Updated on Monday, March 23, 2020:
Good afternoon,
This afternoon Governor Wolf officially extended school closures through April 6th. It is anticipated that the school closure may be extended beyond April 6th and we are planning accordingly.
Our daily lunch program and Panther Packs program are both fully operational and continue to grow. We will continue these programs throughout the school closure.
Starting tomorrow, we will be reaching out to every family in our district to let them know what supports we can provide. Each administrator has been assigned two grade levels and will make these calls personally.
Finally, with guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, we are working this week to plan enrichment and learning support activities for our students who both have internet connectivity and those who do not. We plan to have these activities in place starting next week.
Please see the information below for additional information.
Thank you
Updated on Thursday, March 19, 2020:
Good evening Panther Families,
Tonight, Governor Wolfe ordered all non-life-sustaining businesses in Pennsylvania to close. Because of the mandatory closure of so many businesses and employment opportunities, we know the work being done to provide food to our children is life-sustaining. We will continue to provide Meal Packs to children each weekday from 11:30am-12:30pm at Memorial elementary school. Meal Packs will be provided to every child who walks to the school or whose parents pull their car up to the curb. We hope this message brings you some peace of mind during these challenging days. Stay well Panther nation!
Please click here to read our March 16, 2020 school closure update. This update specifically references student learning and student meal access. With the constant flow of new information regarding school closures, we will plan to update our website regularly. We will send a one-call message when a new update is posted.
Thank you.
School Closure Update, 3.16.20
Student Learning
For the next two weeks, we do not plan to provide continuation of education services. For students who do not have internet access, we cannot ensure equity and we will be unable to meet the IEP requirements for students with disabilities. We will plan to review this position based on PDE guidance and if school closures are extended beyond the two-week timeframe currently in place.
- Students who are in K-8 who have access to the internet can log into their I-Ready accounts to complete practice assignments. This is not an expectation.
- Students who are in K-8 who do not have internet access at home may have the opportunity to pick up non-graded study materials that do not provide a continuation of education. We need clarification from PDE.
- Students who are in 9-12 have access to their online classes via their Surface Pros. There are PDE equity questions with providing study materials for test-bearing courses even if those materials are not graded.
- Students who are in LCCC online courses must continue with their coursework per LCCC. We will plan to open the ELC for any student who needs internet access. The space will allow for social distancing should multiple students need access to the space.
These responses are guided by items #5-#7 included in the March 15, 2020 PDE Covid-19 Response Efforts Memo.
Student Lunches
Starting Wednesday, March 18 from 11:30am-12:30pm we plan to implement the summer lunch program. Our food service director, Mrs. Everhart is working with her staff now to develop an implementation plan. Should we not have enough cafeteria workers to staff the lunch program, we will do so administratively.
- We will be reaching out to all of our families who receive Panther Packs via phone over the coming week to see if they have transportation to Memorial for the lunch program.
- We are working with our busing contractors and hopefully community organizations to develop a potential food delivery plan for our families in Buckhorn and Beaver-Main who cannot make it to Memorial. The soonest this would start would be next week.
- We may not be able to manage food delivery. It is an aspirational goal depending on staffing and food availability.
These responses are guided by items #2 regarding essential staff and # 4 regarding student access to meals included in the March 15, 2020 PDE Covid-19 Response Efforts Memo.
