What. A. Week. Is anyone else glad it's Friday?
This week has been a whirlwind. Mrs. Miller and I met with almost every staff member throughout today. Please know that our staff has two priorities....
- Providing opportunities for our students to keep them engaged in learning, and
- Working to streamline opportunities to make it as easy for YOU (at home).
We've gotten a lot of great feedback from families. Many are thankful that we already started this process of learning how to function online; some are wondering how to balance working full time AND getting their children to "mind" and do their work; others are stressed to the max worried about income, working, schooling, not getting sick....plus a million other things. I would imagine that most everyone falls in one (if not all) of those categories.
Please know that we are going to push hard and try to keep a semblance of normalcy from the school vantage point, but that we are also human and want to do anything (and everything) possible to help those that are struggling. There is no right or wrong answer here and we know everyone is just doing the best they can to survive at this time. If you happen to be someone who is struggling, please reach out.
Charla Salmeron, Principal (csalmeron@aspenridgeprepschool.org)
Rachel Miller, Assistant Principal (rmiller@aspenridgeprepschool.org)
Rebecca Mayo-Cody, Counselor (rmayocody@aspenridgeprepschool.org)
Your Classroom teacher (firstinitiallastanme@aspenridgeprepschool.org)
If we don't know the answer, we can help guide you to the person that can help. And if nothing else at all, we can be a listening and validating ear for you. As Jon Gordon said in his webinar....
Address your feelings of anger, stress, anxiety, helplessness....just don't 'live' there for an extended period of time.
- In times of Doubt...Trust.
- Don't let the truth get distorted with the media sensationalism.
- Don't get distracted with all of the "what ifs".
- Don't get discouraged and give up.
- Don't let this uncertainty divide us.
We should be pulling together, reaching out for help, leaning on those that are stronger than us, staying positive (even when it's hard) and having faith and hope. Focus on what matters most right now. Family, relationships, love. "We are going to see the best in humanity come from this."
This coming week, we are going to give some breathing time for our teachers and staff. You would think that just transferring our teaching and educational beliefs to a digital platform would be "easy." It is honestly one of the hardest things I have ever done. Not because we can't learn something new or because we don't want to do what's right; it's a totally different perspective of educating. We are the ones that signed up to be teachers (not the majority of you); we are the ones that LOVE the ins and outs of each and every day with our students (and the challenges that come with each one); we are the ones that are perfectionists and want everything to be "just so" ; letting go and not having control over these is not easy. Our staff has stepped it up in every way possible. I've said it before and I'll continue to say it again and again...this is a STELLAR school to be a part of on every front. Our students SOAR, our teachers are passionate, our families are kind and empathetic....it really is the best school around. Thank you ALL!
I will continue to send updates a few times next week and hope to see you on Monday, March 30th at 9am for morning announcements. The invite code will be embedded in the ARPS Google calendar. Until then...
- 160, 653 questions have been answered to date by our PK-8th grade students through IXL. Just to give you an idea of how awesome that is....IXL suggests setting a school goal of 60,000 questions per MONTH. That is AWESOME and doesn't even include Friday's numbers.
Be well and "talk" soon...
Charla Salmeron, Principal
