Message sent 4.9.2020

To Our Wildcat Community,

I am sure by now that most of you have received word that the Secretary of Education and the Governor of Pennsylvania have decided that all Pennsylvania students will not be returning to school for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. I am also sure that all of you have many excellent questions regarding what that closure will mean. Over the next several days, I hope to be able to provide answers to your questions during this time of uncertainty. I will share what I know for now, and will continue to reach out to our community as this situation progresses.

FOR NOW, PLEASE PLAN ON OUR EDUCATIONAL PICK-UPS AND FOOD PICK-UPS TO CONTINUE AS PLANNED FOR NEXT WEEK. WE WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW OUR CONTINUITY OF EDUCATION PLAN THAT WE STARTED ON MARCH 30TH.

During these unprecedented times, I want all of our students, families, teachers, support staff, and community members to know that we are all in this together, and we will persevere! We will do everything we can to make this year memorable for our graduating seniors. We will strive to continue our current Continuity of Education plan so that each Wildcat student will be given the best educational opportunities possible.

We will continue to make community safety our number one priority, while doing everything possible to continue to communicate openly with every student.

I mentioned in my video that the current state of education would, in no way, be able to replace what occurred every day in each Northwestern classroom. However, our students, staff, and community members are resilient, and I am extremely proud of the effort that our students and staff have made so far.

Thank you to all of our Wildcat community for your patience, your flexibility, and your adaptability during these crazy times. Please know that our entire staff will continue to care for each of you, and will do everything in our power to make the remainder of this year the best that it can be.

Stay safe, and make sure to focus on what is really important during these trying times!

Sincerely,

John Hansen, Superintendent

Looking for ideas to keep your child(ren) occupied during the district closure?

Here is a link to 31 FREE educational resources, Pop Sugar Educational Resources.

Also, Scholastic has shared a free link for multiple grade levels as well, simply click on the appropriate grade level, Scholastic Learn at Home.

There are Facebook pages that you can visit as well.

• Northwestern High School: Wildcat Enrichment from a Distance
• Springfield Elementary Enrichment Activities
• NWE Wildcats Learn Together from Home

And, don't forget about ClassDojo!

Update from Mr. Hansen-Coronavirus

Message sent 3.15.2020

Dear Wildcat Families,

As I am sure you are aware, a lot has changed since my last message. On Friday afternoon, Governor Tom Wolf closed all public K-12 schools, including brick and mortar, cyber charter schools, career and technical centers, and intermediate units throughout the Commonwealth beginning Monday, March 16th through Friday, March 27th. This includes any childcare centers operating within any of the aforementioned schools. It also includes Universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

Although many of the details still must be worked out, the following are the most up-to-date facts that I have:

* Schools will not have to make up days missed between 3/16/20 and 3/27/20.

* Student learning for this period should be limited to enrichment activities, such as reading a book, study skills, or test-preparation activities.

* All students and non-essential staff should stay home for this two week period.

* We are working through the state process which will permit us to continue to feed any students, between the ages of 1 and 18, currently living in our district. Details will be shared with all families once they have been worked out.

* All school based activities including, but not limited to, athletics, plays, musicals, etc. are cancelled during this period.

Our NWSD administrative team is meeting tomorrow morning at 8:00 am, in order to solidify a district plan for the next two weeks. I anticipate another communication to all families to be released some time tomorrow.

I will continue to update our Wildcat families through our Remind, Facebook page, and web site, as accurate information becomes available. I encourage you to follow all social distancing recommendations so that we can minimize the impact of the Coronavirus. A quote I read yesterday really hits home with regards to my thoughts on these troubling times.

"In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much to stop the spread of Covid-19, but it will be quite apparent if we under-reacted or did too little."

We will get through this best, if we continue to work together!

Sincerely,

John Hansen

Superintendent Northwestern School District

jhansen@nwsd.org