Dear Members of the Bunker Hill CUSD #8 Staff, Parents/Guardians, and Community:
First, I would like to congratulate everyone on a strong finish of the 2019-20 school year, and especially to our Senior Class of 2020! These last few months have certainly been challenging, and our students, staff and families continue to be in our thoughts as we continue to navigate this difficult time together.
In anticipation of next year’s reopening, we are pouring over content and planning and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), and other state plans and guidelines. The guidance from the Illinois state superintendent of schools is forthcoming.
My goal is to provide a formal update to the learning community at the end of June of 2020. While it is my hope that our “back to school” plan will be 100% complete by this time, it appears unlikely. Regardless, an update will be forthcoming from the school district. In the meantime, I’m sharing some resources and also asking for your assistance in planning Back to School for student learning this upcoming school year.
- First, if you haven’t already, please provide your thoughts on what the school district needs to consider when planning for back to school in just a few short months. You can do this easily by writing your thoughts at this link: https://my.thoughtexchange.com/879448167 or by scanning the following QR code with any smartphone camera:
- Please download the Bunker Hill CUSD 8 app from either Google Play or Apple Store
- Follow our district on Facebook
The back-to-school planning, which has begun with administrators, will expand to a small committee comprised of parents, teachers, and administrators and directors next week. What will be at the forefront is student learning. However, there could be interruptions due to a possible resurgence of COVID-19. We are anticipating one or more of the following scenarios as we return to school:
- In-Person schooling with health safeguards
- Hybrid approach – some in-person and some remote learning
- Remote Learning – we hope to revise our remote learning plan and upgrade based on what we learned last grading period, as well as your thoughts from the Thought Exchange (above)
While I am deeply grateful for the amount of support our school district has received, we all know that the quality of last period was not equal to in-person learning. I haven’t spoken to one person who disagrees with this point. This was a sudden, massive shift to the education process, and I’m extremely proud of our teachers, support staff, administrators, and parents as we focused on meeting our students’ needs: holding class Zoom parties, birthday parades, calling students daily, while serving nearly 17,000 meals!
Again, no one wishes to substitute in-person learning for a hybrid or remote learning experience. We will continue to plan various scenarios of re-opening school as we await further guidance, while ensuring that safety and health stay at the top of our priorities. I cannot thank you enough for your partnership during this uncertain time.
With respect and appreciation,
Todd
Todd Dugan
Superintendent