03/16/2020
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IMPORTANT COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT!
March 16, 2020
It is with a heavy heart we announce that due to the world COVID-19 epidemic causing a statewide and national emergency, the Cañon City School District will not be opening its doors for education programs until at least Monday, April 6th.
We made this difficult decision in the context of the Center for Disease Control's most recent recommendation to limit gatherings of people to no more than 50 at a time. We have also taken into consideration the Fremont County Public Health Department's suggestion that, in the public interest, we do all we can to support and promote social distancing within Fremont County.
In the interim, Cañon City Schools will launch an online instruction program for all 6th through 12th graders beginning no later than March 30th. Doing so will allow instructional staff time to collaborate and plan before transferring all learning content to a digital format. Please note this instructional model is possible at the grade 6-12 levels because we have the structures in place to make it work.
We are also embarking on a planning process to support families with children in grades K-5 from a distance. Our greatest hope is we might keep student learning and enrichment moving forward while our classrooms are inaccessible. Beginning Monday, March 23rd, we ask parents of our K-5 students to access the instructional packet we sent home as a precautionary measure and to have their children work on it to completion by the end of the day, Friday, March 27th. Our K-5 instructional goal is to reach out to parents and guardians by the end of the day, March 27th, to communicate the next recommended steps for instruction.
By doing this, we, in no way, pretend we can replicate the excellent learning experiences we offer our children daily in our buildings. We simply hope to provide some support for each of you to keep your children engaged in learning in some form or fashion as we navigate this challenging situation.
On a final note, we thank you for exercising patience while we have been doing the same. This decision-making process was not taken lightly on our end. We will soon be reaching out to parents and guardians with surveys soon as we seek to understand how we can best support your needs during this difficult time.
Sincerely,
George S. Welsh
Superintendent of Schools
