Parent/Community Communication:
Dear Gorilla Family!
Congratulations, you have survived your first three weeks of being homeschool teachers! We know this transition has not been easy but just know we appreciate you and everything you are going through during this unique time period.
Even as a previous teacher, and now a principal, it has been a bit of a struggle at the Strozyk Household. They definitely don’t listen to me like they do to their teachers! We appreciate your partnership during this uncharted time. As always, please reach out if we can help you through any student work, trying times, etc. We would love to hear about your successes too!
We wanted to give you some important updates and ask for patience as we continue to get guidance from our state around how to assess student learning in a virtual environment.
3rd Quarter Report Cards/Grades:
We are extending the deadline for teachers and students to wrap up third quarter grading. The cut-off date will be April 17th. We will be mailing report cards home the week of April 20th. If you have questions about grades, missing assignments, or just need clarification please reach out to your child's teacher or to Mrs. Strozyk and Mr. Prewitt.
At the secondary level (6th - 12th grade) students will receive traditional letter grades for third quarter, and at the elementary school they will be providing standards based grading as they normally have.
Teachers are being extremely flexible and giving students multiple opportunities to improve their grades. However, the only way we can do this is if we hear from you. The staff is working diligently to contact you and your students.
We are going to work with you, but we still need to hear from some of you (if we have not). The high school would like to give a small shout out to the 9th grade class, as over 95% of them are engaged in their classes!
4th Quarter Grading & Report Cards:
We expect the governor to give us further guidance in the coming weeks, but we plan for classes, credits, and learning to continue into the fourth quarter. Bottom line is that students need to remain engaged to pass their classes and earn credit towards their high school diploma. However, we are still discussing what our grading practices and expectations look like especially if we do not return to school this year. We are hoping for the best but want to prepare for the worst.
We have been getting a lot of questions about grading practices, student expectations, etc. We ask that you please remain patient as we are still working through these questions and seeking guidance from our state. We want to ensure that our Davenport Gorillas are not hindered by the decisions we make. We are examining all angles to ensure that students have every option and opportunity available to them upon graduation.
Things Your Teachers Want You to Know:
“Is this graded?” Simple answer is yes! However, it might not look the same as it would have during the third quarter when we were still in school.
We need students to remain engaged with teachers and in your classes to demonstrate that you are understanding grade-level material. The grading may not be what the “traditional way” used to be, but the work provided will need to be completed in order for us to see what students know/understand to best plan their learning program for the future.
Teachers are working to pair down assignments to just focus on essential learning standards, and we do not expect students to be completing hours and hours of work each day. If you are feeling overwhelmed, please reach out to us.
Grading will mainly be on perseverance, time management, communication, and your academic character. Teachers expect students to try their best and are here to support them! In this unprecedented time, we truly understand that all we can do is ask our Gorillas to just give their full effort.
Internet Connection & Issues:
We have heard from and communicated with a number of you that have internet connection issues. We are working through a number of ideas to help your students through this distance learning process. Please reach out to us if we have not heard from you.
Our final thoughts:
Happy Spring Break to you all, everyone definitely deserves it! Meal service WILL continue through Spring Break! Have a great week and enjoy some family time, continue to social distance. We miss you!!!
Sincerely,
The Davenport School District