Greetings Thompson Community,
Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year, which officially kicks off on August 31 and September 1. The past five months have certainly been very challenging for our community as we all work together to navigate the realities of the pandemic that is before us. The beginning of this new school year will surely look and feel different. Nevertheless, we are very excited to welcome our students and families back into the district and to move forward with providing the excellent education that each of our students deserves.
This past March when the decision was made to pause in-person instruction in our schools in order to help ensure safety for our families and staff, our team members immediately began planning for the upcoming school year. We asked specific questions of our families about their concerns and their desires for what they would like to experience. We also worked with community members and local partners to evaluate our options. Above all, we approached this planning process from a place of doing everything possible to ensure that we can provide a first-rate academic experience for each of our students in a manner that is safe and that also allows flexibility during this unique time.
The need to remain flexible has been a key requirement for us over the past several months. While there are many things that are in our complete control, there are many more that are not. Our community has worked very hard to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 and we feel that it’s important that our district continues to partner in the effort to help ensure the health of our community.
A few weeks ago, upon advice from our partners at the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment, we made the difficult decision to suspend in-person instruction in our schools through Friday, October 16. This delay will assist the county as they work to increase the efficiency of local COVID-19 testing, which is important in their ability to effectively contact-trace the disease in the community. Our teachers and administrators have worked hard to prepare for this remote-only portion of our school year to ensure that our students will participate in a rich academic environment that allows them to quickly and easily transition back into an in-person model once county officials deem that it is appropriate to do so. At the same time, we are very proud of the newly designed 100% on-line model that we have developed to serve our families who wish to access high quality instructional programs prepared specifically for a fully on-line learning environment. This new on-line model is rigorous and also ensures that there is accountability in important areas such as student participation, teacher interaction, lessons and grading.
The safety and health of our students and staff is the most important part of our design for the upcoming school year. Specific measures have been implemented in each of our schools and district buildings to help ensure that students and staff are able to go about their school day in a manner that will maximize safety. These adjustments include the use of facial coverings, safety equipment in classrooms, cleaning supplies, changes in the way people will move throughout the buildings and much more. We are greatly looking forward to welcoming our students back to our schools and I assure you that we will do so as soon as we are able to in accordance with advice from our county partners.
Above all, I want to say “thank you” for your amazing support and patience over the past several months. We know that none of this has been easy for our students, families and staff. One thing that this pandemic has reinforced is just how important our schools and the structure of a school day are for thousands of families within our community. We will continue to do every single thing that we can to ensure success for each of our students and look forward to partnering with the community along the way. Stay safe – I wish all of you the best.
Dr. Marc Schaffer
Superintendent
Thompson School District