Puppy Cam...update!SB 3-20-2020

My Facebook feed has been filled with animal videos and pictures oscillating between friends whose dogs are psyched that everyone is home and friends whose cats are ticked wanting everyone to leave.  It is just one of the many observations that we are all making now that our daily routines have been so drastically altered. If any of our students are missing their access to the daily puppy cam displayed on our cafe monitors during lunches, here is the link for them to follow at home (we typically display the puppy playroom feed): https://explore.org/livecams/warrior-canine-connection/service-puppy-cam

Although the circumstances that have initiated the need for social distancing is most serious, I was very happy that the weather at the beginning of this past week made it easier to enjoy fresh air and get outside of the house.  My family was able to enjoy a lot of walks through the woods and play with our dog all over our property more easily which has helped maintain balance. As the weather toward the end of the week was less inviting, I found an alternative way to connect with nature...these amazing award winning photographs were announced this week: https://www.cnp.org.uk/news/astonishing-2020-national-parks-photography-competition-winners-announced

It would be great to be able to share observations of things that all of our students have been doing, but that will clearly need to wait for a while.

So, instead, I have a couple of apologies to share…

If you were hoping to see Term 2 grades posted today, my apologies.  We decided to move the release date to April 3 to provide the teachers additional time to complete grading as they were not able to get back into the buildings until this past Wednesday.

If you miss hearing your child practice an instrument at home, my apologies.  During this initial closure period, we have decided to not allow students access to the buildings which would include being able to come in and pick-up instruments.  For those of you who are secretly happy that you are not listening to any home practice...you are welcome :-) I know my parents would have been elated if my drumset was not accessible for a few weeks when I was in middle school. However, if the closure extends beyond the current date of April 7, we will develop a process for students to get their instruments.

For all of our Gr8 families who received my earlier message regarding the DC Trip, my apologies for any confusion...I would wait before reaching out to EF on your own.  They will only repeat their current policies which I have already told them are ridiculous and short-sighted.  As I mentioned in my message, when they have confirmed with us how they plan to respond to this pandemic I will let you know.  There is a large number of school districts in the same position and the travel agencies are receiving a lot of pressure to reconsider fees and cancellation policies. 

Finally, I chose not to inundate your inboxes with multiple updates as information regarding this closure has changed rapidly and I knew every subscription list under the sun seemed to be telling me how they were addressing this pandemic whether I had patronized their company in the last 3 years or not.  In all seriousness, If anyone feels that there has been a lack of information provided from the building level, I sincerely apologize. Stony Brook as a community has consistently made developing positive, supportive relationships our primary focus and I believe it is the reason so many of our students are engaged and truly enjoy coming to school.  Our teachers are committed to continuing that focus as we shift to a new paradigm in what learning might look like for the time being. Additionally, every single one of our students has already been introduced to effective project-based learning strategies whether it is on one of the interdisciplinary teams or in a discrete content area like science, social studies or engineering just to name a few.  Those strategies develop stronger intrinsic motivations for students and lay a foundation for students to remain curious and engaged in a more independent manner. Knowing these opportunities have already existed for all of our students allows me to remain optimistic about their resilience and how well we will be able to support them moving forward whether it is in a temporary virtual environment or when we are able to return to face to face instruction and work to recover from this separation. Some other districts struggled with understanding the guidance disseminated from our Commissioner of Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  Hearing about other districts moving to distance learning or online learning quickly has often been misleading as their plans had not been fully developed or supportive of all of their students. There has been a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes/screens to prepare for the upcoming weeks and best determining how to keep students engaged during this time period. I am confident that we will continue to provide an amazingly positive and supportive environment for all of our students.

Information regarding how students can access learning opportunities beginning next week will be sent out soon from our WPS central office.  If you did not see previous messages for families, you can access them here: https://www.westfordk12.us/district/news/covid-19-coronavirus

Happy Spring...keep smiling...at a safe and healthy distance...when in doubt, watch some animal videos,

Chris

Dr. Christopher Chew

Principal

Stony Brook