Dear Creswell Staff, Students, Parents and Guardians,

Thank you for sharing your input on the survey we recently sent to you regarding reopening our schools! Your input is incredibly important to us as we develop our reopening plans for the 2020-21 school year. While we still have many details to consider and a little over a month to the start of school, we wanted to give you an update on where we are at with our preparations for a safe start for the 2020-21 school year.

At this time, the pandemic continues and will certainly be with us for many months to come. That being the case, the Governor’s guidance changes from week to week with the spread of COVID-19. This results in uncertain direction as we approach the reopening of our schools. To address this fluidity, we must be responsible and develop plans that provide flexibility for us to pivot to the instructional mode that will be appropriate given the conditions of the virus and direction provided for us by ODE, OHA and Lane County Health Department.

The Oregon Department of Education is requiring each school to develop a “Blueprint” plan for reopening schools. Each Blueprint is to include a plan for; brick and mortar in-person instruction, hybrid instruction and comprehensive online distance learning. The survey results from approximately 60% of our parents indicated that 59% want to return to brick and mortar in-person instruction, 25% want a hybrid model and 16% want online comprehensive distance learning. Approximately 50% of the teaching staff responded with 52% wanting brick and mortar in-person instruction, 36% the hybrid model and 12% comprehensive online distance learning. For complete survey results, please follow this link.

I want you to know that the Creswell School District’s mission is to provide the highest quality education possible. We strive to meet the needs of our staff, parents/guardians and most importantly, our students. Our first priority is the health and safety of our students and staff. In order to accomplish the above, we must provide our teachers and staff with the best instructional tools available to deliver a robust and rigorous curriculum, using proven best practices for teaching and learning. Of course, we want all of our students back in our buildings where the highest levels of learning occur. However, to ensure the health and wellness of our students and staff, we are following the Oregon Department of Education’s Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance to make our reopening plans. Each school’s “Operational Blueprint for Re-entry” is due to ODE by August 15 and will address the school’s specific needs and capabilities.

The Creswell Reopening Task Force – which includes administrators, teachers and classified staff, will be meeting throughout next week 7/27-7/31, to prepare guidance for our schools as they develop their re-entry Blueprints. Under the direction of the District, Principals and Assistant Principals will use the Task Force guidance, as well as the feedback you have provided, to develop a number of different scenarios for the coming year for; brick and mortar in-person instruction, hybrid instruction, and comprehensive online distance learning instruction. As indicated by the survey results, approximately 50% of parents and teachers prefer in-person instruction. To address this, we have assessed our facilities for person-to-person spacing to accommodate the 6′ distancing requirement and we will prepare a comprehensive safety plan in accordance with the ODE and OHA Reopening Guidelines. Some of our parents indicated that they prefer their students NOT attend in-person school, so we have researched online school platforms and will provide a K-12 comprehensive online school academy. Creswell Online Academy enrollment will be available the third week of August. In addition, we will have the ability to incorporate the hybrid instructional model. We will accomplish this with an online curriculum platform where teachers provide comprehensive curriculum or teacher customized blended curriculum integrated with Creswell Academy course curricula. We have also purchased additional technology to provide a Chromebook or iPad for every student.

We intend to continue the community involvement in reopening schools planning. We will be reaching out to Creswell families and District staff to gather input and hear your thoughts on how you envision our reopening looking with another feedback survey on August 3rd, and we will host a Community Forum Q&A Zoom meeting on August 6th.

I will continue to send regular updates to keep you informed, and we are always available for questions and comments as we navigate this new path together.

One Team! One Dream!

Sincerely,

Mike Johnson, Superintendent of Schools

UPDATE: July 9, 2020

If you are a parent, click here
For Spanish, click here 

If you are a student, click here 
For Spanish, click here 

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Parents – Students – Staff

Your perspective and input is valuable and absolutely critical for our planning to reopen schools in the fall. We are in need of your feedback on your experience with distance learning from the spring and your input about next year.

Please click below to take the survey. If you choose to leave your name, you will be entered to win a gift card.

If you are a parent, click here
For Spanish, click here 

If you are a student, click here 
For Spanish, click here 

If you are a staff member, click here

Dear Creswell Families and Community Members,

This year has truly been unique and has definitely had sweet moments with many successes as well as bitterness that came with the challenges of the unexpected end of the year COVID-19 school closure. The goal from the very beginning of the 2019-20 school year was to come together as one K-12 school district. I honestly believe that as a result of our hard work and determination through the COVID-19 crisis, we came together as a community united around providing extraordinary care for all of our CSD kids.

I sincerely appreciate all of your patience and determination with our distance learning approach as we all had to switch, adjust and quickly respond to connect, care and put together plans to educate and engage kids in a different way. Although it wasn’t ideal in many ways, we worked together and made it all happen. This collective spirit of collaboration and tenacity in the face of adversity helped us grow closer as a community. This is what makes our District and community so special.

Currently, we remain under the Governor’s Order 20-20 and all school buildings and campuses are closed to the public. All athletics and activities on campus for the summer have been postponed until we receive an extended order from the Governor. I anticipate more information about summer activities from the Governor and the Oregon Department of Education within the next few weeks.

Many of you are wondering about what instruction will look like next year. I have received school reopening guidance from the Governor and Oregon Department of Education (ODE). ODE and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) convened a task force of school Superintendents and other stakeholders to develop a framework of possible procedures to open our schools in the fall. The guidance Ready Schools, Safe Learners contains criteria schools must meet such as physical distancing, proper cleaning of facilities, grading & attendance guidance, and student transportation parameters. This letter does not describe a definitive plan for CSD, but provides an outline of where we may be headed and the process toward our goal of providing an exceptional education this fall. Our goal is to safely prepare for a full schedule with face to face in-person instruction. However, the plans for reopening will consider state guidelines, local impact, and sustainability.

Please know that you will be fully informed of the criteria as our plans evolve, as I will be providing you with updates every three weeks throughout the summer.

Preparation: Over the summer, the district leadership team, along with teacher leaders, will be working to create a plan for four different approaches to learning.

• On-Site Learning (Full In-Person Instruction)
• Hybrid Learning (Face to Face + Virtual Instruction)
• Off-Site Learning (Formal Distance Learning)
• Temporary Off-Site Learning (Response to Confirmed Coronavirus Case)

All four approaches have different implications and challenges for elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. We are hopeful that we will have flexibility at the district level as to which model we will be able to provide instruction through. It is our goal to avoid an entire closure like this spring and we will need to create a plan that supports flexibility to switch between models as directed by the State, ODE, and OHA. Our plan will involve data from surveys with staff, students and parents to learn about the successes and challenges of distance learning from this years’ experience and to include input from teachers in the actual plan development. Surveys will be distributed by July 1^st.

We are planning for the four options mentioned above, keeping in mind:

• How do we do so in a way that is protective of the health and safety of students and staff?
• How do we do so in a way that makes teaching and learning successful for all students and can be adaptable and flexible as needed?
• How do we do so while realizing that some of our parents need to get back to work and cannot stay at home with their children?
• How do we do so in a way that demonstrates our commitment to equity?

I realize many of you are expecting more specific details to what school will look like in the fall, but this is the most I can provide to you at this moment. Unfortunately, the situation remains to be fluid and the needs of each community are different in terms of child care and access to resources. As I mentioned previously, more details will be shared as the information and refinement of our plans evolve.

It is an honor to be your Superintendent and to serve the Creswell community.

Sincerely,

Mike Johnson, Superintendent

Dear CSD Families,

On Monday, June 15 and Tuesday, June 16 school staff will be stationed at each school to receive back the loaned Chromebooks and iPads from students and families. A morning and afternoon session will be in place for the device drop-off. The morning session will be from 9:00 AM to 12:00 and the afternoon session will run from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. These sessions are the same for each day and each school.

All schools will have school staff stationed in the parking lot to receive the devices. We will document the return for you. You will not need to leave your car. Please return the checked out device to your child’s school. Please note, devices can be returned to any school.

Technology Devices Drop-Off Summary

On either Monday, June 15 or Tuesday, June 16:

• Please return the checked out device (with its power cord) to your child’s school.
• School parking lot device drop-off times:
………AM Session: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
………PM Session: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
• You will not need to leave your car.

Please contact your students’ school if you have questions or need additional assistance:

• Creslane Elementary: 541-895-6140
• Creswell Middle School: 541-895-6091
• Creswell High School: 541-895-6025

Creswell School District would not be able to successfully close the books on this school year without YOU, our educational partners. Thank you for working with us. Connecting, Caring and Continuing to Learn can only happen together. It truly is One Team, One Dream.

Kind regards,

Joel

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Joel Higdon
Director of Technology Services & Facility Operations