January 24, 2021

Dear Parents and Students,

Happy New Year!  We have completed a semester of school and have pushed through the pandemic with much courage.  I am very proud of our students and staff for the resilience they continue to demonstrate on a daily basis.  Every “new year”, I have a word that I choose to focus on.  My word for 2020 was “resilience”, which was very appropriate in dealing with the pandemic.  My word for 2021 is “wisdom” because I know this will be a year of immense learning as we recover and deal with the many global challenges.  If you have not chosen a word or a New Year’s resolution, I challenge you to create one for your strength and encouragement.   

January was School Board Appreciation month.  Thank you to our five board members who serve our school district with great humanity!  On January 14th, they were provided a hand-written note and small gift from Mrs. Carter’s class and her store, The Vinyl Countdown.  You can see their group picture and meeting dates inside this newsletter. 

We continue to use our website to update you with the latest news and information.  Check out the NEW “District Profile” under the District tab.  Our students use the website daily to access Progressbook, which is the main hub for remote, as well as in-person digital learning and communication.  They also access their Microsoft Office 365 accounts, which is our adopted cloud-based suite of applications for academic work and productivity.  We are still learning how to maximize teaching and learning with these tools, but have been pleased with the progress and support so far, especially with our remote Monday and full-remote learners.  

We still have a couple months of winter ahead.  Therefore, inclement weather could delay and/or cancel more school.  Once we miss 5 days of school due to inclement weather, we will have “remote learning” days.  Therefore, the 6th day of inclement weather will be considered a school day, just like our remote Mondays.  The Elementary School has used 4 days, while the MS/HS has only used 3 days as of Jan. 22. 

Thanks again for being a great partner with us in the education of your child.  Please contact me if you ever have any questions or concerns. 

Go Bearcats! 

Cindy Endsley, Superintendent