Dear District 44 Families,

We are excited to welcome your children back (remotely) to our schools in the coming weeks. We have missed connecting with them, engaging them in their learning and seeing them reach new milestones in their learning. 

The purpose of this communication is to share with you more specific information about several upcoming events. We want you to know that we continue to review questions submitted to us via our Google Form, and we have since updated our Parent FAQ with several critical pieces of information. Please take this moment to review. 

August 12-14: Device Distribution 

Anyone in need of a device may come during the following times/dates, all of which will occur  from 9am-1 pm via curbside pick-up outside of GWMS. 

Please note -- Kindergarten and 1st grade students are required to pick-up an iPad, as well as drop-off their district-issued Chromebook if they received one last year. Anyone in grades 2-8 who did not pick up a device last year or is experiencing issues with their current district-issued Chromebook may attend on their scheduled date.

Wednesday, August 12: All students with last names A-I

Thursday, August 13: All students with last names J-R

Friday, August 14: All students with last names S-Z

August 19: K-5 Class Assignments 

On August 19, all families will be able to log onto Skyward Family Access to view their child's homeroom assignments. Teachers will also be reaching out to set up virtual conference times in order to help facilitate remote learning, which will occur sometime during the week of August 24.

August 21: Meeting with Last Year’s Teacher

On this day, you will receive a link to a Google Hangout where your child can reconnect with last year’s teacher. We want to make sure your child feels comfortable with their upcoming transition to the next grade level, so we wanted to provide this opportunity to our students. 

Return to Learn Weeks: August 24-September 4

The first week of school will include several “getting to know you” activities so our teachers have time to meet their students and our students have time to meet with their teachers. No official assignments will be given until the week of August 31, but even then we are working with our students on slowly transitioning them back to learning. 

The first week will be solely focused on connections and engagement. Parents and students will be provided specific support on remote learning to acquaint you with what systems and applications we use so you can adequately support your child at home. Then, beginning, August 31, students will begin receiving assignments. 

We are excited to offer your children a positive and exciting learning experience, and we have been working throughout the entire summer to ensure this can occur for all of our students and their families. 

Sincerely,

Ted Stec 

Superintendent