O. Henry Middle School

Pony Express

Mar
23
2020

LINK TO FULL NEWSLETTER   


March 23-27, 2020   
 
Translated in Spanish 23-27 de marzo de 2020

 

Austin ISD will be closed for students from Monday, March 23 to Friday, April 3.

Please check back for updates.

For the latest information from AISD, please visit: https://www.austinisd.org/coronavirus

 

Link to a Video here

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Note from Ms. Malott~March 22nd

Good evening Mustang Nation,

I am not a digital native, so you will have the chance to see me challenged and also grow in this new skill.  Thank you for coming on-line with me.  Link to a Video here

I am coming to you today with a heart full of gratitude, love, and appreciation.  I want to first honor all of you with the next journey we will be taking together as we learn how to navigate this new platform for teaching and learning.  We might be seeing and feeling an abundance of different emotions right now and we all need to stay connected more than ever. 

I hope your family was able to enjoy spring break, despite uncertainties brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. All schools, at this time, remain closed until at least April 3rd, with no on-campus meetings of students or staff, and no one allowed to work in our buildings for any reason other than deep cleaning and disinfecting.

In light of this, I want to provide a quick update on our preparations at O. Henry Middle School for remote teaching, learning and working. Our new normal will not be perfect at first. We are facing some new instructional challenges.  Thank you in advance for your flexibility and patience as we identify our immediate and long term needs.

AISD has been working diligently behind the scenes to create instructional resources this week while our teachers will be in virtual professional learning. Please check out these resources in the newsletter section.

Student learning this week is not for a grade but for enrichment. Also this week, please expect our staff to reach out to you via phone and email to check-in, determine the learning needs of each student, and ask about other needed resources. Families of students who receive Special Education services will receive a separate communication from that Department.

Students and teachers will have time to acclimate to the new online format and no significant assessments will be administered until sometime early April. In this new online format, we recognize there will need to be additional flexibility in how students will be graded/assessed by their teachers. At O. Henry, we trust our teachers will navigate this new environment with compassion and fairness for all concerned.

As the need and format for remote learning will be assessed on a weekly basis, depending on what restrictions remain in place locally and beyond. If we continue to be closed for learning at O. Henry Middle school, the next stage of online learning and assignments will be communicated as soon as possible.

I will continue to send updates and information over the next several days, including details on changes in our instruction, ways to stay connected, and announcements.

 

All my best,

Marlo Malott