Wilmette Public Schools Fall 2020 Reopening Plans
Posted on 07/30/2020
Wilmette Public Schools District 39

Wilmette Public Schools District 39
Mikaelian Education Center
615 Locust Road
Wilmette, IL 60091
847-512-6000
www.wilmette39.org

Dear Wilmette D39 Parents and Families,

We are eager to share with parents and families our fall reopening plans and the continuum of instructional models that have been developed for the 2020-2021 school year.

I would like to thank the many, many people who gave of their time, talent and expertise over this summer to assist us in developing and refining our Wilmette District 39 fall reopening plans. This was an exceptionally challenging task and a heavy lift for all involved. The planning considerations and decisions that were made were not often easy…. as we worked together collaboratively with a pledge to support the health and safety of students and staff while building in-person learning and connection options to the greatest extent possible and remaining devoted to the unwavering commitments set forth at the onset of this planning process.

I would first like to acknowledge and thank the 100+ Planning Committee Members, Advisory Task Force Team and Administrative Council for their endless hours of research, collaboration and thoughtful deliberation. These teams included teachers, faculty, support staff, parents, administrators, medical professionals, and students. Thank you to all members of our planning teams for sharing your voice, and for hearing and thoughtfully considering the perspectives of others. While we worked to balance the many competing interests and the imperfect choices we faced, we learned from one another and deepened our understanding of how to support one another through these challenging times. It is through these efforts and contributions that we have been able to maintain our planning commitments and develop a continuum of instructional options to support robust, connected and meaningful learning for our students. These are ever-changing and unpredictable times; and yet, we have developed plans that will allow us to ensure the excellence in educational services that we are so very proud to provide within District 39 while adhering to health and safety guidelines and ensuring preparedness to pivot without interruption, as needed. Thank you, planning team members, for your endless hours of service to this mission.

As you have learned throughout this process, our District 39 planning commitments were established early last spring and throughout our planning process we have been guided by an unwavering pledge to honor these commitments. The health and safety of students and staff has remained a priority as we aimed to develop models that will provide in-person learning and connection to the greatest extent possible while abiding by state health and safety guidelines. In order to accomplish this aim, we recognized that our plans must adhere to and comply with the guidelines of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). Additionally, plans must be flexible enough to implement full in-person learning, partial in-person learning (hybrid/blended), and remote learning in connected ways… providing the opportunity for us to collectively pivot without interruption while maintaining the critical student-teacher relationships that make learning engaging and meaningful.

Given the changing nature of state and federal health guidance for schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic, our carefully connected continuum of instructional models are specifically designed to ensure robust teaching and learning throughout the school year. Adjustments and improvements will continue to be made as we work to ensure ongoing access to robust and meaningful educational services for all students. Currently, in accordance with the Governor Pritzker’s Restore Illinois Plan our region, Region 10, is within Phase 4. The plans for reopening presented today reflect the assumption that we will remain in phase 4 through the opening of school and that guidance from the ISBE and IDPH will not change before the start of school. If either of these assumptions change, now or in the future, we are prepared to pivot in connected ways.

Parents and family members are invited to review a presentation of our D39 Fall Reopening Plans. Please watch this Video Presentation for an overview of our plans. The Presentation Slides are also provided for your review after watching the video. We recognize that we could not possibly present all plans and protocols within this video and slide presentation. Therefore, we will be hosting two Q&A webinars early next week. In addition, we are also in the process of developing a Frequently Asked Questions document as well as a website of resources to help guide our collective work as we enter the fall. We expect the Frequently Asked Questions document for families to be available next week. We invite you to submit questions to us for consideration at [email protected].

We are eager for you to review these plans. Please complete the following steps by Thursday, August 6th.

With appreciation for the countless hours of work that has been contributed to our planning process, we thank each and every one of our planning team members as well as the many, many stakeholders who contributed input to the process for their ongoing support, guidance, and insight. We simply could not have accomplished this heavy lift without you. Thank you for your ongoing patience, grace and care through these challenging times.

Be well, and continue to spread joy and kindness wherever your path may take you.

Your partner in education,

Dr. Cremascoli
Kari Cremascoli, Ph.D,
Superintendent
Wilmette Public Schools District 39