Coronavirus Update: Off-site Virtual School Simulation, Thursday March 5

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Throughout the challenges that our community faces due to the COVID-19 situation, SSIS remains dedicated to providing our students with uninterrupted high-quality learning experiences.

Confucius says, “Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation, there is sure to be failure.”  As Confucius so wisely stated, success depends on previous preparation, and the success of Virtual School has in part been due to the familiarity that students, teachers, and parents had with the technology we use. In these dynamic times of uncertainty, it would be foolhardy to ignore the wise words of Confucius.

That is why SSIS will simulate a full campus closure this Thursday, March 5. This simulation will ensure that we can continue providing our students with high-quality learning experiences, regardless of your location, in the unlikely event that we have to have a full campus closure.

Virtual School will continue as scheduled during the simulation, and you will work from home. In brief, this is what will happen:

1. Take everything you need for Thursday’s lessons home on Wednesday.

2. We will have a 5 minute faculty/staff meeting at 7:45 am on Zoom (Catriona will send an invitation on Wednesday afternoon).

3. Virtual School will continue as scheduled for all grade levels.

4. The campus will be closed to everyone (only required personnel will be on campus).

5. All teachers, staff, and administrators will work from home.

6. All meetings will be conducted online.

7. All faculty and staff will continue to be reachable by email.

8. The School will provide you with a set of guidelines for off-site virtual school prior to Thursday.

On Friday, March 6, all teachers and staff will report back to campus as usual. And, there will be an opportunity to debrief the simulation.

Please note, that at this time we do not anticipate the need to fully close campus in the near future. This simulation is simply to ensure that if it ever comes to a full campus closure, we are able to continue providing our students with high-quality online learning experiences. This simulation will be built into the yearly calendar from now on, as a part of normal procedures.

On a final note, I want to thank you for your great professionalism in all that you are doing as productive SSIS teachers and staff and as positive ambassadors of the school. At a time of global uncertainty, your role is doubly visible and highly influential in how the community views the school and the confidence in how the school is handling this COVID-19 challenge. So, your words and actions carry great weight in these challenging circumstances.

Thank you for everything.

Catriona