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May 29, 2020
Good Afternoon:

We have several things to share with you today. First of all, we have a new proposed school calendar for the 20-21 school year (a copy of the regular calendar and the preschool calendar have been attached to this message). Our first scheduled day of class is Thursday, August 13th and the last day is Wednesday, June 2nd. We have added 11 more student attendance days to this year’s calendar. This extra time will be used to help us recover the essential concepts our students missed during the extended school closure this year. Although this calendar has not been officially approved by the school board, we believe it will be approved by them at their next meeting on June 8th. Having a calendar set for next year is a big step in our district’s work to complete our Return to Learn Plan.

We were also informed by the state that baseball and softball will be played at the high school level this summer. Practice will start on Monday, June 1st and games can begin on June 15th. The state has provided us with procedures that will help us keep our students, coaches, and fans safe. More information will be communicated to the families of the players over the next few weeks.

Unfortunately, prom and graduation are still on hold at this time. The governor did not lift all of the restrictions on the size of groups that can gather. Currently those restrictions will remain in place until June 25th which means that we can’t hold a traditional prom on June 20th. Since graduation isn’t scheduled until June 28th, holding that event on the tentatively scheduled date might still be an option. We will keep you updated as the guidelines and restrictions change. 

We have also formed a district leadership team which will be meeting weekly to provide feedback and insight for the Return to Learn Plan. This plan is due to the Iowa Department of Education by July 1st. In addition to this 13 member district team, we also have five subcommittees working on the plan. The subcommittees are: academics, technology, social emotional learning, health and safety, and equity. These groups will submit their recommendations to the district leadership team for final approval. The work done by all of these teams on the Return to Learn Plan will map out how we will operate our schools next year, whether we are teaching face to face or in a distance format. We will continue to provide you with our updated plans throughout the summer. 

We hope you are all doing well and staying safe. Enjoy your summer and we are really looking forward to having your kids back in school in August.

Take care.

Rick Colpitts, Superintendent
Western Dubuque Community School District
 
Attachments Available To Download:
Regular Calendar
Preschool Calendar