Grand Valley Local School District

“The New Normal Continued!”

Dear Students, Staff and Community Members,

We are now in week four of the school year working under whole different ways to accommodate “the new normal.” Technology is still one of our most complex issues to resolve. We have many students who live in areas where there is no internet access or have other challenges with internet. Even if the school issues a student with a Chromebook and a hot spot, we still have student who have connectivity issues. This must be addressed so each child in Grand Valley can get educated to the best we can in these conditions. We are working on solutions to solve these problematic situations.

So for the time being, we still will be reporting under the same model as designed in the Grades 6-12 levels. Each Cohort has been assigned days to report “brick and mortar” and times to report electronically. We are going to work on those situations where students have student/teacher connectivity problems and address them as individual situations. At this time, we will not be reporting on Wednesdays. After some review with staff, there may be better ways to address the student/teacher connectivity issues.

Lastly, I would like to thank everyone in this “new normal.” It has created more work for everyone. Students and parents have complex new schedules and connectivity issues.  To have any extracurricular events, we doubled the sterilization (thank you maintenance and custodians) and monitor social distancing. Teachers have to teach in class, as well as, online which add to their workload (thank you teachers). Our food service department is delivering lunches to the classrooms, in the cafeteria and out to remote locations (thank you food service). Our transportation department is sterilizing before, during and after each bus run (thank you transportation). Our technology and administration are constantly working to make sure each child in GV can either meet their teacher face-to-face or online through distance learning (thank you admin).

We all know what is best is to get our students back to normal brick and mortar school operations. If we have learned anything in these last few months, students with their teachers in a classroom is the best way for them to learn. We hope we can get back to normal soon, but until then, I want to thank everyone for your patience in this process. Safety and education are the main priorities. We will have future changes and will communicate them as soon as we have a plan. Again, we appreciate your patience in this complex process. Thanks and have a good week!

Dr. William R. Nye Jr.
Superintendent, Grand Valley Local Schools