Update September 3, 2020
It's Time!
After five months away from the school buildings, we were more than ready for our students to return to campus this week. Cohort A started on campus Tuesday, September 8 and Cohort B began on campus Thursday, September 10. Below are some samples of how the facilities have been readied for students and staff as we prepared for learning during a pandemic. This will be a bumpy year and we are all going to have to practice resilience and flexibility. Schools will be starting in the "Yellow" hybrid learning model until at least October 16.
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| Classroom setup for social distancing |
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| GHS library with plexiglass partitions |
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| The power of plexiglass |
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| Outdoor learning tent |
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| Bus driver COVID safety training |
In July and August, MSAD #51 hosted three forums for the school community to provide information on the district's Pandemic Plan and answer questions from parents and staff members. There were approximately 75 attendees at two parent virtual forums and 120 staff members attended the staff virtual forum. In late September, the district will hold listening forums for stakeholders to get input as to how life in "Yellow" is working and if changes are needed after the initial 6-week window comes to a close. More information on these listening forums will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks.
Thank You
A huge thank you to Jennifer Benham (and her many helpers) for the donation of over 400 cloth face masks. Our community has contributed to making masks plus donating to fund supplies of fabric, elastic, and thread. THANK YOU to all who have helped with this huge undertaking!
A huge thank you to Jennifer Benham (and her many helpers) for the donation of over 400 cloth face masks. Our community has contributed to making masks plus donating to fund supplies of fabric, elastic, and thread. THANK YOU to all who have helped with this huge undertaking!
New Piano & Benches for Arts Center
Many Thanks to the Grand Piano Committee for organizing a fundraiser to purchase a new grand piano for the Greely Center for the Arts. The piano was recently delivered and is ready for use when the Center reopens. The GCA lobby also welcomed new bench seating in its lobby (socially distanced of course) that was provided by proceeds from the GCA brick and seat campaign.
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| Grand Piano |
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| GCA lobby benches |
Kindergarten Screening & Freshman Orientation
MIW held in-person kindergarten screenings for all incoming K students last week. The leap to high school was helped with in-person orientation for all incoming high school freshmen at GHS to help them acquaint to their new school.
New Staff for MSAD #51
At a new staff orientation program on August 24, MSAD #51 welcomed 24 new staff members to the district's schools.
It's kind of hard to know what your new teachers and staff look like when they are wearing masks all the time. So, every staff member received a button to wear with their picture on it (without a mask, of course) so that students can see what they really look like.