Saying goodbye to another year
The end of the school year is supposed to be filled with fun days and the opportunity to say goodbye to friends and coworkers. This year, those happy moments were taken away by an unexpected virus.
Staff members were given a day to organize and plan for a teaching experience no one could have foreseen. Packets of school work were printed, lessons were created online, and we all crossed our fingers that it would work. The students have done an exceptional job adapting to this new situation, and parents have overcome the challenge of homeschooling their children while still fulfilling the responsibilities of their own job. Here in Loyal, we have all worked together to make the best of a difficult situation, and I would like to tell every person who lives in or works for the Loyal School District: THANK YOU!
Thank you to all the staff. The preparation of lessons, the deep cleaning of the building, and the distribution of lunches was amazing. Thank you to the parents and guardians for learning new internet platforms, being patient with glitches, and working hard to be a teacher while still doing your job and being a parent. Thank you to the school board. There were many lengthy meetings and frequent updates to make sure the district continued to run smoothly. And most importantly, thank you to the students. Learning with online resources and through Zoom meetings with your teachers was difficult. Seeing your classmates on a computer screen rather than giving each other high fives in person was hard. None of these things were planned and I, as well as the rest of the administrative team, are trying hard to get the district back to normal as quickly as possible.
What the 2020-2021 school year will look like is still uncertain. Everyday there are new recommendations and so many pieces that need to fit together before September rolls around. The goal is to get input from students, parents, and staff so that we can all be a part of the solution. In the end, the administrative team, along with the school board, will use this information to make the best decisions for the district. This summer, please take time to enjoy your family and stay healthy. Even though it might look different, school will be back in the fall.
