By John Carruth
In March 2020, there were few certainties for the coming year as our community and the world grappled with the realities of living in a pandemic. One certainty for education became quickly apparent: We must adapt and develop multiple choices to serve parents and students as our understanding of COVID-19 evolved and conditions with the spread of the virus spiked and fell.
Since January of this year, the conditions around the COVID-19 virus have been steadily improving and the Vail School District is once again adjusting instructional choices accordingly.
Beginning on March 22, 2021, in-person instruction was made available five days a week for elementary students and four days a week to middle and high school students. Remote instruction that is led by each respective school also remains available for any family who continues to need this option.
A full slate of spring athletics is underway at the high schools. Parents and fans can attend and cheer on their favorite player or team.
Schools are in the planning stages for events like prom, graduation, and promotion ceremonies. COVID mitigation strategies will still need to be in place, but unless something unforeseen arises, the cancelations and remote events of last year are now behind us.
Planning is also underway for the next school year. We intend to offer full in-person instruction at all sites when school resumes in July. The challenges of the pandemic have also led to innovation and improvements. It is the intent of the District to leverage these innovations to better serve students and families.
Some families have come to prefer home-schooling, micro-schooling, or the flexibility of supported remote learning. If this describes you or someone you know (the only criteria is that a student must live in Arizona), our staff stands ready to partner with you to provide high quality instruction and support for each of these choices next year. Anyone interested in learning more about these options may contact the Vail Innovation Center at 879-1300.
Moving forward, it is a priority to ensure that students have every opportunity to accelerate their learning and to fill in gaps that may have been caused by disruptions from this past year. Instructional adjustments along with expanded summer school and opportunities for remediation are all being developed to address these issues.
As we look to turn the page on education that has been dominated by a pandemic, we must also be careful to listen to how the needs of parents and students have changed over the past year. We must also leverage the hard-earned innovations that have been born from this crisis to better serve our community in the future. To gain a better understanding of the impact of this past year and the expectations of our parents moving forward, the District and Governing Board will be hosting a series of community meetings over the next two months. Please be on the lookout for the details of these events as the exact dates, times, and locations are still being finalized as of this writing.
It has been an honor to serve our community’s educational needs during this historic time. On behalf of the entire Vail staff, I am grateful for the support from our parents and community that has made this work possible. This past year has been a living example of our District motto that in Vail, education is a community effort.
By John Carruth
In March 2020, there were few certainties for the coming year as our community and the world grappled with the realities of living in a pandemic. One certainty for education became quickly apparent: We must adapt and develop multiple choices to serve parents and students as our understanding of COVID-19 evolved and conditions with the spread of the virus spiked and fell.
Since January of this year, the conditions around the COVID-19 virus have been steadily improving and the Vail School District is once again adjusting instructional choices accordingly.
Beginning on March 22, 2021, in-person instruction was made available five days a week for elementary students and four days a week to middle and high school students. Remote instruction that is led by each respective school also remains available for any family who continues to need this option.
A full slate of spring athletics is underway at the high schools. Parents and fans can attend and cheer on their favorite player or team.
Schools are in the planning stages for events like prom, graduation, and promotion ceremonies. COVID mitigation strategies will still need to be in place, but unless something unforeseen arises, the cancelations and remote events of last year are now behind us.
Planning is also underway for the next school year. We intend to offer full in-person instruction at all sites when school resumes in July. The challenges of the pandemic have also led to innovation and improvements. It is the intent of the District to leverage these innovations to better serve students and families.
Some families have come to prefer home-schooling, micro-schooling, or the flexibility of supported remote learning. If this describes you or someone you know (the only criteria is that a student must live in Arizona), our staff stands ready to partner with you to provide high quality instruction and support for each of these choices next year. Anyone interested in learning more about these options may contact the Vail Innovation Center at 879-1300.
Moving forward, it is a priority to ensure that students have every opportunity to accelerate their learning and to fill in gaps that may have been caused by disruptions from this past year. Instructional adjustments along with expanded summer school and opportunities for remediation are all being developed to address these issues.
As we look to turn the page on education that has been dominated by a pandemic, we must also be careful to listen to how the needs of parents and students have changed over the past year. We must also leverage the hard-earned innovations that have been born from this crisis to better serve our community in the future. To gain a better understanding of the impact of this past year and the expectations of our parents moving forward, the District and Governing Board will be hosting a series of community meetings over the next two months. Please be on the lookout for the details of these events as the exact dates, times, and locations are still being finalized as of this writing.
It has been an honor to serve our community’s educational needs during this historic time. On behalf of the entire Vail staff, I am grateful for the support from our parents and community that has made this work possible. This past year has been a living example of our District motto that in Vail, education is a community effort.
