December 13, 2021
Dear Springfield Public Schools Community,
I hope that you and your family are enjoying the holiday season. The last two weeks have been incredibly busy in the district, with PTA-sponsored holiday activities, the JDHS Fall Drama, and celebration of our scholars, artists, and athletes! We are excited to share that the FMG Musical, Moana Jr. will be performing this weekend, and we hope you will join us, you can find information and tickets online.
First, I would like to congratulate our 2021 Educators of the Year! On Friday, we had the opportunity to share this exciting news with our teachers and support staff, and you can see our award winners on our online gallery! [CONTENT_REVIEW InternalLink] We look forward to continuing to celebrate their accomplishments throughout the school year!
Second, we are excited to announce the final phase of our return to the Edward V. Walton Early Childhood Center! This email will be followed by an email from Mr. Plias specifically for Walton parents that will include information relating to before and after care on the days identified below.
In this last stage, we will be moving 7 classrooms within the Walton building, and the 10 classrooms and other related furniture, materials and supplies from the St. James location back into the Walton building. While we have worked to minimize school closures, we have to recognize that it is essential that our staff have the ability to pack and unpack classrooms while prioritizing student safety.
The move will impact the student schedule on the days identified below:
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Wednesday, December 22, 2021:
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All Walton students will have early dismissal
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Students currently assigned to the Walton building will have in-person instruction
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Students currently assigned to the St. James building will participate in virtual instruction
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Thursday, December 23, 2021:
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This is a previously scheduled early dismissal day
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Students currently assigned to the Walton building will have in-person instruction
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Students currently assigned to the St. James building will participate in virtual instruction
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Monday, January 3, 2022:
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All Walton & St. James students will have early dismissal and participate in virtual instruction
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We expect that on Monday furniture and boxes of instructional materials will be moved throughout the building, and it is our goal to ensure that the final moves can occur while prioritizing student safety
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Tuesday, January 4, 2022:
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All Walton students will have early dismissal
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Students currently assigned to the Walton building will have will have in-person instruction
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Students currently assigned to the St. James building will participate in virtual instruction
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Wednesday, January 5, 2022:
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Walton will be back! Our first full day with all of our students in our building!
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The movement of the remaining classrooms from St. James to the Walton building will happen over the holiday break, and while we believe this schedule provides the appropriate time frame, we will alert families if there are any unforeseen issues that complicate this plan.
We recognize that this presents a hardship for our families, and we can only assure you that we are working as hard as we can to minimize the disruption while returning to our classrooms. It is our sincere hope that this will mark the end of incredibly challenging 2021.
Thank you all for your ongoing support of our schools.
Sincerely,
Rachel Goldberg