Dear Upper Arlington families,

Happy Friday!  Please continue reading below for this week’s updates, and watch my video message for this week.

Your voice matters!  Feedback and fall planning process

I want to start by talking about a communication I will share with you next week.

As you know, one of our mottos in UA Schools is that your voice matters.  Next Tuesday we will be launching our three-phase process to gather feedback on distance learning and create a plan for the upcoming school year.  

We launch phase one - the data phase - on Tuesday.  Expect a communication from me including a survey on your family’s experience with distance learning this spring.  We want to know what worked for your children, what didn’t work and what ideas you have for any distance learning that might be needed in the future.

The following week the data phase will continue with another feedback and input opportunity focused more directly on plans for 2020-2021.  

We will also be providing survey and feedback opportunities for students and staff.   And although this will be a rapid design process, we are also going to fit in some focus groups for students, staff and families.  Your voice matters, and we are going to do everything we can to get a wide range of data.

The data phase will be followed by the design and decisions phases and wrap up with a recommendation regarding next year to our Board of Education around late June.

Of course, it's important to remember that we will be working within the framework of guidelines from state and local health officials for the fall. We've all seen what a fluid situation this has been, and we will need to continue to be as flexible as possible.

We will continue to share more about this process every Tuesday.  I know it’s a crazy time, but I hope you will take the time to share your thoughts with us, because it will help us make our plans for the upcoming school year better for all students.

Celebrations for seniors and other transitioning students
On behalf of the Board of Education and all the Upper Arlington Schools staff, I want to extend our congratulations to the entire Class of 2020 — today marked these students’ final day of instruction in their UA Schools careers. Thank you to all of you who participated in the Community Countdown to celebrate their final moments as UAHS students. It’s incredible to see the community come together in support of our students during these unusual times.

Next Sunday, May 24, we will be celebrating the Class of 2020 in two ways. First, our virtual graduation will debut on the district’s YouTube channel at 9:30 a.m.

Also on May 24, we will have a car parade that will allow seniors to ride through the heart of Upper Arlington in cars as friends, family and community members offer support from their own parked cars (or yards if they happen to live along the parade route).  The parade will begin at 10 a.m. and officers ask that all spectators be parked along the parade route by 9:40 and stay in their cars for the duration of the parade. In order to make this a safe event for everyone, please remember to follow all health and safety guidelines. Thank you to our team at the high school, our UAHS PTO and families, and our partners at the City of Upper Arlington, UA police, and the UA Fire Division for coming together to plan this  event!

Our middle and elementary schools and their PTOs have also found some wonderful ways to celebrate the milestone years for our fifth and eighth grade students. Thank you to our staff and families for planning memorable ends to the year for these students as well!

Summer lunch options
Thanks to the generous support of the Upper Arlington Education Foundation, the Upper Arlington Community Foundation, our PTOs and more, our free meal program will continue through the summer. The grab-and-go lunches and breakfasts are available for any school-age children in Upper Arlington. This has been a valued resource for many families amid the extended school closure and the many uncertainties of this time. 

Please note these updates about the schedule for meal distribution:

The week of May 18, we will continue to distribute meals for the week based on the Monday and Wednesday schedule listed on our website.

The week of May 25, due to the Memorial Day holiday, meals will be distributed on Tuesday (two lunches and two breakfasts) and Wednesday (two lunches and two breakfasts) at the same locations and times.

The week of June 1 will be the start of a new summer schedule, with meals distributed on Tuesdays (two lunches and two breakfasts) and Thursdays (three lunches and three breakfasts) at the same locations and times.

Many thanks to our Nutritional Services and Transportation staff for their help in continuing to provide this service to our community this summer!

As a reminder, next week will be the final week for our students. While this is not how we wanted to end the year, I am so proud of our families, our students and our staff for all we have done together during these challenging times. 

I hope you’re able to enjoy the warmer weather this weekend, and as always go Bears!

Sincerely,
Paul Imhoff, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Upper Arlington Schools