Dear STrEaM Families,
Recently we've limited direct communication with parents and families to defer to ASD and streamline information as the Coronavirus updates began to cascade. Remember, you can contact me any time with questions, concerns, or if you need support. This is why I publish all ways to reach me including my cell number.
As things stand, the earliest we can resume school is Monday, March 30th. Although no final decisions have been made, there is a strong probability that on March 30th, we will begin distance delivery of educational services. We’ve been working hard to prepare for that possibility. Our staff is dedicated to supporting our students and families, and adapting teaching and learning to meet this challenge. As a school that uses Google Classroom and online tools uniformly, we have prepared students for interacting, learning, collaborating, submitting work and doing assessment online. It will take effort, dedication and constant communication between our school, parents and students, but we can make this work. I believe in our teachers, students, and the families who chose our program. I believe we can have high quality, engaging and interactive learning despite the challenges presented to us.
Our counselor, Ms. Bonertz, is on call to support students in need. She can be reached at 742-9004, and will check messages regularly. She is working to set up virtual support groups and links to information for any students needing more support. Ms. Krejca and Mr. Mozen are available to support students with Individual Education Plans, and are working on how to provide support and services for students during the closure.Ms. Biondich is keeping our website, stream.asdk12.org updated with the latest information and resources for families. We’re here to support you!
Tomorrow is our “official” day for families to pick up personal items from school. Please give us a call so we can meet, greet and support you when you come to pick things up. If you ordered STrEaM gear online, it is here and you can pick it up!
This week staff are working first to contact every one of our families to offer support and gather information. While working remotely, we are meeting several times per day, collaborating and communicating on the challenges in front of us, dedicated to supporting one another and meeting your needs. Our second order of business is preparing supplemental educational activities for this week and next, as we cannot require assignments during the official State school closure. We are rolling out a link on our webpage to supplemental activities. All students can be reading, writing and doing math with one of our online programs (ALEKS, V-Math, Math Whizz and Prodigy). While you will see a lot of suggestions for supplemental activities coming soon, you can start with the basics.
Lastly, I want to say the core of our mission and vision (STEM, Experiential Education and Project-Based Learning) can be sustained through this challenge. The heart of PBL is real-world learning: research, exploration, discovery across content areas. STEM can be found in building, fixing, creating, testing and solving all around us. The great outdoors is right outside our doors, filled with fresh air and miles and miles for social distancing. Our students are already indoctrinated in the idea that they own their learning, that it should be relevant to their lives, that it is collaborative and part of our life experiences. This test will allow them to meet those challenges and perhaps solve some of the problems our world now faces for tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Adam Mokelke, Principal
(907) 742-9000
Cell (907) 360-1059
mokelke_adam@asdk12.org
