Dear Siskiyou School Parents,
We are looking forward to the normal rhythm of school, and we sure hope it won’t be long. You have, however, likely heard rumors that schools might not re-open in May and that we might not see each other before September. The official date given to us for schools to open in Oregon by the governor is April 28th; however, we all are seeing that things change every day. These times are calling on us to stay flexible, open, positive and supportive of one another. Our highest goal is to keep the school gently afloat and to be able to open our doors again for the children when the time comes for them to reunite with their teachers for more wonderful learning. Thank you for your patience and hard work in helping your children stay grounded, inspired, calm and flexible.
Below are some updates I want to share with you today:
Remote Learning: Nina Gallwey brought a vision to our faculty last week for how to bring remote learning to our students during this interim time, and she will be guiding and supporting our teachers in creating off-site classes for their students. Remote learning classes will start on Monday, 4/6 for all grades.
Here is a note from her on behalf of the faculty about how we are holding these times:
“At the core of Waldorf education is the hope to unfurl the essential gifts within each child in our care. We strive to guide children into becoming young adults who can meet, care for, and serve the world they walk into. This historical challenge before us has the opportunity to prepare us all with the gifts of flexibility, creativity, and community as we find our way through uncharted territory. The faculty is rising to the task of finding the best way to bring our nourishing curriculum to our students in an age-appropriate way. While we are the first to discourage screens, we are now looking to using technology with a lot of creativity to reach the children during this time when we must all be at home. We have found a platform that will serve us, and we are actively working to get on board with it and to find the ways it can work for each class in a developmentally-appropriate way. We look forward to sharing our plan with you next week. Thank you for rising in all the ways. Together, we can step forward into the unknown and come out stronger than ever before.
Technology Details: What every household will need.
Each household will need access to a computer, Wi-Fi and ideally to a printer.
i. Hardware: Computer with camera and mic (most laptops) or computer with webcam and earbuds or headset with a microphone.
ii. Software: Zoom app (no need for an account, although they’re free), google account (comes with a Gmail email, or link anther email with a few more steps.
iii. Google Accounts: Grades 6-8 students should have their own google account; grades 1-5 should have access to a parent google account.
Kristin Beers, our Office Manager, will be our IT point person and we are thinking of reaching out to one parent per class to also help as all parents find their way into this new way of learning at home. If you are a parent with those skills, please let me know.
Scanner? Here, at school, we are in need of a scanner to be able to upload all documents to the platforms. If anyone could loan us a scanner or knows where to purchase one with a reasonable price, please let me know. The sooner we can find one, the better on our end.
School Spring Events: All school events and Parent Enrichment events including Grandparents’ Day - are cancelled for the month of April. We will be in touch around details in regard to May and June events as things evolve.
Re-enrollment forms: Re-enrollment forms will be posted on our website the week of March 30th. All forms will need to be printed, filled out and scanned or emailed back to the office. Hard copy packets will be available upon request; please contact Kristin. We will let you know when the forms are accessible and ready on our website.
Office hours: We are closed this week. With the latest announcement around the implementation of “shelter in place”, we don’t know exactly when the office will reopen. Stay tuned for more updates.