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Cosgrove update 3-17
Published on Mar 17, 2020 17:32
Good Afternoon,
This is Mr. Centola, Principal of Cosgrove Middle School.
I hope each of you is doing well. The purpose of this message is to give an update to our learning community at the middle school and hopefully answer some questions that you may have. But before I get to that I would like to emphasize one point:
First please know that the word we are using the most in all of our meetings as a learning community is flexibility. We realize that every family and every student has a different reality that they are dealing with right now. Our purpose in providing home learning resources for students is not to make the situation more stressful for families or students. We are hoping to be able to support student retention at this current time through the use of home learning resources. We are also hoping to provide students and families a routine around the expectations concerning school. In times of crisis, it is known that adolescent learners do best-physically, academically, and psychologically-when there is a semblance of "normal" which can be attained by establishing routines.
Now I will try and answer some of the questions we are hearing most:
Each of your child’s teachers will be the point person for their course. You can contact them via email and also your child will be able to communicate with them through Schoology. Teachers may use other types of communication as well. The District Web site is the place to start for any questions related to the current situation including information on how to access school breakfast and lunch. We have placed a wide variety of resources for parents and students to access.
Students should log into Schoology (I know many have already). There they will find work/directions from their teachers. By tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday) there should a message from each of their teachers on what students should be working on.
Many people have asked questions about how students will be graded and assessed. For this first week students will not be graded. Students and teachers will be focused on review work and simply working out the “kinks” of on line learning. I do not want students worried about grades right now. If/when this changes we will make sure this is clear. Please reinforce with your children the importance of completing their assignments however. Teachers will be providing feedback on assignments and this will be essential to supporting student retention and learning.
If you and your child or children do not have internet access, please call 349- 5161. You will need to leave your name and the name of your student. We are currently working on a plan to address this.
As I stated at the beginning of this message I want to emphasize we will be flexible as we work through this situation with students and families. As a school community we are thinking about each of our students and their families and what they may be going through right now. We realize some students maybe providing day care for younger siblings, or be helping with another family member that needs assistance. We will be providing more updates over the coming days. Do not hesitate to reach out to me or your grade level administrator with questions, comments or concerns.
Jim Centola
Principal
Cosgrove Middle School
585.349.5302
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