4/13/2020
Update from Superintendent Wagner
Hello Fairview Families… 

I hope you all had a restful Spring Break and a wonderful holiday. I pray everyone is healthy and staying safe and positive. I know that many of you are either working from home full-time (with all the added stress and challenge that brings) or still “on the job” in essential positions, probably working many extra hours and dealing with the added pressures of protecting others, yourselves and your families upon your return home. To ALL of you: THANK YOU .

Thank you for your strength, patience, understanding and efforts during these crazy times. This is HARD!  We know that this “remote learning” is nowhere near as good as when our kids and teachers can all be together in school. We know that the current circumstances add so much more to your already full plates, as you try to balance everything amidst the chaos. However, know that we are so blessed in Fairview. We were far better prepared for these times than probably any other district in Ohio. We were able to shift into a remote learning mode very quickly. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying things are perfect. We are continuously making adjustments to get a better mix of personal outreach, focused learning, high quality feedback, student engagement and independence, and many, many more facets that make teaching hard enough under normal circumstances, let alone, during something like this. Again, thank you for your understanding, patience and partnership. Everyone’s working so very hard to do their best.  

Learn Differently - Care Deeply - Aspire to Excellence
We are all learning differently nowadays, aren’t we?  
The biggest question we’ve received lately is, “Why aren’t we using video conferencing tools with our kids, like so many other districts?” Well, like the Farmer’s Insurance commercial campaign, “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.”  We’re farther along the 1:1 technology integration road than most others (we started back in 2006!) You’ve probably seen the tons of media backlash regarding those districts that jumped on the Zoom bandwagon before thoroughly investigating its weaknesses. It was never designed for use with kids and violates a lot of child protection laws that we, as a district, always closely adhere to (and so should they!).

Google Meet is another tool out there for video conferencing. Prior to Spring Break, our Tech gurus tested it and there were still several “loopholes” that rendered it not ready to be used with students. Our Technology Coordinator reached out to Google, and they acknowledged this fact. 

HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS : Over Spring Break, a patch was applied by Google engineers that makes it safe to use with our students. The patch prevents students from initiating their own (unmonitored and uncontrolled) video conferences with God-knows-whom, doing God-knows-what AND the patch protects individual student information from being vulnerable and accessible.  

Google Meet is the tool to use!  

Our teachers are learning how to use it as you read this and will be rolling it out in the coming days. However, we are NOT planning to return to our regular class schedules and try to “do school” through video… that really doesn’t work well. Instead, Google Meet will help with mentoring check-ins, one-on-one help/discussions, and small group specialized teaching and support. Stay tuned for more information from the teachers. Please be patient as there is a bit of a learning curve for them to use this tool effectively.

No better time for Standards-based Grading! 
HERE’ s a great overview of the what, how, and why we use standards-based grading. In Fairview, grades are a means of clarifying and communicating where an individual student is on her/his path to mastery of content. Our quarter grades are not averaged scores, and our final grades are not averages of 4 quarters. Grades are descriptions of achievement in progress. They are like a GPS, to provide direction and guidance along the road to a destination--often “Recalculating” if a wrong turn happens or roadblock is encountered. You always get to the end destination one way or another - over, under, around, or through - but you always get there. This will be no different. 

Reporting grades for Q3 and Q4
Our third quarter wrapped up Friday, April 3. As we wrap up our Spring Break (April 6-13), the general consensus amongst teachers and administrators was that there had been a sufficient quantity and quality of academic participation and achievement to evaluate and post grades and comments for the third quarter. Teachers will be posting third quarter grades and comments by 3:00pm on April 17. We will use the same reporting processes we always have, plus I’ve strongly encouraged our teachers to make generous use of the grade and subject-related comments . (They tend to be far more informative than just a number or letter grade anyway!) Those comment sections in PowerSchool are sometimes challenging to navigate to, so you’ll be getting detailed instructions later this week from your building principals and/or grade level teams/teachers.

We will also be using the same system for the fourth quarter , regardless of whether the stay-at-home order is extended or not. At the end of the school year, teachers will enter final marks that reflect the cumulative mastery level achieved throughout the school year, just as they always have. However, we know there are things that just can’t be assessed in this remote learning format. Therefore, adaptations are being made at all grade levels. Principals and teachers will work together to resolve any complications, and assure our kids progress to the next grade level, our seniors graduate, and school resumes in as normal a way as possible when permitted. (Parents of seniors: we will be reaching out soon to discuss year-end events, recognitions, Prom and Commencement. Different doesn’t have to be “less than.”)

Above all else, know that quarterly reports are just a snapshot in time of a students’ learning. Don’t get too hung up on them. We will do everything in our power to help your children learn as much as possible during these unique times, and have as successful and positive an end to this school year as we can. We will fill in whatever gaps may exist when we are all back together. This too shall pass.

A community united...
I sense that we are in this for the long haul, my friends. Many things have changed very quickly for us all, and will undoubtedly continue to evolve dramatically into the foreseeable future. Now, more than ever , we must work together. We promise to do everything we can to maximize the learning and minimize the stress. Please join us in our commitment to show and share courage, communicate constantly and kindly, and be relentlessly positive. If our opening weeks of this crisis are any indicator of what we can do when we truly work together, we can all rest assured that things will be just fine. 

This too shall pass... As we start Q4, we will continue our efforts to make our remote learning both meaningful and reasonable. People first! #LearnDifferently is important, but #CareDeeply is even more so in times like these. That's how we #AspireToExcellence

Be well - stay safe - keep smiling.
WE ARE #FAIRVIEWSTRONG

- Bill



Dr. William W. Wagner
Superintendent
Fairview Park City Schools