Since watching video of the devastating events leading to the death of George Floyd, I have felt numb and empty. My heart hurts for my friends, and all people of minority communities, who daily endure the uncertainty of injustice and racism. I don’t know what I can do personally to change the world, but I know we can start here. Grace Lutheran Church & School will continue to love all, respect all, and stand up for all people, just as Jesus did for us. We began to address racial equity within our school community this past school year, but there is much more work to be done. Building a foundation for all to be loved, respected, and treated equally will continue to be an emphasis for our school moving forward. Please join me in praying for peace in our country, justice for all, and significant progress towards a time when all of God’s people are treated the same, no matter the color of their skin.
Bill Koehne, Principal
Graduation: I would like to extend my deepest thank you to Ms. Wolfanger, Ms. Washburn, Mrs. Underhill, and Mr. Schultz as well as the 7
th grade parents led by Mrs. Dominis, Mrs. Hogan, and Mrs. Schubkegel who put in many hours over the last several weeks to make our “drive-in” graduation a special one for our 8
th graders. Thanks also to the Village of Melrose Park for hosting us, and to Spooner Baumann, Donny Williams, and Jordan Easton who volunteered to photograph and video the event.
Personal item pick-up: Thank you for your help in making last Thursday a success. The personal items of nearly every student was returned, and electronics and books collected. Mrs. Maggio will be contacting any family who still has items here to set up a time for you to pick them up. Once we inventory what was returned, we will contact families if items are missing.
Report Cards: Report cards will be mailed out later this week.
Parent Survey on Distance Learning: Thank you to everyone who completed the online parent survey last week on Distance Learning at Grace Lutheran School. We had over 60% of our parents respond. Here are some of the results:
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A total of 75% of parents described their child’s experience as Excellent or Good, only 10% feeling it was Poor or Very Poor.
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Over 50% of parents thought the average time spent by their children on distance learning was Just Right.
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Over 80% of parents rated communication with parents as either a 4 or 5 on a 5 point scale.
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65% appreciated the Friday Specials, while an additional 16% wished for more.
A task force made up of teachers, school board members, and others will begin working soon to develop contingency plans for the fall. Data and comments from this survey will help guide us as we prepare for potentially being back in remote learning at some point next school year.
Yearbooks: When the yearbooks arrive, we will communicate with you how they will be distributed.
Job Postings: Job postings for part-time PE and part-time Math instructors can be found on the school
webpage. If you know of someone who may be interested, please direct them to our school website for more information. These jobs could be combined into a full-time position.
