Slinger School District - COVID-19 Update

From the Superintendent on 3/17

Good afternoon Slinger School District Families-

I have an update on three items that I have been getting numerous questions about:

Spring Break

I put all of the talking points in front of our 7 school board members this morning and they will make a final decision about moving Spring Break on Monday Night at our monthly school board meeting. I will inform you of their final decision on Tuesday morning.

State Minutes Requirement

The State of Wisconsin has a state-wide requirement for students to attend school a certain number of minutes. Due to the unprecedented nature of what we are dealing with, this has been waived by Governor Evers for 2019-2020. It is far too early for me to tell you what this means for the school calendar, but it does allow us to be flexible and work around the needs of families.

State Testing Requirements

The State mandated Forward Exam and Aspire Test are being discussed at this time. It appears there is momentum for dropping this requirement, but no official decision has been made. Don't worry about those tests right now. Let's all focus on our families and giving the students the best learning experiences we can. We will come back to you with the final decision on State Testing at a future time.

As always, thanks for your support of Slinger Schools.

Daren Sievers

Slinger School District

"It's the little things that make a BIG difference."

From the Superintendent on 3/16

Good afternoon

The Slinger Administrative Team has been meeting all day to develop plans for the coming days and weeks. Below is our plan going forward for the foreseeable future:

Learning

Teachers will be meeting as grade level teams and departments in grades 4K-12th grade tomorrow. Developmentally appropriate activities will be provided for each age group. Some will be provided electronically and some will be in traditional paper/packet/worksheet form. We are going to make every effort to provide realistic and responsible learning activities that move skills forward after tomorrow's day of planning.

Access to Materials

Friday's county-wide closing came quicker than expected and deprived our students of the opportunity to grab their personal belongings and learning materials at the end of the day. We will provide access to all five schools from 8 am to 8 pm on Wednesday. At those access times, some of the grade level materials will be available to you that support as much learning as possible with more becoming available throughout the coming days and weeks. If you are in need of a chromebook to support the grade level activities that are electronic in nature, please contact your principal for a loaner device.

Meals

Effective immediately, every child that lives in the Slinger School District will be eligible for meals through our food service program so every student under our care can be assured access to two meals per day. Please click here for more information.

Help us plan for meal quantities at each pick-up location, please complete the following short survey.

News on COVID-19 changes by the hour. We are doing our best to stay ahead of it. Please continue to watch for emails from us as we do our best to help your children learn at home and manage this unprecedented time.

Thanks, as always, for your support of Slinger Schools.

Daren Sievers

Slinger School District

"It's the little things that make a BIG difference."

From the Superintendent on 3/13

Dear families:

I am writing you at this time to announce the news that Slinger Schools (including Kool Kids Daycare) will be closed for the next 4 weeks. This was determined through a county-wide conference call after the Washington County Health department declared a State of Emergency. Please see the note from County Leadership and the County Declaration below. And, just prior to sending this we also received word from the Governor's Office.

The Slinger Schools administrative team will be meeting on Monday morning to formulate a plan to provide meals, learning activities, and materials pick up times. You will receive an email with detailed plans of support at 3 pm on Monday. We will have answers to most of your questions at that time and will plan to mobilize on our plans no later than Wednesday.

As always, we will work through the challenges of this unprecedented time together as a Slinger School District Family.

County Note Below:

AREA SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO CLOSE

Schools closed starting Monday, March 16, 2020

West Bend, WI – Washington County school districts announced today a four-week closure for all schools to reduce the impact of COVID-19. The closure will begin Monday, March 16, 2020 with schools tentatively resuming April 13, 2020.

Individual school districts will communicate their plans for the official date when classes will resume. Any further adjustments to school calendars will be handled by individual school districts, each of which are reaching out to families with additional details today.

This closure is in line with The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for school districts and is supported by the North Shore and Washington Ozaukee Public Health Departments to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.

The health of our students, staff, families, communities and most vulnerable is of utmost importance and closing school is a measure we can take to support efforts to reduce the impact of COVID-19.