I hope you and your family are doing well. This staying at home and social distancing thing is starting to wear thin, and I don’t like telling my children not to come home for a visit. Even though I don’t go much of anywhere or do anything real exciting, I don’t like the feeling of not being able to. As I was doing a little yard work yesterday and my hands were cold, I thought to myself, “At least I’m not sitting in the cold at a ball field.” That thought was immediately followed by “I wish I could sit at a ball field and be cold these days!”
My wife was making masks yesterday, and, today, she has a pattern to make hospital gowns for medical staff. We’ll never be mass producers, but there is the feeling that “I’m not going to take this lying down. I’m going to do something.” At school, I’ve offered the temporary use of our 3-D printer to a non-profit organization that can make parts for face shields. Every little thing counts.
Schools Ordered Closed through April 30
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds ordered that all K-12 public and accredited non-public schools in Iowa be closed through at least Thursday, April 30, 2020. She promised to give people two weeks notice about what we will do after that date. (If I were a betting man, I’d bet that we won’t open after then either, but I’m not the governor.)
What Will Education Look Like in the Future?
Currently, we’re using what I’m calling a “guided, supplemental and optional” model. This model will continue through this week with the following changes: only religion activities will be shared for Good Friday, and there will only be one grade level Zoom meeting. We’ll also use this week to collect any final make up work for the third quarter and close the books on the quarter. Preparations for the next educational model will also continue to come closer and closer to finalization. Our end goal is an “instructed, required and assessed” remote learning model.
During the week of April 13th, we will begin the process of transitioning between the two models. We will begin to focus only on the essential things that students need before moving on to the next grade. By the time the transition is complete, there will be an instructional piece, expected student work, and feedback from teachers for each of the absolutely essential standards students need before the next grade.
This transition actually has already begun. When the first school closure was announced during spring break, it was like the Wild West. There were hundreds and hundreds of options being offered through the internet. When we began our first three week closure at JFK, we narrowed it down for families and gave them just a few options for each subject. Our next three week (and beyond?) closure will narrow it even further and recognize that because time is of a premium, “Do X.” Everything else can be great extensions of student learning, but students must do “X.”
We know that there are access issues (my home internet stopped working twice just while doing the Principal’s Post today), but we will work our way through them. The survey you completed last week, and the conversations we have had with families is very helpful to identify what we are facing.
Together, we can make sure that students do not lose 25%-30% of a school year. We can do this!
Donations, Tithing, Tuition Payments and Registration for Next Year
Just like your family, OLV and JFK are making sure that we have our financial house in order. We, too, are working with all of the recent government legislation and funding to see how it might help us through these uncertain times.
That said, both the school and the church are still dependent upon your regular contributions and payments. Donation buttons are also located on the front page of both the school (green) and parish (blue) sides of our website. Tuition payments can also be made via debit/credit card over the phone. Emily Sanderson is typically in the office on Mondays and Thursdays, and Angie Hillebrand has irregular hours.
Tuition payments for this school year: Fr. Jake and Finance Council approved the following statements regarding flexibility for tuition payments. They want to work with people even if it goes well into or through next school year too.
“From March 30th, 2020 through August 31, 2021, the Finance Council gives the Pastor authority to negotiate with families on how to pay their tuition payments.
All families who request a school contract for the 2020-2021 school year will not be denied a contract based upon how much tuition they owe the parish.
Any questions or concerns about tuition payments or contracts can be directed to Fr. Jake Greiner, greinerj@diodav.org or by calling 563-391-4245.”
Tuition Contracts for Next Year: We still want to continue the registration process for next school year. Returned tuition contracts helps us plan for next year as well. Please return your tuition contract as soon as you can, even without paying the registration fee now. That can be paid later, if necessary. At the present time, we are extending the discounted registration fee (discounted to $100) until June 1st. If you need another copy of your tuition contract, please contact Emily Sanderson at emily.sanderson@olvjfkmail.com.
School Meals
Recognizing the need that some families have for meals, ANY child between the ages of 1-18 years old may receive a lunch and breakfast at no cost at one of the following locations beginning on Monday, March 23, 2020, between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. It is not a requirement that the child currently be receiving a free/reduced price lunch; it is available to any child.
- Achievement Service Center, located at 1702 N. Main Street
- Note: this site replaces DLC/Keystone
- Davenport Sudlow, located at 1414 East Locust Street
- Davenport Williams, located at 3040 North Division
- Davenport Frank L. Smart, located at 1934 West 5th Street
- Davenport Wood, located at 5701 North Division, Davenport
The child no longer has to be present to receive the free meal. A sack lunch and breakfast for the following morning will be handed out on Monday through Friday.
Please open the trunk of your car or leave a seat open where staff can place the food. This step will help reduce contact and practice a higher level of social distancing.
OLV parish bulletin: Click HERE or use the following link/url: https://www.olvjfk.com/olv/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/04/1032800017A-040520.pdf
I hope you were able to catch Fr. Jake’s class visit this week:
Stay well! Our Lady of Victory,…pray for us.
Chad
