Image of March 26th Closure Update

Dear McKenzie Community,

I’m sure you all are wondering what is coming next in regards to continuing your student’s education during the closure during COVID-19.  Teaching staff will report to work remotely March 30th. The focus of our first meetings back will be to solidify our plans to wrap up courses currently underway to allow students to gain credit and grades for those courses that were originally to end the week after break, as well as supporting staff, students and families in transitioning to our Supplemental Learning Program. 

Families and students should be expecting to hear from district staff early next week to check in and find out technology needs. Using that information we will make plans for delivering devices to homes that need them. It is our hope to begin distributing devices by March 31st in a much similar manner as we’ve done for meals. The next few days following distribution will focus on supporting families and students in gaining familiarity with devices and the Google Classroom platform. It is our hope to have teaching staff available for “Office Hours” Thursday April 2nd. The following week, our Supplemental Learning Program will be in full swing offering a mix of digital “face to face” connections as well as self-paced, asynchronous learning. Seniors and their families will hear from an administrator next week to discuss next steps for ensuring graduation. 

Although we will be leveraging digital tools to engage students in content at home, initially we will not be conducting a full-fledged shift to online instruction; we like many other districts around the state are not equipped to fully provide online instruction at this time. We will continue internal conversations around the effectiveness of the systems we are putting in place and if we feel we are providing all students with the necessary supports to be successful we may consider a full transition. This is in line with the Governor’s direction as well as Oregon Department of Education guidance. 

In support of Governor Brown’s Stay Home, Stay Safe order all District playgrounds, ball fields and facilities will be closed. Please stay home, you could be saving a life!

As you’ve seen over the past few weeks, this is a quickly evolving situation and plans change rapidly in response. We appreciate your continued patience during these hectic times. 

Stay Home, Stay Safe and wash your hands! 

Lane Tompkins

Superintendent/Principal

McKenzie School District

McKenzie River Community School