Caring for our kids –
one future at a time.
(231) 873-4850
[Thursday afternoon, April 9]
– note from Principal Joe Conkle –
Dear Walkerville community,
It has been a very busy couple of weeks since we dismissed our students in March.
I know that there are many of you who have questions and concerns about what the future will look like for your student and I hope this message can address a few of them.
We are currently developing a more detailed learning plan that will give your student access to high quality opportunities for education.
This learning plan will be grounded in a combination approach using online options like Khan Academy, ESPARK, Prodigy and others. We will also provide hard copy packets with grade level appropriate teacher designed lessons and content.
We understand this new learning plan in no way compares to the learning our students receive in the classroom with their teacher, but we will overcome this challenge together.
There have also been many understandable questions about whether students will be automatically advanced to the next grade level, and if our seniors will graduate and so on.
The Governor’s direction was clear that students shall not be punished due to this crisis, and we share this belief in our district as well.
All students who were adequately passing their classes at the time of our school closure will be advanced to the next grade level.
Additionally, all students not currently earning passing grades when our school was closed will be given opportunities over the next few weeks to demonstrate they have met their required coursework to earn passing grade.
We are committed to properly honoring our graduates in Walkerville’s Class of 2020. Just because we closed our school does not mean we are not proud of their accomplishments! So, we are actively discussing and exploring all possible alternatives for recognitions and celebrations. Stay tuned to this section of our website and check in our Facebook as well for future details.
As always, God bless, stay safe, and healthy!
Principal Conkle
[Sunday afternoon, April 5]
Students & Parents!
IT’S TIME TO GET READY FOR ONLINE & DISTANCE LEARNING
In a few days, our school district will be completing a Continuity of Learning Plan (COL) for the State of MIchigan.
Student achievement is important to us, and because our COL plan will include an online learning component, we are asking both students and parents to watch the 4- minute video below. The short video offers tips for successful online learning.
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/kJa0PEUnnsM
This is just a starting point as we begin online & distance learning together.
While we would love our COL plan to be successful right from the get-go, we know that “success” for online and distance learners has not been clearly defined yet. Getting used to daily instruction that is not face-to-face will be a new educational experience for many of our teachers, students, and parents. But we will learn, adapt, and be patient with each other all along the way.
We want to roll out online & distance learning with minimal stress.
Every family – including my family and our collective school family – has its own day-to-day routines and expectations. As we go on this new online and distance learning journey together, let’s all find ways to grow from this experience. Our school leaders, administrators, teachers, and support staff are working very hard to make this future journey beneficial for EVERY student and parent who joins us in making their best effort.We’re an awesome school family and I know we’ll step up and work together as we must in this time of change and uncertainty.
Thank you for watching the video.
Thursday, April 2, 2020, 1:45 pm
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
April 1, 2020
Good Afternoon Walkerville Families,
I trust that this message finds you and your family safe and well. As you may have heard, it is anticipated that Governor Whitmer will issue an executive order regarding schools sometime tomorrow morning (Thursday). Many issues are still being addressed regarding this order in Lansing, however it is anticipated that she may close schools for the remainder of the year.
Be assured that we will promptly communicate information regarding the operation of WPS moving forward once the executive order is declared. I fully expect that this directive will give us further clarity on delivering education to our students. To help us communicate better I would ask you to send us the best e-mail address to get information to you if you have a child in our school. Please send an email to centraloffice@walkerville.
As we await the communication from Lansing, please know that you and your family are in my thoughts. This is a difficult time for all, with so many things being out of our control. To be sure, there are a lot of things right now that are out of our control, but working together we will get through this because we are Walkerville Strong.
We must all continue to work hard to stay safe, take care of our loved ones, and help our community as much as we can.
Thankfully, this will not be difficult, because it is what we have always done.
We are the Wildcats- we got this.
– Dr. Thomas M. Langdon
