Dear Pine Bush staff and parents,
It’s a beautiful Sunday and I wanted to reach out to all of you because tomorrow begins the last week of instruction for our students in Pine Bush for this academic year. All teachers will be posting their final assignments up through Thursday, June 11. Our elementary students should make their best efforts to complete their work by Friday, June 12. We have asked our secondary teachers (middle school and high school) to accept work up through the following Wednesday, June 17. Since there are no final exams, grades for secondary students will be based entirely on the points earned on assignments out of the total points possible. So it is in the best interest of those students in grades 6-12 to get everything in that they can, to improve their grades. Parents can see in their children’s Google classrooms what assignments remain outstanding. I ask our parents to do what they can to help their children finish strong.
We’ve tried our best to make this virtual instruction the best that we could. And knowing there is the chance we could be forced back into this instructional delivery system again in the future, we are already hard at work trying to figure out how it might be improved. We are also exploring how we might be able to get students back into our schools next fall, honoring requirements for social distancing, because we don’t believe that virtual instruction is as effective or valuable as in-person face-to-face instruction.
The governor, in just the past few days, has indicated that our summer school for special education students could be in-person, even though the summer school for regular ed high school students must still be virtual. In a world of ever-changing rules and expectations, please know we are doing our best to offer Pine Bush students the best that we can. Our teachers and administrators have worked overtime these past few months, and I want to acknowledge their commitment, creativity and perseverance. Let’s all see if we can keep going a few days longer!
Tomorrow, I will be back to provide the plans for students to pick up their belongings and to return school property.
Have a great day.
Tim O. Mains, Pine Bush Superintendent