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Covid-19 Information & Resources
Announcement of School Closing and Transition to Digital Learning Platform
Dear Friends:
This week has been turbulent. The coronavirus has racked up a lot of casualties in its wake, not deaths alone but also confidence and security have been shaken.
Nonetheless, the coronavirus is not going to seize control of our lives. We will leverage our social and professional resources to mitigate its velocity. Each of us must do our part to protect our health and our neighbor’s health. Institutions are boldly asserting their determination to smother the peril. To reduce transmission through social gatherings, hallowed places and events are closed and canceled: can March exist without the Madness? To revisit the standard we shared in our last correspondence, we discover in this process of protecting the health of our community what is essential, what we cannot do without and retain our integrity, Yes, we can live without March Madness, Disneyland, the NBA and NHL, and South By Southwest. They will return with full force once we are past this pandemic. To combat a lethal intruder, we take inconvenient and disruptive measures. Caution is the watchword at this moment.
Our considered strategy to mitigate the coronavirus threat at this point in the outbreak is to be proactive and suspend all school activities starting Monday, March 16, including classes, athletics, arts, and all other school-sponsored activities through Friday, March 27. We will transition to Digital Learning Days through Schoology on Tuesday, March 17. In our efforts to respect “social distancing,” our facilities will not be available in order to flatten the curve of transmission. Limited staff will be on campus to maintain critical operations. Faculty will use Monday to prepare another day for their ambitious venture into remote learning. During the hiatus, we will assess the status of the coronavirus as an imminent threat to determine whether we should extend remote instruction beyond March 27.
Our academic leaders, faculty, and staff continue to work on our shared goal of high-quality, content-specific, and developmentally appropriate digital learning. On Tuesday, March 17, we will launch Digital Learning Days (DLD). I guarantee that faculty are pumped for this new platform. As a school, we will be leveraging Schoology, our current learning management system, to deliver instruction. This platform will allow teachers, students, and parents to continue to engage in meaningful dialogue and teaching and learning activities Primer-12. Throughout these two weeks, we will be assessing, soliciting feedback, reviewing and revising.
While DLD will allow us to provide instructional continuity, it is important to note that student wellness will continue to be a primary focus. While we are engaging students instructionally through a digital platform, it is not our intent to have students sit in front of a screen for extended periods of time. They need opportunities to reflect, breathe in fresh air, and enjoy some measure of independence. It is in this space that students are able to recharge. As a faculty, we are committed to the whole child and will honor that covenant through our work over the coming weeks. We expect that the experience for all will be rigorous, engaged, creative, spiritual, and supportive.
Over the weekend, we recommend that families think about spaces and needs for digital learning in your home. No matter one's age, building new routines and sticking to them — from sleep schedules, physical activity and time spent in nature — will help you and your child feel a sense of routine and normality during this disruption.
To accommodate the developmental needs of our students, divisions will communicate specific DLD information to include schedules, content, and communications related to remote learning. Information on how to access Schoology can be found below. These links will also be posted on the OCC and within Schoology for each division.
All School Schoology Information:
Lower School Schoology Information:
Please pay close attention to all communications to ensure you are receiving updates related to digital learning.
Our reasoning behind this decision is straight forward. We’ve concluded today that closing is inevitable: someone will soon be infected or the state will mandate closing imminently. We choose to be proactive. Why wait and see if the outcome is inevitable. Let’s enlist time as an ally. Our logic behind our timing is to provide sufficient latitude for parents to restructure their schedules to balance responsibilities.
Yours truly,
Dr. Leonard Kupersmith
Head of School
Dr. Leonard Kupersmith
Head of School
Christ Church Episcopal School (“CCES”) admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at CCES. CCES does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, national or ethnic origin, creed, religion, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, financial aid, scholarship or other programs, or athletic or other school-administered programs and activities.