PLP Pride Post

March 22, 2020

The Pride Post

Please note: if you are reading this from a Gmail account, you may need to click on "view entire email" link at the bottom to see the whole message.

Good evening, PLP:

I wanted to check in as we head into our second week of eLearning! Remember, for students in grades K-5, Canvas will be updated this evening. To our families with students in grades 6-12, tomorrow is an A day. Upper School students will start in 1 ^st block at 8:00 am, while the Middle School will start the day in 9 ^th block; a detailed schedule is included below for your review.

I am so encouraged by the efforts and engagement of our students, staff and families. As the weeks go on and we become more and more comfortable with eLearning we are going to need our families to continually encourage positive habits and routines. Wake up early, shower, eat breakfast and sit down in a distraction-free environment ready to engage.

Despite the current necessity to keep safe physical distances, we as a school community are only growing closer and I have been overwhelmed by the number of families asking how they can help the school as well as the Pine Lake community at large. Early this week we will be launching a resource database for our families to help connect them with services and supports to ensure essential needs are being met. We also hope that this resource will help us identify what potential family/community needs are going unmet in order to provide assistance as quickly as possible. In addition to supporting our families, Pine Lake is also committed to ensuring that all staff (bus drivers, support staff, instructional staff, building leadership, etc.) continue to get paid through the stoppage so that their families are not financially burdened by the pandemic. We are currently working through the overall financial impact and resource needs and will continue to communicate those as they become more transparent.

Lastly, I want to give a quick shout out to all of our staff. They have gotten a lot of love this past week and it is absolutely deserving. Our eLearning plan and timeline was aggressive, and, in just two weeks we completely redesigned what school looks like. I sincerely believe their motivation, passion and compassion is unmatched. Please continue to share the love when an opportunity presents itself – they deserve it!

Stay safe, stay healthy,

Andrew Moceri

Question & Answer

The most frequently asked questions this week according to Mr. Moceri:

The President announced yesterday that he was waving federal requirements for standardized testing - does that mean we don’t have to take EOGs/EOCs?

The answer to that is maybe. Nearly all educational decisions are dictated at the state (Governor/General Assembly) or local level (PLP). Essentially the President was waiving the states' reporting requirement. Simply put, any request from states to bypass testing requirements will be honored. At this point, North Carolina state officials hold the power and have yet to communicate their intentions.

There are many media outlets asking what extended school closures will mean. Will we need to extend the school year when we return? Will the days be forgiven?

The answer to that is "maybe" as well. Again, nearly all educational decisions are dictated at the state or local level. Once more, North Carolina holds the power. While some states have communicated their plans, North Carolina has not. We have purposefully put ourselves in the best position possible to count eLearning as instructional time in the event that days are not waived.

With that being said, I am hopeful the days will be waived, and am confident that teaching and learning never stopped at PLP. Our online learning has been thoughtfully designed to offer an experience most similar to the classroom with synchronous learning 6-12, and with flexibility for our K-5 families. Keeping students on track with their curriculum and learning objectives is our number one focus.

e-Learning Schedule

Student Absence Reporting

Please recognize we will still take attendance during eLearning school days. If your student will be absent please email the appropriate building Admin. Associate before the end of the day so it may be recorded as an excused absence.

Lower School: Debbie Thompson

Middle School: Julie Howard

Upper School: Katherine Kwiatkowski

The student (or parent, for younger students,) should follow up with their teachers to make up missed work. Middle and Upper School students will also have access to recorded sessions that may have been missed.

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Creating Connections – Social/Emotional Supports

The next several weeks may be a confusing and indescribable time for our students. We want you to know that we are here for your student(s) as we progress through this time of social distancing and e-learning at Pine Lake Preparatory. By working together, we can help ease any worry that surrounds this virus. We will be doing everything we can to provide you and your student(s) support outside of the typical school environment.

Upper School TeleCounseling

Middle School Telecounseling

Lower School TeleCounseling