July 28, 2020
Wa-Nee Community School
Parents,
On July 22, 2020, the Elkhart County Health Department issued a Public Service Announcement (PSA) stating their concern that our county has not sufficiently mitigated the risk of COVID-19. One of the critical factors for schools to reopen is evidence that Elkhart County shows a downward trend of its positivity rate over a 14-day period. The Elkhart County Health Department stated that they will be monitoring the spread of COVID-19 and if the data do not show a downward trend of positivity rates, the Elkhart County Health Department will consider recommending a delay to returning to in-person learning.
Regardless of the decision
by the Elkhart County Health Department, on July 27, 2020, the WCS Board of
Trustees approved a proposal to waive the first two days of instruction (August
13th and 14th) to help our families and staff prepare for our upcoming school re-opening. Students will not need to make up these days and at this time there are no other changes to our school calendar other than a change in student start date.
Instead of providing
instruction on August 13th and 14th, these days will be utilized to schedule opportunities for families to pick up their students’ devices before the start of the year, become familiar with our new Learning Management Software (Canvas), and prepare for the start of the year. Our teachers will be utilizing these two days for training and publishing virtual lessons into their new Canvas accounts. Our students’ first day of Remote and/or In-Person learning will occur on Monday, August 17, 2020. Please watch for communication from your child’s building for more information regarding device pick up and training.
Due to the recommendation to
reduce the number of school visitors this year, we will be unable to host our
annual Back-to-School Orientations. If
you need assistance registering your child, please contact your school or the
Administration Building to schedule an appointment.
When registering your child, we encourage you to go ahead make any textbook or lunch deposit payments. The WCS Board of Trustees has granted the district approval to pay any and all service fees for electronic payments for families from now until September 30, 2020. Also, if you have not already done so, please register your child’s transportation plans via the online transportation form: https://www.wanee.org/TransportationRequestForms.aspx.
There is no question, this
upcoming school year will be unlike any we have ever experienced. However, I also know, the foundation of our
district’s Tradition of Excellence is in our ability to work as a community and
overcome any challenge - TOGETHER. Please take great care in these next few weeks
before we return to school. Please follow the guidance issued by the State and
the Elkhart County Health Department to help us reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Despite any challenge we
face, it continues to be an exciting time to be at Wa-Nee Community
Schools. I am proud to be a part of this
community and look forward to working with all of you as we write our next
chapter of excellence. As always, please
know my door is always open and feel free to contact my office if I can be of
any assistance.
Sincerely,
Scot D. Croner, PhD
Superintendent
Wa-Nee Community Schools
[email protected]