A Letter from the Lower School Headmaster
Dear Lower School Families,

Greetings from afar! As we enter the weekend, our faculty wishes all families a pleasant holiday. I apologize in advance for the length of this letter. Please read carefully as there are many details to share for the coming weeks. 

The Week of April 13
On Monday, April 13, we begin another week of remote learning. As we did this week, please pick up packets for the week of April 13 and drop off packets from the week of April 6 in the Lower School courtyard between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Digital versions of the packets are located at GreatHeartsIrving.org/RemoteLearning. Packets downloaded and printed at home may be returned to the school or scanned and emailed to classroom teachers.

Teachers will call again this week on Monday and Tuesday to check in on families and answer any questions or concerns regarding distance learning. Zoom small groups and office hours will continue this week; please submit the Parental Consent Form for your scholar to participate. The consent also allows a parent to view the Google Classroom materials once they are launched. Please adhere to the requirement that no recordings or screenshots be taken while on Zoom and remember that students should be dressed accordingly for their virtual classroom. Please also look for Quarter 3 grade reports to arrive in your inboxes on Wednesday, April 15. Teachers are reviewing and marking packets that have been turned in and will begin posting feedback to Google Classroom the week of April 20.

For all updates to remote learning, the Great Hearts network has placed parent resources on the Great Hearts America website at GreatHeartsAmerica.org/TxResources.

Grading and Feedback
During remote learning, all teachers (kindergarten through fifth grade) will provide feedback on the assignments using the ESNU grading scale:
  • "E" represents exemplary work that exceeds expectations;
  • "S" represents satisfactory work that meets expectations;
  • "N" represents work that needs improvement; and
  • "U" represents unsatisfactory work below grade level expectations.
These grades are primarily a communication regarding student progress. Quarter 4 evaluations will then reflect a final grade of pass/fail based on the average of ESNU grades received throughout distance learning.
 
Student Materials
Next week, student materials will be gathered from desks and cubbies and placed into paper bags. They will be available to be picked up on Monday, April 20 from 8:00-10:00 a.m. and 2:00-4:00 p.m. Please come through the green car line with your student’s placards, and faculty will place the materials directly into trunks. Thank you for your help with this endeavor.

In the words of Cicero, “What greater gift can we offer the republic than to teach and instruct our youth.” We are all in this together; partnership is vital for your student’s success. We are stronger together, and the students are encouraged to continue investigating topics further, seeing the beauty in a literary story or scientific discovery, and continuing to wonder at the world around them.

Sincerely,
Marcy Finn
Headmaster, Lower School
Great Hearts Irving