Ray-Pec families,
On behalf of the Ray-Pec Board of Education, we want to thank you for your support, patience and grace this school year. While it was a challenging school year for everyone, we are proud of how our students, teachers, staff and community responded. Back in July, I wrote to you that we had two primary goals for the 2020-21 school year. One, we wanted to provide an in-person learning experience for as many students/parents who wanted it for as long as we could, while providing a reasonable risk reduction strategy for all. Two, we wanted to provide a rigorous and relevant virtual instruction experience for those students/parents who were desirous of that experience. Because of the incredible work of our teachers, administration and support staff, we were able to deliver on both of those goals.
We will have more information about the opening of the 21-22 school year the closer we get to August, but I want you to know about our plans at this point.
- As of now, we intend to be in a fully in-person 5-day mode of school at both elementary and secondary levels.
- The Virtual Instruction Program of Ray-Pec (VIPR), along with other virtual programs, will continue to be an option for elementary and secondary students who want a virtual instruction experience.
- Decisions about mitigation precautions will be made later in the summer and will be informed by our experience during the 20-21 school year, our Ray-Pec data on quarantines and isolations, and information from state/local health and education departments. We will critically review all of our mitigation precautions from this past school year.
- The first day of school for the 21-22 school year is August 23.
The words with which we have framed this year have been Plan and Adjust, Patience and Grace, and Embrace the Ambiguity. While those words will still be much needed for next year, I wrote to you a couple of weeks ago that I also want us to focus on the following words to frame the 21-22 school year:
Hope. Growth. A Fresh Start.
I am already looking forward to that.
Until then, enjoy the summer and be safe and well.
Thank you for entrusting your children to the Ray-Pec School District.
Mike Slagle
I am passionately driven by the belief that Everyone Is Created To Flourish
