Posted
Greetings LM Families,
The following is LM’s current educational instruction plan for December and early January, and it has been approved by the Board. We continue to monitor cases and with good protocols in place we feel good about resuming in-person instruction next week. We also see the benefits of an extended break over the holidays, as with Thanksgiving, to preventatively limit contact. However, our best plans can quickly change, so please be alert to any email notices.
December – January Educational Instruction Plan
Monday, December 7 is a teacher work day and K-12 students are off, PreK is virtual.
Unless you are a high school remote/hybrid student or continuing remotely due to quarantine or sickness, students will return to in-person instruction on Tuesday, December 8.
Lancaster Campus (grades 6-12)
In-person instruction: Tuesday, December 8 through Friday, December 18.
Remote instruction: Monday, December 21 & Tuesday, December 22; January 4-8. That is the equivalent of 7 days of remote instruction, the rest are holidays off for students.
Borrowed device instructions: LA Grades 6, 7, 8 – Return borrowed Chromebooks and power adapters on Dec 8th. Grades 9-12 – Keep borrowed Chromebooks and power adapters at home/do not bring to school until January 11.
Locust Grove (PreK-8) and New Danville (PreK-5)
In-person instruction: Tuesday, December 8 through Tuesday, December 22.
Remote instruction: Monday through Friday, January 4-8.
Borrowed device instructions: Please bring borrowed devices and power adapters to school when you return on December 8th.
Christmas Break: Wednesday, December 23 through Sunday, January 3.
Monday, January 11: All students on all 3 campuses return for in-person instruction, unless you are a high school remote/hybrid student or continuing remotely due to quarantine or sickness.
A reminder that employment is not an excused absence from school for students, whether we are in-person, hybrid or remote for educational instruction. Students are expected to be available and actively participating in classes and working on assignments each school day.
Sports/Extracurricular Activities
Practices resume on Tuesday, December 8. If LM needs to transition to remote learning because of infections or quarantining students, sports practice and competition may be temporarily suspended. If LM is remote for precautionary reasons around Christmas, practice and competitions may continue. Individual judgement calls will be made dependent upon infections and quarantining students and staff.
During this time of increased community spread, please inform your campus Administrative Assistant and Principal should your child exhibit any COVID symptoms, come in contact with someone who contracted COVID (probable or positive), or test positive. Please keep your child home if they are sick. And a reminder, if you traveled out of state, you are not eligible to return until 14 days after returning to PA or providing a negative COVID test.
Extended Remote Learning
If you are uncomfortable with community spread during the month of December and wish to work remotely, high school students are welcome to change plans, but please communicate with the campus office. **Middle School and Elementary families who wish to shift to remote should contact their campus office. If you choose for your child to learn from home, please recognize that some at-home work would be required each day. Lessons would not be as robust as in-person instruction or fully remote learning, given that teachers cannot fully provide both modes simultaneously. The remote learning option will only be available through December for elementary and middle school families.
**The best of plans may be disrupted by infections and exposures. Please be prepared to pick up your child on short notice and work remotely.
Continue to communicate with your campus office when students are positive, probable, exposed, awaiting test results, or confirmed negative. This information is critical for in-person instruction continuing.
As always, we ask for prayers for LM and the Lancaster community during these unprecedented times.
Grace and Peace,
Dr. Pam Tieszen and the Pandemic Response Team
