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March 28, 2021
Dear TSD Families,
We
have one more week of school before Spring Break. Looking ahead,
everything continues to look positive, and I am optimistic we will have a
great end to our school year in the weeks after break.
Tomorrow night is our March District Accountability Meeting. For meeting details including zoom link, click here. Here is the agenda:
- School Operation for Spring 2021, Summer 2021, and Fall 2021
- Dual Immersion Program Update
- Superintendent/District Goals
Next
year, we will move our early release day back to Tuesday. While early
release on Wednesday balances the week, weekday middle and high school
athletic events are scheduled on Tuesdays. This is not something we
have control over, and having early release on Tuesdays disrupts the
education of our student athletes the least.
The
state has revised its COVID dial to Dial 3.0 as of March 24. These
changes continue to loosen up restrictions on our community, with
positive effects for our school. While the state is still ironing out
details and will likely revise the dial again in late April, we are
hopeful that revised outdoor guidance will allow us to hold events like
graduation(s) with significantly reduced restrictions. For more details
on Dial 3.0, go to: https://covid19.colorado.gov/press-release/covid-19-dial-3-released-today.
As
of this weekend, most of our staff are fully protected from COVID as
they are two weeks past their second vaccine shot, and more of our
county population has now been vaccinated. Our district (http://tellurideschool.org/covid-19) and SMC metrics
continue to improve. We will continue or COVID testing for staff and
students after break, and all student testing will now take place on
Thursdays.
As
we have some Rapid Tests available from the state, any family would
like to have their student rapid-tested at school on Monday, April 19
can contact Christine Tschinkel at ctschinkel@telluride.k12.co.us.
As the rapid test involves a nasal swab, we do not necessarily
recommend it for the youngest students. We will do our normal Microgen
saliva testing on Thursday, April 22.
The
US Department of Education has approved Colorado’s assessment waiver
request with one exception; we will need to complete CMAS Science
testing for grade 8 after Spring Break. For more information, below is a
link to an article on the waiver approval. Testing went very well this
past week, thanks to great attitude and efforts by our students, staff,
IT department, and District Assessment Coordinator Kari Clements.
Article link: https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/3/26/22353167/federal-education-department-colorado-cmas-standardized-testing-waiver?fbclid=IwAR3ueLLt56D1rbPn0a8TVb5DAWgVGOnZEi3OwHWvX-WNTJpl1mOyp84VktI
I
hope you have a fantastic week and an even better break. I may not
send out another communication until we return in mid-April.
Respectfully,
John Pandolfo
Superintendent
jpandolfo@telluride.k12.co.us
970-369-1213