A Message from Superintendent Cox - March 24, 2020
Dear Parents:
I hope this communication finds you and your family safe, healthy and in good spirits.
I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks and appreciation for your partnership in education during this challenging health crisis. I am inspired every day when I see and hear the stories about the efforts being put forth to educate students and to provide support.
At this juncture of the health crisis, I want to place an emphasis on our priorities, which are to maintain good health in our community by practicing social distancing and to work to ensure all Clarkstown children are made to feel at ease in this “new normal.” As we move forward together, we are all learning how to address the needs of our students and our district.
Our staff has been communicating with our students in a variety of ways including posting school work, utilizing email and, in some cases, even live programs. As we move forward, in the event we are not able to return to the classroom in the near future, we will try to expand staff access, resources and familiarity with as many different learning options as possible. Please know that this is new territory for everyone and we appreciate your patience and understanding regarding the many challenges our students and staff face during this difficult time.
I know you have many questions about implications for your child this school year. Please know that while we don’t have all the answers today, we will continue to work together to address your concerns and to help minimize the effect that this crisis will have on our children and our school community.
As you may know, CCSD does not have a one-to-one device assigned to students. This means that some students are without technology devices which will impact their learning. During this time, our entire staff will continue to do our very best with all of our instructional efforts to meet the needs of students.
Last Friday, over 300 chrome books requested were given to parents who visited Felix Festa Middle School during a process that was orchestrated by the Technology Department. A Phase II distribution that was intended for today had been postponed because of the need for a heightened focus on protecting the health and safety of the parents, students and employees who would have been part of this process. When it is safe to do so, we will revisit the possibility of providing a second distribution of chromebooks to those families that have requested assistance.
In the meantime, our decisions will be grounded with the health and safety of everyone in mind as we continue to be flexible while giving our best during challenging conditions.
Thank you for your outstanding efforts.
Stay strong! Stay healthy!
Sincerely,
Martin D. Cox, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools