BAYARD SCHOOLS

Continuity of Education and Nutrition to Begin Monday, March 23, 2020

March 19, 2020

Launch the media gallery 1 player

Students, Parents, and Community Members, 

Our staff has been working very hard to be ready to continue meeting the educational and nutritional needs of students.  We will again be providing both educational opportunities and nutrition services beginning on Monday, March 23, 2020.  Please read below for details on our plans and procedures.  Thank you in advance for your support and cooperation during this transition to an alternate learning environment.  

Alternate Learning Environment

As part of our educational continuity plan, Bayard Public Schools is developing an alternate learning environment through the utilization of interactive video through Zoom.  Teachers will be staffing the alternate learning environment beginning at 8 am on Monday, March 23rd.  There will be a “landing page” on our website with the links for students to access the Zoom sessions with their teachers.    

For the first two weeks, as we are waiting on guidance from the Nebraska Department of Education, teachers will be providing review and enrichment (no grades will be taken, but feedback may be provided by teachers).  Beginning April 6, we will plan to return to the use of our regular grading procedures.  We anticipate this will allow us to monitor and troubleshoot any access issues and to allow our staff to develop accommodations or modifications as necessary.  Attendance for each class will be taken just like in a regular classroom. 

Rekindle Our Sense of School Community

For now we are planning to start each day with an all school "morning meeting" conducted by the principals.  We will say the Pledge of Allegiance, have some brief announcements, and attempt to rekindle a shared sense of school community.  For our first day or two we are planning to have K-12 students all together.  We will monitor this to determine whether to keep this as a single district-wide meeting or whether to do something different in each building.  

Device and Materials Pick-up Scheduled for  Monday, March 23, 2020

Our team has developed procedures for the pick-up of devices and student materials on Monday, March 23, 2020.  We appreciate the cooperation of families as we try to make the best of the situation while we work to comply with guidance from the CDC and state officials.  

Due to the guidance of no more than 10 people congregating, we ask that everyone remain in their cars during the pick-up times for devices and for meals.  As official guidance changes, we may have to adjust our procedures.  

We ask that during specified times a family member drives to the elementary school parking lot.  Please park in the parking lot and keep the driveway in front of the school clear to help us avoid any traffic congestion.  A staff member will take your name and the names/grades of your children.  Inside the building another staff member will collect the materials for your child/children and bring them out to you and hand them to you.  If you are able to open your car trunk without getting out of the car we will place the items in your trunk and close the trunk for you.  

The school will deliver devices and materials to families that indicated on the lunch survey that they would like to participate in lunch delivery.  Families who have completed the survey and indicated a preference for delivery will NOT need to come to the school.  

We have established the following pick-up schedule:  

7 am to 8 am: Pre-scheduled pick-up (email Ms. Candace Smith candace.smith@bayardtigers.org if you would like to pre-schedule your pick-up)

8 am to 9 am - Families with last names beginning with letters A-F

9 am to 10 am - Families with last names beginning with letters G-N

10 am to 11 am - Families with last names beginning with letters O-Z

1 pm to 6 pm - Remaining Families that were not able to come during the scheduled times.  

Meal Distribution Pick-Up at Elementary

Lunch distribution is scheduled for 11:15 to 12:15.  Meals will be distributed in the driveway of the elementary.  Again, we ask that you remain in your car.  Staff members will be at the curb along the driveway in front of the elementary school.  Please indicate to the staff how many meals you need.  Staff will either hand the meals to you through your passenger window or place them in your trunk.

Meal Delivery 

For families that indicated a preference for meal delivery, drivers will be making contact to determine details.  Please be sure that you do not have any dogs out that would be a danger to our staff members when they are making deliveries.  Any special arrangements can be made directly with the staff member delivering the meal.  For any additional information, please contact Mr. James Miller (james.miller@bayardtigers.org).  

Seniors/Class of 2020

We understand that students in the class of 2020 rightfully have concerns about graduation.  Given the rapid change of guidance from the CDC and the state, it is too soon to know what will happen or not happen with graduation ceremonies.  We can assure parents and students that we will address this in a manner that will take into account the unique circumstances and students will have the opportunity to graduate if they’re on track to graduate.  At this time we need seniors to participate as leaders in the educational opportunities that we will be providing and to continue being good students and leaders of our student body.  We don't know all the answers yet, but we have a common goal of graduation for the class of 2020.