I hope you are well.  I am writing to provide some early awareness to our planning for next week, as well as additional clarity for our Flexible Instructional Day (FID) expectations and procedures.  As much as many of us are ready to be done with winter, winter does not seem to be done with us.  Some of the weather models being shared for the upcoming weekend are indicating the potential for snowfall throughout the day on Sunday into Monday morning, with some estimates for total snowfall in the 5-7” range.  This may make a regular day on Monday questionable if the forecast were to become reality.  If the forecast does materialize, and as we’ve already used two regular snow cancelations this year, we would be enacting a FID for Monday.

To activate a FID on Monday, all learners will leave on Friday with materials for a FID day.  To clarify expectations for a FID day, please note the following points of emphasis based on our review of our first FID day on January 27.  These points of emphasis have also been shared with our teachers across our buildings to provide enhanced consistency of expectation and practice. If you have specific questions about implementation in your child’s building, please seek out a member of that administrative team.

1. Learning Expectations:  The learning expectations for the FID will be posted for you and your children no later than 9:30am.  For our younger grades, many of the expectations will be shared with your children on Friday prior to their dismissal for the weekend.
2. Teacher Availability:  
   1. Office hours:  These will be shared with students and families and will minimally include a 30-minute period in the morning and a 30-minute period of time in the afternoon.  During these time periods, parents and students will be able to access a teacher directly.  Teachers will share with each learner a link through which they can log in during the office hours to engage in a direct conversation.
   2. Email access:  Between 9:30am and the standard dismissal time for your child’s building, teachers will be available to respond to parent or student emails/communications.
3. Student Attendance:  Student attendance is based on work submissions.  If a student does not submit work by the close of the third day after a FID, they will be marked absent.  Work completed during the FID should be submitted as soon as completed and reasonably possible.  
4. Student Work Expectations:  In planning for student learning on a FID, each student should expect to engage in activities that would need approximately 50% of the regularly scheduled time in their classroom to complete.  This estimated time should include any new learning, skill development as well as formative assessment.  This time is based on the reasonable readiness of the majority of students in the classroom to complete the associated responsibilities.
   1. Children with specialized needs or plans – In a similar manner to ongoing lesson planning, children who need any accommodations, modifications or other supports to access the learning activities of a lesson will be planned for in advance and provided options for access or resources to support their needs.
5. Elementary Specials:  The links to any FID activities for each specials teacher will be shared with the associated classroom teacher, based on the schedule and rotation.  Parents will see the learning activities and responsibilities for the day within the communication from each child’s classroom teacher.
6. Technology Support:  The protocol for student technology issues is that learners should be notifying their teachers of any technical difficulties as soon as possible, along with their contact information, so that the building techs can resolve the issue.  To facilitate this process, a teacher will need to submit a support portal ticket with the information cited above.

I’m hopeful that the actual weather impacts are not as significant as currently predicted.  I will provide notification of plans as soon as I am comfortable making decisions on Sunday or Monday to give you the greatest amount of time to plan and adjust to the circumstances.