Second Semester Plan

  • The following letter was sent to SCM families on November 11, 2020.

    November 11, 2020

    Dear SCM School Families,

    I am writing to you tonight for two reasons:

    1. Our concerns for “Pandemic Fatigue” within our SCM school community
    2. To announce our Second Semester learning plans

    For some time we’ve been able to report that the increase of the spread of COVID-19 was not impacting our school district to the same level it was in our community. That is no longer the case. Sixty-one percent of the positive cases we have seen among students and staff since July have occurred in the last thirty days. For these same reasons school districts across the state are announcing plans to move to completely virtual learning environments. 

    I realize we have now been dealing with COVID-19 for eight months; however, we cannot allow pandemic fatigue to set in within our school community. This is not the time for us to let our guard down. Chad Towner, President & CEO of Saint Joseph Health System, said in a recent update, “...how many times did you wash your hands today? Increase that by five tomorrow.” This speaks to the fact that we must be more vigilant now than ever before. If not, we risk going back to a completely virtual learning environment for two reasons:

    1. The increase of community spread is too high of a risk for students and staff to be in school.
    2. We don’t have adequate personnel to safely keep our schools open.

    As we look forward, we want to make you aware of our plans for the Second Semester that were presented at tonight’s school board meeting. At this time we are asking each family to carefully review the plan(s) below and select your child’s learning option in Skyward by Thursday, November 19th. 

    Elementary          John Young Middle           Mishawaka High School

    Students wishing to remain in person do not need to complete the form to continue with in-person instruction. Please note the change we are making to our hybrid model for in-person middle and high school students. We will no longer hybrid students by their last name, but will divide them by their grade level instead. This will allow students to attend school with more of their peers which will provide for a better social & emotional learning environment. Additionally, we are providing more time for juniors and seniors to be in school to make progress towards graduation. These plans have been approved by the St. Joe County Department of Health.

    We appreciate your partnership during these challenging times. It has never been more apparent that if we are to be successful in safely educating your children it takes every single one of us.

    Stay safe and be well,

    Wayne Barker
    Superintendent of Schools

    Click the icons below for specific Second Semester Plans:

    elementary schools           john young middle school           mishawaka high school