To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, every school district in the nation is closed for a minimum of 10 days. In some states, this includes preschools. In other states, it does not. At this LCS does not need to be notified of temporary closures. Schools are encouraged to use the extra time to deep-clean schools, make plans for instructional continuity, and to cancel all extracurricular activities.

This quarantine will have implications for the remainder of the school years and possibly beyond. We want to provide you with resources to help you meet students and community needs in the interim.

We all need wisdom. This virus looks different in each state and in each country, and to some degree in each city. Not every school needs to implement the same strategies. USE WISDOM and ASK GOD TO HELP ALL OF US!

Stanford Achievement Test (SAT10)

The window for the SAT10 is March 30 to April 24. No school is permitted to administer the test outside of these dates in order to maintain validity and reliability. At this point, Pearson has not modified the dates as of today’s date. We will notify all schools if/when that decision is made by Pearson.

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)

The College Board said that the scheduled SAT test days March 28 and May 2 have been canceled. The March 28 date was a makeup day for the March 14 tests that were canceled earlier.

American College Test (ACT)

ACT Inc. said its test that was scheduled April 4 is now set for June 13, and it’s working on getting instructions to those students on what to do next.

Advanced Placement (AP)

Advanced Placement program said it’s working on a plan to allow students to take AP exams from home. Officials said more information will be announced by March 20.

It is important that each teacher consider their schools’ expectations on how he/she will continue the education for students while the students are at home.  It clearly will not be the same as being in class both for contact time and the material covered.  However, schools need to communicate what the daily schedule expectations will be for teachers, parents, and students.  Parents should understand this is not vacation time. We recommend schools consider Google Classroom. It is free and provides some means for staying organized and maintain communications. But this also assumes students have access to computers.

Here is a valuable link with FREE ONLINE LEARNING RESOURCES. Scholastic has also launched a resource.

Particularly challenged are the childcare centers and early-learning programs. If these programs close, parents may decide not to pay their tuition, primarily because of the closing impacts the parents’ ability to work.  We can all see the ripple effect of this.  Small children at home require supervision, though this is a complicated issue. Some states have mandated closure. However, if your state has not mandated this, then preschool programs should remain open or close at the provider’s discretion. If a preschool is to remain open, the precautionary measures may include taking each child’s temperature at intake each morning, and communicating with parents about any sign of fatigue.

We have attached to this email an extended road map for school leaders to help navigate protocols in the event this quarantine extends for weeks beyond the initial requirements.

The goal of school leaders at this point is to:

• Mitigate an outbreak of COVID-19 cases at organizational facilities;
• Facilitate early detection of new infections; and
• Create systems that support data collection, monitoring and communication that can scale in the event of a fully developed pandemic.

Achieving these goals will not be easy. That is why this road map guides organizational activities that must be coordinated across the enterprise, including:

• Facility access control;
• Surveillance, screening and triage of students, employees and stakeholders
• Infection control and precautions; and
• Communications, policy and education.

Recognizing that the outbreak of COVID-19 may extend into a second and third wave over the next 12 to 18 months, the framework is also forward-looking. It takes into account the potential progression of the outbreak and how organizations should subsequently respond. Please take some time to consider how you may use the Road Map to serve your families and community.