Dear CCA Community,
Over the past four weeks of distance learning operations, I have been blessed to see the effort and sacrificial love the faculty and staff have poured out on you, our students and families. We all have been stretched and grown tremendously throughout this entire process. If you have a testimony to share, please feel free to share it with me as well as with your friends and neighbors who are not yet part of the CCA community. To God be the Glory!
During this strange season of isolation and the coronavirus pandemic, high school history teacher Ms. Lauren Kausner has been thinking about the elderly in our community and the fact that they cannot receive visitors. She pursued with a local nursing home an idea to drop off some student artwork which could be posted on the outside of a cafeteria or common room window to serve as a mini-gallery. Ms. Kausner’s hope is that this would brighten the day of the residents to see something new and to know that people on the outside are thinking about them. Attached is an informational letter for students who will be able to drop off submissions on Monday, April 20, when parents may be dropping off and/or picking up other school materials.
This community service opportunity is distinct from the wonderful efforts of the Art Department’s virtual Art Show which will give students the opportunity to exhibit their art for friends and family. The Art Show submissions will be done digitally and will encompass a wide range of artistic options. This community service project for the elderly would be a drawing with a springtime theme that would need to be physically dropped off at CCA on April 20.
If your students are all caught up with their schoolwork and “chomping at the bit” for a worthwhile scholarly activity, they can get a head start on CCA’s “What does it mean to you to be fearless?” essay contest. The top three essays of 500 words in MLA format will receive cash awards. Please see attached photo for the essay announcement.
If your students struggle to keep up with their schoolwork in this season of exclusively distance learning, here are some suggestions for at-home operations as we gear up for the startup of the 4th marking period next week. If you haven’t already done so:
- Plan and execute regular schoolwork times each day.
- Use a workable combination of “carrots” and “sticks” (e.g., allow device privileges only upon students’ satisfactory completion of assignments and engagement with teachers in the manner their teachers are using to stay connected, e.g., Zoom meetings, Facetime meetings, online office hours, etc.).
- “Trust, but verify” (e.g., check online gradebook records of assignments you student(s) say they have submitted).
Just a few updates before Easter break winds down:
Teachers have been and will continue to be available to those students and parents who need assistance and/or encouragement.
April 20 – K-5 Drop Off & K-8 (and selected 9-12) Pick Up: 7-11 am and 5-9 pm
- K-5 families will drop off student work in a ziploc plastic bag labeled with name, grade, and teacher name (that hasn’t already been digitally submitted) on a table outside door #3 as a safety precaution. A faculty/staff member will announce the family’s name through a walkie talkie to faculty/staff members at the pickup tables.
- K-7 families will pick up workbooks, textbooks, and/or new packets at door #1. A faculty/staff member will place student materials on a table outside door #1 for families to safely pick up materials.
- Gr 8-12 selected students of Mr. Ashby, Miss Bowden, Mr. Mariglia (Algebra I only), Mrs. Shipley and Mrs. Wiggins will also pick up items at door #1. A faculty/staff member will place student materials on a table outside door #1 for families to safely pick up materials.
May 1 – Parent-Teacher Conferences will be most likely by phone or video conference as needed
Access to CCA buildings:
-
- During this current era, CCA’s office is typically not manned.
- It is imperative that the facility through which humans pass gets re-cleaned and re-disinfected.
- If a teacher requests that a student/parent pick up an item needed during distance learning, the teacher will retrieve the item, and label it with the student name.
- The student or parent may pick up the labeled item at door #10 from CCA’s Food and Nutrition Manager Peter Szurgyi on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 11 am-1 pm.
Praying that everyone had a restful and blessed Easter. How mind-blowing it is that we serve a Risen Savior. “…you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.” (Romans 7:4 ESV)
Stuart S. Chen, PhD, PE
Interim Head of School