Dear Parents and Guardians:

My great hope right now is that you and your family are safe and well, and doing whatever it takes to stay that way. As you know, WPS is following the orders of Gov. Gretchen Witmer to stay home, stay safe and practice social distancing. We hope you and your family are doing so as well.

As I’m sure you are aware, the governor today ordered schools to close for the remainder of the school year to ensure the continued safety of students and their families as this contagious virus continues to spread and threaten the health of us all.

The Governor also asked that every school district and its staff provide instructional materials and opportunities for students to continue their education during this crisis. For many, this will mean our staff will provide online learning resources to students and their families. For others, who may not have access to the internet, or for whom their students are too young to learn online, we will provide printed instructional materials and recommended resources for parents to help with their student(s)’ education.

Please know that our staff is working to tailor these materials to the needs of each child and our district is working with the other districts within West Shore ESD to provide a uniform level of instruction for each child during this time.

We know you may have other questions regarding your students’ education. We are working closely with West Shore ESD, with the Michigan Department of Education, and with Gov. Whitmer’s office to learn what we are allowed to do under the Governor’s executive orders to meet your needs.

This includes:

• Food Distribution: Please visit our website or school Facebook to learn more about this.
• Graduation: We expect all students who were on track to successfully meet all state and district requirements to graduate. We are going to do everything possible to ensure high school seniors experience graduation and we will provide further information when it becomes available.
• Grades and Assessments (MSTEP/SAT): These tests were put on hold as a result of the crisis and school closings across our state and the nation. It is our intent to provide the instructional materials, either online or in printed form, that will keep your child on track to successfully complete these assessments when they resume.
• Athletics/Extracurricular Activities: All of these activities will be suspended for the remainder of the school year as requested by the Governor in her executive order. We would encourage you to support your student to maintain their interest and preparedness for these activities when they resume.

Questions/Information: If you have further questions regarding school related issues, please visit our website at WalkervilleWildcats.com. We will have more information there and encourage you to send emails with any further questions you may have regarding WPS and its plans in respect to the current situation we are in right now.

Also, you may call our main phone at (231) 873-4850 and leave a message. We are monitoring our messages and we should be able to get back to you within a reasonable time.

Please know our staff has been working nonstop to meet the needs of their students and our families, and will continue to do so throughout the duration of this suspension of normal school operations and activities. Working together, with our teachers, our support staff and with our caring and supportive parents, we can continue our children’s education, we can give them the support and guidance they need, and we can ensure their safety, and the safety our families and our community.

We are Walkerville.

We got this.

Dr. Thomas Langdon,

WPS Superintendent of Schools