Letter from the Superintendent

Dear AWV Staff

It has definitely been and most likely will continue to be a challenging year for education and the country. As many of you know the Iowa Department of Education has required school districts to develop a Return to Learn Plan with assurances that we as a district can meet required Health/Safety, Social-Emotional, Academic, PD, Equity and Digital Learning guidelines for the 2020-2021 school year.

Both districts began the process of writing a comprehensive Return to Learn plan in June by assembling a group of personnel and have worked over the last several weeks to brainstorm how school may look this fall. The formation of these groups was done in no effort to exclude anyone from participating in the planning process but to get the ball rolling with the development of the plan. We are now getting to the point where there is a skeleton of the plan coming together that will reflect the district’s ability to move between on-site learning and remote learning (if necessary).

Throughout the development of this plan, the situation has been highly dynamic and fluid as new guidance from the Iowa Department of Education, the CDC, and County Public Health has greatly influenced the timing and processes of preparing for the fall. Regardless, we are planning for a face-to-face opening in August with new COVID procedures and policies in place. There is no doubt that things will look and feel different at the start of this school year but together we will do our part, with what we can control, to provide a safe and secure learning environment for everyone.

Please know that as we finalize plans, further information will be communicated with you shortly about professional development opportunities, state-required training, and back to school pre-service days. Thank you all for your patience and enjoy the remainder of your summer...

Jeff