn community members, and I am proud of the great work and success we have found against significant odds. I also understand that the end of the semester can be a difficult time for students, teachers, and families. In our current 100% remote environment, the lack of direct contact between our students, teachers, staff, and families creates yet another barrier to providing robust support to our students. In the event that your child is struggling with academics or personal wellness, please reach out to teachers, counselors, staff, and/or administrators for additional support during the conclusion of the semester. At the beginning of the school year, I asked that all community members work to keep our focus on two objectives: the health, safety, and wellness of all community members, and student learning. I acknowledge that there are substantially greater considerations in the successful secondary academic experience for our students, but given our challenges in this pandemic, it is important to ensure we are meeting the basic needs of our students to the greatest extent possible. With that in mind, as we approach what will likely be a hectic and stressful end of semester for students, please join in helping our students understand and appropriately frame the significance of final exams and the end of the semester. Exams and other forms of assessment are important factors in the learning and teaching process, but there are far more important considerations in our lives, most importantly the health and wellbeing of our children. With that said, best of luck to our students on a successful completion to the first semester. It is my most sincere hope that you find all the success and achieve your aspirations throughout the duration of this semester. As a reminder, you can find the 1st semester final exams schedule here. For 6th grade students and families, please refer to this 1st semester 6th grade final exams schedule. A look ahead to 2nd semester The D’Evelyn faculty, staff, and administration is preparing to start the 2nd semester in either remote only or hybrid learning environments. At this time, we do not know the plan for Jeffco Schools restart in the second semester, as district leadership continues to monitor the public health circumstances and their impact on our school system. Whether we begin in remote-only or hybrid model in January 2021, we are preparing for a strong, successful start to the school year. As soon as we know how we will begin the semester, we will share more details with students and families regarding how the new semester will look at D’Evelyn. If we begin the semester in the remote-only environment, we will follow a virtual 6-period class day schedule, like the schedule we followed for the 1st 2 weeks of the first semester. Additionally, we intend to stick with our recently announced plans for hybrid learning in 2nd semester, so for all periods of hybrid learning in the 2nd semester, we will follow the plans outlined in my Jaguar Tracks article published November 7, 2020. The Pandemic I remain saddened and disappointed at the sheer volume and magnitude of learning, athletic, extracurricular, and social opportunities lost by D’Evelyn students since March 2020. It is my most sincere hope that we will return to hybrid and, even better, full 100% in-person learning as soon as possible in a healthy and safe manner. Ultimately, the public health data matters immensely in determining the level of operations schools may offer going forward. I hope that you and your families are able to stay healthy in the upcoming weeks. Further, I am hopeful that each member of our community will take appropriate precautions to slow the spread of Covid-19 to the greatest extent possible going forward. With recent news about soon-to-be available Covid-19 vaccines, I am more hopeful than ever before that our return to increasingly normal operations is on our horizon; however, I do not want to see that return compromised by the continuation of high case numbers and hospitalizations. I am grateful to you all for the sacrifices you have and will continue to make to slow the spread of Covid-19 in our community. Ideally, I believe our collective efforts to observe safety recommendations and guidelines can make a positive impact in expediting our return to normal operations in our schools. I hope that you and your families have a wonderful Winter Break, a very happy holiday season, and a Happy New Year. May your break from school be restful, relaxing, and restorative, and best wishes on a wonderful 2021! Comments are closed.
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