July 22, 2020
Dear GMSD Families,
GMSD is committed to re-opening our schools in a manner that is safe, effective, and in the best interests of our students, parents, and staff. The district has spent many hours developing the safest ways to provide a rigorous educational experience which includes face-to-face instruction, hybrid schedules, virtual options, and programs that meet the social emotional needs of our students.
The district is also carefully monitoring the number of parents who are opting into our full-time virtual learning program. When we released the first survey and published its results on June 26th, 96% of our parents indicated that they would prefer in-person learning. The preliminary numbers of parents opting into full-time virtual learning, show a shift in attitudes towards virtual and in-person learning. This summer, the task force has worked to develop a virtual learning program as a key component of our hybrid in-person model. However, the increase in parents opting into full-time virtual learning will allow the district to create several specialized positions that solely focus on virtual learning.
For this reason, the district will be utilizing its stock-piled inclement weather days to delay the start date of school for students. The first day of school, for students, will be moved to August 17th. Teachers will report as regularly scheduled on July 29th. At this time, the delayed start is the only change in our school calendar.
We’ve also generated updated FAQ pages based on the questions and concerns our staff has been receiving through the Let’s Talk: A Covid Response Center app. You can find the updates here:
