Today was an unprecedented first day of school in the School District of Lancaster.
All 11,000+ students and about 1,500 teachers and staff opened the 2020-2021 school year teaching and learning online, and not together in our classrooms. It’s the first time that has happened since we became a school district—in 1836.
We know today wasn’t perfect. No matter how much we plan, there is no way to practice bringing all 11,000 students into online classrooms at once.
We know a few of our devices experienced technical issues with ClassLink. We know there was some confusion about how best to access Seesaw and Schoology through ClassLink. We know some students forgot to mute their noisy dog during Zoom.
We know some of you had difficulty getting through to our schools. We received a high volume of calls, and our school office staff did the best they could to respond. Our communications team did the same with our social media platforms and contacts through our website. Our IT department is addressing Student HelpDesk tickets as quickly as they can.
We know days like this can be frustrating.
In my remarks to our staff that I shared last week, I talked about seeing the light, even in darkness. Here’s some light I see: Our school community is engaged, ready to tackle the “new normal” of virtual learning, and holding us to a high standard. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be frustrated!
Please know that we will give students and families plenty of grace as we work through these issues. This school year is only one day old. No student will be left behind because they couldn’t find a Zoom link or missed a teacher’s message in Seesaw. I am confident we will be running smoothly in no time.
At the same time, we ask that families continue to give our teams grace, as well. Your questions and concerns are important to us all. If you feel we missed a communication from you, please contact my team directly, and we will follow up on your behalf. We’re all in this together.
Finally, I say thank you! Thank you to our students for showing up ready to learn. Thank you to our families for making sacrifices to be there to help your children. Thank you to our teachers for all your planning for this journey—and dealing with the early bumps along the way. Thank you to our principals and instructional leaders for continuing to navigate these new challenges. And thank you to our support staff for again going the extra mile to support families.
Together We Can!