June 29 Update

Parents/Guardians,

I hope this email finds you well and that you are enjoying the summer months. August will be here before we know it and attention will quickly turn to the start of the 2020-2021 school year.

As we receive guidance and updates from the Ohio Department of Health, Ohio Department of Education and Hamilton County Department of Health, we continue to plan for the restart of school in late August. We want our students and teachers to return to school, safely, and the results of the parent survey we conducted last month clearly told us that the overwhelming majority of you want the same thing – and this has been the focus of our work and planning for the past month.

Our team is developing a model, planning for contingencies and establishing health safety protocols and guidelines to be ready for the new school year and will continue to do so in the coming weeks. Ultimately, though, these decisions are not entirely ours to make as we must follow the direction and guidance of local and state officials.

In early August you should expect to receive a detailed RESTART plan from us that will include the model for the reopening of our schools, options for families and the health safety protocols and guidelines students and staff will be expected to follow.

Additionally, this plan will include information about strategies and practices we will be implementing to assist students with academic recovery as a result of the extended building closure. Knowing that we were not able to capture a full picture of our students’ skills and abilities during the last quarter of the 2019-2020 school year, we have been working to find ways to ensure teachers know the strengths and needs of their incoming students.

In preparation for these academic recovery strategies and practices, I want to make our parents/guardians of elementary students aware of important dates in August.

We will be conducting screening days at the elementary buildings for our 1st-3rd grade students (similar to what we do with our incoming kindergartners) to assess our learners in the areas of reading and math prior to the first day of school. Families will receive a separate email from your school with a link to an Elementary Screening Day Form to sign your child/children up for a time slot on the designated day along with the health safety protocols we will follow. The screening days will be held at both Terrace Park Elementary & Mariemont Elementary on the following dates:

1st Grade-Monday & Tuesday, August 10th & 11th
2nd Grade- Wednesday, August 12th
3rd Grade-Thursday, August 13th
Kindergarten- Friday, August 14th

We will communicate more important dates for all students including iPad pick up days and other back-to-school events in the coming weeks.  

Finally, many of you have asked us for resource suggestions to allow students to continue learning and practicing academic skills during the summer. We have developed a listing of websites and apps in reading and mathematics that our instructional team recommends. These are now available on our Coronavirus Updates Webpage on the school district’s website.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue to navigate this pandemic. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Steven Estepp
Superintendent, Mariemont City Schools