We’re quickly approaching the end of the 2020-2021 school year - and what a journey it has been!
Since the beginning of March, our school-based students have been back together for all-in learning. This is what we had been planning for - and looking forward to - since the summer of 2020, when we launched our Responsible Restart Plan. We also have students learning in the UA Online Academy for the final weeks of the year. We are incredibly excited to safely celebrate all of those important end-of-year milestones ahead with all of our students.
In all-in learning, we continue to have health and safety precautions in place. In addition, we are grateful to be able to partner with Nationwide Children’s Hospital to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to our students age 16 or older. This is an important step for our schools and our community.
During these final weeks of the school year, we are focusing even more intently on providing our students with the highest quality educational experience - and any additional support they need.
We are spending time this spring gathering data on the social-emotional well-being of our students so we can ensure we’re supporting the well-being of each and every child. This survey aligns with our strategic priority of well-being and will provide valuable insight into the student experience in our schools. The survey, which is being administered to students in grades 3 through 12, measures things like growth mindset, sense of belonging, and other skills and mindsets that students need to thrive. For middle school and high school students, there also are questions about diversity, equity and inclusion - which is an important part of our well-being priority.
We are also looking ahead and planning for additional academic and well-being supports for students for the summer, the 2021-2022 school year and beyond.
In the short term, we will be building on and expanding existing offerings such as our Summer Reading program this summer for elementary students, and we will continue to offer immediate credit recovery for high school students. Throughout the summer, our staff will be working with the students with the greatest needs to offer further support. And we plan to provide free online resources throughout the summer that all students can access on their school-issued devices.
We are working to design additional offerings, with a focus on well-being and core academic subjects, for students at the elementary and secondary level both during the summer and throughout the upcoming school year. We are also exploring partnerships with other districts and in our own community to make all of this happen.
Many more details will be coming for families and students - you can watch our website for updates.