Battle Ground Public Schools

April 6, 2020

Superintendent’s message about remote learning

Dear families of Battle Ground Public Schools,

As you may be aware, Governor Inslee announced today that all Washington schools will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019–20 school year. We recognize that school closures play an important role in preventing the spread of the coronavirus and keeping our family, friends and community healthy and safe.

Certainly, though, this news brings up a lot of emotions. For our seniors, it means an absence of the traditional activity and pageantry that surrounds what is supposed to be one of the most exciting times of your lives. For everyone, it means not being able to connect personally with each other. We will do our best to fill these voids. If not now, then as soon as we can make it happen. Seniors, we especially understand how difficult this year has been for you, and we are committed to working with senior student leaders and building administrators to make it the best senior year possible under these circumstances.

We also understand that the school closure raises several questions and presents many challenges for our students and families. We want you to know that we are here to support you, and will work to answer your questions and continue our students’ education remotely. Our teachers and school staff are committed to ensuring that our students progress and develop the skills they need to advance to the next grade level—or the next phase in their lives.

Some questions we can answer now:

Remote Learning will continue through the remainder of the school year, which will end on June 19. You can read the district’s Remote Learning Plan. Battle Ground teachers and staff will be reaching out this week to students at all levels to further their progress at home. Many of our schools also have created webpages to support online learning and provide a central location for resources. Please visit your school’s website for more information. Schools will contact families about providing paper learning packets to students who do not have internet access at home.

Chromebook checkout continues this week for students in grades 5-12. We are reassessing what devices are available for primary students and will let families know soon.

Lunch and breakfast distribution will continue 11 a.m.–noon weekdays at all of our primary schools, Amboy Middle and BGHS and PHS.

The district will continue to provide child care for children of first responders, health care workers and grocery store employees.

High school seniors, we have created a Seniors webpage and FAQ to answer your questions.  Please reach out to your school counselor if you need support with graduation requirements or credits. We will work with student leaders to develop alternatives to traditional senior events and graduation ceremonies. In some cases, special events may be postponed until summer. We will keep students and families updated on these decisions.

All sports and school activities are canceled during the extended school closure.

Looking ahead, we request your patience as we make the monumental shift from the traditional classroom instruction that Battle Ground has successfully delivered for over 100 years, to a model that embraces distance education and delivers it to the homes of 13,000 students.

Remote learning will not replace the quality of in-person instruction that our students normally receive, but we will do the very best we can to meet the academic and non-academic needs of all of our students during this public health crisis. I know that you are doing the very best you can, too, and together we will do great things for our students.

Sincerely,

Mark Ross, Superintendent
Battle Ground Public Schools