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Update on South Tama plans in wake of coronavirus

“I have been blown away by the commitment of our staff to provide instructional support to students and families. Every time I check my email or browse social media I see another staff member who is making connections with students – either by reinforcing learning or simply to say hello.I would also like to give a huge shoutout to members of our support staff. Nearly all of our support staff groups haven been instrumental in continuing to push our district forward these last couple weeks,” was some of the message South Tama schools Superintendent Jared Smith delivered to STC staff earlier this week in response to the COVID-19 circumstances which have shut down school operations.

He cites the STC Staff Video Greetings to Students (flipgrid.com/40e08f57) which he says has hand more than 11,000 views and the STC Home Resource Guide (docs.google.com/document/127f85LoQEcF2GlEDf2_EWZfgbu_dRfITkdB2mbDuN_k/edit).

“(The guide) has been a huge success helping many parents and families navigate learning at home,” Smith wrote.

In looking ahead he assures “Our goal will be as follows: Every STC student will receive at least one contact by a teacher/certified staff member between Wednesday, April 1st and Friday, April 10th ” The contact will be by phone call, text message, email, or other program.

Beyond this Smith outlines school district plans:

Assuming we do not return to school on April 14th, we will offer Voluntary Educational Enrichment Opportunities for our students. To ensure our students are aware of those opportunities, here are our goals for teaching/certified staff:

1. Contact your assigned students/families one time each week (same process as above)

2. Identify and communicate (a minimum) of three hours during each week which will be designated “office hours.”

During office hours, teachers will be available to provide academic support as well as give students an opportunity to “check in” with a staff member; More information on this will come in the following weeks

3. Beyond April 14th, teaching staff will need to be available to complete duties as needed by school administration. Examples could include PLC meetings, IEP meetings, Professional Development, etc.

Also, during this time we will be exploring options for allowing students to access additional personal items from buildings while also following recommended safety procedures. Items to retrieve could include band instruments, iPads, other learning materials/resources, etc. More information on this will come in the following weeks.