From Superintendent Christopher J. Timmis, EdD
I’d first like to thank you for the quick responses to our survey. Your feedback has helped our district team shape our plans for safely increasing the amount of time our students are in school buildings. On Tuesday, February 23rd at 7:30 p.m. we will be going over details of the protocols and changes we will be making as a district. To register to join this session, please go to:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Dw9NA1P7SnC2zzkIUGYJOQ
INCREASE IN FACE-TO-FACE INSTRUCTION
Below is the plan that we will discuss on Tuesday at 7:30 PM. We wanted to highlight some of the major changes to give parents, families, and staff as much time as possible to prepare and plan.
● Anchor and Beacon Homeroom Students will return to their buildings for in-person
learning every day starting on Monday, March 15th (please see start/end times below).
● Wylie Homeroom Students will return to their building for in-person learning every day
starting on Monday, March 22nd (please see start/end times below).
● Creekside Homeroom Students will return to their buildings for in-person learning
every day starting on Monday, April 5th (please see start/end times below).
● Mill Creek will remain on hybrid for the time being and increase to an extended school
day of 8:30 AM – 3:05 PM
● DHS students will remain on hybrid for the time being and the school day will shift in
time (see below).
Program Switches
Parents of students at Anchor, Beacon, Wylie, Creekside, and Mill Creek who wish to move their child from Homeroom to Home-based or from Home-based to Homeroom will be provided a survey early next week. Parents will ONLY have to fill out the survey IF they desire a change which will likely result in a change in classroom teacher. Students may continue to move from Homeroom to Home-based after the survey on a case-by-case basis. However, if a parent wishes to move from Home-based to Homeroom, this will be the last opportunity for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year.
Start/End Times
All schools will have new start and end times starting March 15th. The staggering allows us to work through shared staff schedules. The new start times will be as follows:
● Anchor/Beacon/Wylie/Creekside/Mill Creek will start school at 8:30 a.m. with dropoff between 8:15-8:30 a.m. The school day will end at 3:05 pm with staggered pickup times starting at 2:50 p.m. The elementary schools will continue to use Driveline.
● Dexter High School will run from 9:15 a.m. – 2:45 p.m. There will be a second morning bus run specifically for high school students. For students who attend consortium courses, transportation will be provided to match the consortium course schedule.In order to keep everyone safe and allow us to make this important change for kids, we are asking families to use good judgment over spring break.
In order to keep everyone safe and allow us to make this important change for kids, we are asking families to use good judgment over spring break.
CALENDAR NOTES
● District Open House Tuesday 2/23 6:00pm:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2AtgLTb2QxuCNqWCZmnq4g
● Return to Buildings – Next Steps Tuesday 2/23 7:30pm:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Dw9NA1P7SnC2zzkIUGYJOQ
● Young 5/Kindergarten Information Night:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87882484207?pwd=dXdqbEF6L3JvMmtBZUFXYjFDSVBsdz
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GOOD NEWS
We are excited to share with you a newsletter about the Arts in Dexter Schools. Called DreadNotes , it highlights the awesome work our staff and students are doing in Music, Visual Arts, Drama, and Writing/Speech. (We are planning similar coverage for all our subjects/programs.)
Christopher J. Timmis, EdD
Superintendent
