Important Update on St. Paul District Operations
April 8, 2020
Dear St Paul Community,
The Governor announced today that our school buildings will remain closed to the public through the end of the 2020 school year. We will continue to provide instructional services online as best we can to our students.
For our seniors we will make every effort to ensure students’ futures even during this challenging time. The state of Oregon has issued guidance related to Graduation Pathways 2020, it provides guidance that will allow successful diploma attainment for our seniors and that values their 12 year and 7 month commitment to education. This guidance allows our students to graduate from high school and move on to the next step in their life. Our seniors may miss out on some celebrations that would have occurred this year but it is a necessary step to ensure that their future is not impacted even more by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The St Paul School District will continue its move to a new instructional delivery model referred to as Distance Learning For All. This instruction is designed to assist students in learning while adhering to the social distancing guidelines required in our state. Additional information will be posted on the website and will be sent out to our families. This method of instruction is new to all of us and we ask for your cooperation and patience as our teachers develop these programs. I am so impressed by the dedication of the St Paul teachers and support staff, their commitment to providing outreach to every family has been commendable. We would much rather have our students and families engaged here at school but until that is again possible teachers will be communicating with students while they are at home. Delivery methods for instruction will include online platforms for group engagement, instructional packets, email and phone contacts. It is important that we all partner together and do what we can to support our students as we negotiate this uncharted territory. I have the utmost confidence that together we will successfully complete our mission to provide a progressive learning environment that will allow each student to succeed. We are keenly aware of the additional stresses this situation has put on our families and employees and are continuing to offer support to students and families counseling and basic needs support is available through our district so if you are a family in need please contact one of our schools or me directly. I am especially concerned for our seniors who have invested so much into their education and school experience only to have final weeks impacted in a drastic way by the current health crisis. I am thankful that with the support of the state of Oregon St Paul will be able to award all of our seniors full credit toward graduation. Stay safe, support one another and your families.
Sincerely,
Joseph M. Wehrli
St. Paul School District
Superintendent/Elementary Principal