DISD Superintendent: Thank you, Broncos, for patience and support

By Dr. Jessica Johnson, Dayton ISD superintendent

Dear DISD Families,

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate ALL of the work you have put in this week. Parents, DISD staff members, and students have all come together in this very challenging time. Thank you for pulling off nothing shy of a miracle in a matter of days. You all are rocking this ‘new normal’.

I want to update everyone on some questions that we have gotten. My disclaimer is, we certainly do not have all of the answers as we navigate through this COVID 19 situation. However, we will continue to ‘live and learn’ as we go and will make changes along the way to become more efficient. We are trying our best in a difficult situation, so thank you for your patience!

1. Will Mondays be the day for new academic packets?   Yes, Mondays will continue to be our big day of rollout for the week’s new lesson plans. PreK-8^th grade packets are being distributed at Richter Elementary School in the student drop off entrance. The 9^th-12^th grade packets are being passed out at DHS from the bus entrance (by the cafeteria). Changes from last Monday to make things roll out more efficient are:
   1. To ensure the safety of all stakeholders we will have officers and/or administrators directing traffic. We are asking folks to either:
      1. Come down Highway 321 (pass Cherry Creek entrance) and go to Tram Road. Take a right on Tram Road until you come to Winfree. Take a right on Winfree until you come to Cherry Creek.
      1. OR come down Winfree (from town) and turn left on Cherry Creek.

1. We will ‘snake’ cars around the parking lot and then will ‘double stack’ cars to pass out packets. Hopefully this will make things go faster and more smoothly. 
2. What if I cannot make it on Monday to pick up the packet(s)? We will have bins under the covered areas at Richter Elementary front door. Each bin will be identified. (1^st grade, 2^nd grade, etc.) At DHS, the packets are under the cafeteria/bus entrance covered area and are labeled also. Both of these areas will be out of the elements. Additionally, for safety sake, these bins are in an area which has security cameras.
3. Are you still feeding students Monday-Friday through the curbside ‘grab-n-go’ meals? Yes, we will continue to serve our children as long as we can. As of today, there is a change according to the state and federal guidelines, children do NOT need to be in the car in order to get the meals. Another added feature is that we are posting the menus on the Dayton ISD website. So I hope you check out our menu.
4. Will teachers and administrators still be calling? Yes, our staff members will continue to reach out and check on students. Most (if not all) will be using the SchoolStatus system which will not show the school’s number. Our staff is contacting our children for many reasons, but mostly to check on their well-being, see if we can support them in any way, and to see if they have any questions over their assignments. We MISS our students!
5. Will there be more communication coming out from DISD? YES, not only are we updating our website (see question #6) but every Monday, we are sending out a Dayton ISD newsletter that is packed with lots of good information including PE ideas/lessons, Fine Arts, counseling support, resources from our librarians, resources from our Bilingual program, virtual field trips, and a message from me. Also, campus and district Facebook pages are sharing information, announcements, and tutorials. We will continue to update all stakeholders in various ways.
6. Are there any resources to help parents during this time? YES! Not only will we be calling and emailing, but we have put a Remote Learning Resource on our website home page.
   1. Go to Daytonisd.net homepage On the right side there is a box called “Remote Learning”
   2. There are several links including: General Information, Parent Resources, FAQ, and Email Us. Please continue to check on these links as we are adding more information/resources to help both parents and students.
   3. Under the ‘Email Us’ link is a place to email any questions you might have. Someone will get back to you with an answer.  We are here to support and serve you!

As we continue this ‘remote’ way of learning and practice ‘social distancing’, remember, we are in this together. I give kudos to our entire staff. Educators were given almost no notice as we asked them to completely redesign our school learning.  The DISD team jumped into action to ensure our children are learning, being fed, and we are continuing to meet the needs of our students as best we can in the midst of this global crisis. No state agency did this nor did any so-called national experts do this. It was our local educators that put a plan in place. So, next time you see one of our Dayton ISD staff members, please tell them how much you appreciate them! We are Bronco strong! We are Bronco proud! Together we can do this. Thank you, again, for your partnership, support, and patience during this challenging time.