The Importance of Students Staying Engaged for the Remainder of the Year
May 1, 2020
From SPERD Central Office
Reminder to Students and Parents Importance of Students Staying Engaged for the Remainder of the Year Parents, we want to thank each and every one of you for the hard work you are doing in assisting with your child’s education during this very difficult time. We recognize the tremendous challenges you have taken on to support your children’s learning. Many of you are working from home, while others are still going to your job sites to provide essential services. This is not an easy task. We also understand that many of you may not be able to work at this time and that is an added layer of stress that cannot be easy to deal with.
On April 17, 2020, we posted an important document entitled, Reporting on Student Learning: Assigning Marks and Grades to our Students. You can see the message about Reporting on Student Learning by clicking here.
In addition to addressing some of the questions parents may have had about report cards and final marks, we also discussed the impact of the Minister's letter and Education Continuity Plan: COVID-19 in which she stated that "every student will receive a final grade and students who were on track to progress to the next grade will do so for the next school year". "We trust the professionalism of teachers and education leaders to assess their students' progress, no matter the learning environment, to determine suitable final grades" that will be recorded on a report card, which students will receive.
The purpose of this memo is to stress the importance of student engagement between now and the end of June. While we understand our students may be growing tired of this new learning environment and the warm weather may be distracting, giving up now could compromise student success not only at the current grade level, but also in future studies.
For students in high school, you need to understand that if your mark was below 50% when classes were cancelled on March 15, 2020, you will fail the course if you continue to not engage in the assigned learning between now and the end of June. If you do fail a course, you will be required to repeat it the next school year, and this could definitely impact your ability to graduate on schedule. Students, if you are uncertain about the status of your mark in a course, please contact your school/teacher directly. We ask that you please engage in the learning and allow our teachers to help you pass all of your courses. A little work now will certainly pay off for you in the future.
Parents, as always, your support and guidance have a significant impact on your child's success in school. Even though the learning platform has changed, you remain a significant influence in your child's life with regard to school and learning. Please help to ensure your child remains focused on her/his schoolwork until the end of the school year.
Our teachers will continue to reach out to students and their parents to provide support and educational programming. Likewise, we ask parents to call the school any time with questions or concerns about your child’s progress.