Head of School Message: Our Remote Learning Plan
March 20, 2020
Quick link to Thetford Academy’s Remote Learning Plan.
Message from Head of School – March 18, 2020
The public health crisis caused by COVID-19 is impacting every facet of our lives in the United States and throughout the world. Each day we tune in to the news, trying to make sense of the rapidly-evolving situation and keep up with the public health recommendations and government responses.
In K-12 education, we find ourselves in a situation wholly unimaginable only weeks ago. Elementary and secondary schools have been ordered to close in states throughout the U.S. On Sunday, March 15, Vermont Governor Phil Scott mandated the “orderly dismissal of all schools in the state” from March 18 through April 3. The governor’s declaration also laid out the expectation that every school would develop a continuity of education plan to ensure that student learning continues during the school dismissal.
This document outlines our plan for remote learning at TA. The plan itself was drafted in only a few days time, but it builds on a solid foundation of technology integration and innovation already in place at Thetford Academy. The plan aims to engage, challenge, and support our students in ways akin to what we accomplish on campus and in person during more normal times. The plan is a work in progress, as we will continue to develop strategies and structures to meet the emergent needs of our students, families, and teachers during the school dismissal period.
I am impressed at the speed with which we came together to create and launch this plan. Thank you to the educators at Thetford Academy for their dedication, resilience, collaboration, and risk-taking to make this happen. Thank you also to our TA students who have responded to the overnight upending of their school experience calmly and cooperatively, if not with a healthy dose of trepidation and disbelief. Of course, today is only day 1 of implementation, so we all have an abundance of learning, adjusting, and innovating to do in the days ahead!
Onward,
Carrie Brennan, Head of School