KP Families and Community,

We ended this week on a strong note after completing day two of in-person learning for our K–8 students and online learning for our 9–12 students. Friday brought several important adjustments to ensure we continue improving the experience for everyone and operating at our very best. There are many details to manage and countless phone calls to make in order to keep everything running smoothly for our staff and students.

I want to take a moment to recognize the outstanding efforts and leadership demonstrated by every member of the Kingsley-Pierson Community School District. Each employee including administration, office staff, school board, teachers, counselors, bus drivers, kitchen staff, aides, nurse, custodians, and grounds staff played a critical role in planning, preparing, and executing this response so we could return students to learning as quickly as possible. The amount of time, problem solving, conversations, and daily Google Meets was extensive, and every individual had an impact on making this week happen. Every decision has been strategic and at the forefront of what is best for staff and students.

What we witnessed was the power of collective effort. Staff formed task groups to design classrooms, support transitions, generate solutions, connect with families, ease anxieties, and most importantly, greet students with positivity and reassurance. The resilience displayed across this district over the past week was not only inspiring, but it was truly unmatched. I cannot commend this team enough for its dedication, unity, time, energy, and heart.

We also want to extend our sincere appreciation to every other individual who supported this transition. There are too many to name, but the impact of our community was felt deeply. From snacks and meals, to trailers and trucks, to building spaces, problem-solving conversations, and messages of support, it all played a crucial role in our ability to respond. We are beyond grateful for how our community opened its arms during this crisis. If our staff has not yet had the chance to respond to your messages, please know your support means the world to us. We continue to prioritize decisions hour by hour based on the needs of our students and staff during this uncertain time.

This weekend marks the beginning of initial removal efforts within the building. We had additional communication with the adjuster, who will return on Tuesday to help provide further clarity and direction. Friday’s focus included sanitizing hard surfaces across several areas. Larger projects included fully cleaning the electrical room so Nelson Construction could begin analyzing the water main issue and preparing for repairs. A plumber was also onsite to disconnect the boilers and complete necessary work in the electrical area.

The records room behind the electrical room is being sorted so we can determine what can be kept and what must be shredded. Fun fact, one of the oldest documents in the records room that has been found is from the late 1800s! The South Commons, although not directly impacted by water, required significant sanitizing due to the movement of water-affected items, such as lunch tables, into that space. We are also working on carpet estimates.

While all areas will continue to be addressed, the three primary focus points for this weekend are the band room, choir room, and main office. These spaces will undergo carpet removal and continued cleaning. ServiceMaster continues to provide detailed daily reports to administration and the school board outlining completed tasks, findings, and ongoing conversations. Numerous walkthroughs, meetings, and planning discussions are underway as we progress toward cleaning, then restoring, the building.

Following our 4:00 p.m. staff Zoom on Friday, we feel confident in the stability and strength of our K–4 plan, which will continue throughout this unknown timeline. We also discussed additional needs for middle school and reviewed the tentative plan for high school as we work toward a Plan B rollout later this week. Logistically, our K–4 students have transitioned into fully functioning classrooms and school spaces. For high school, we are creating instructional spaces at external locations and in the Kingsley-Pierson Industrial Technology Building (the shop). Due to logistical considerations, including internet setup, classroom construction, and preparing for instruction, the rollout will take a bit longer than the elementary execution to ensure success. Please review the 9–12 section below for additional details.

We will have a school board meeting on Monday evening, the time and place will be announced soon.

Please read through the information below for the specifics for each building. High school has a lot of new details, so please read thoroughly.

As we look ahead, our focus remains on two things: safely restoring the building and ensuring students continue learning without interruption. Below are the key details for each grade level:

Elementary (K–2)

• All the details below in BLACK are only reminders as we continue within our plan at the Catholic Church and Faith Formation building (Christopher Robin). New information will be in RED.

• K-2 students will get on the bus at their REGULAR stop at NORMAL time. After the final stop in the morning, they will be dropped off on the south side of the Catholic Church at the park. Students will be escorted to the north side of the church to the church basement for supervision and breakfast(as needed).
• During pickup, please pick up your students between 3:30-3:45. There is a pickup and drop off lane created with cones just for the arrival and dismissal time. Please enter from the north side of Brandon st, drive through the lane, and exit by the stop sign at the intersection of Brandon and Park street. This will be the same process for pickup and drop off. There are signs indicated there as well.
• If you are picking your child up early for any reason, you can park in front of the Faith Formation building, ring the indicated door bell on the right and Randi will be there for you to pick up your child.
• The bus will still stop at the Kingsley building for picking up students that may be dropped off there.
• 3-4 Students can get on the bus at the Catholic Church to head to Pierson at 7:55.
• A school nurse and secretary will be housed on-site.
• There is a door bell on the right hand side of the doors to the entrance of the building (it is labeled) to ring to access Randi in the office. Also, our phone lines are the same and ring to the Faith Formation building, so you can continue to contact the office as normal.
• We will use the park for recess, before school, and after school dismissal.

Elementary (3–4)

• All the details below in BLACK are only reminders as we continue within our plan at the Catholic Church and Faith Formation building (Christopher Robin). New information will be in RED.

• For Morning transportation:

• For transportation, 3–4 students can ride the bus with middle school students at the later route time if needed.
• If they ride the early elementary route (their REGULAR stop and time), buses will circle back as they pick up the middle school students.
• Please have your child at the bus stop at the REGULAR time and they will be ready to head to Pierson.
• If students are going to ride from the Catholic Church to Pierson, they should be waiting there at 7:55am to board the bus after K-2 drop off.

• For Afternoon transportation:

• Students will board their regular route bus. Students can get off at the middle school stop if they would like or ride back to the elementary stop. It is preferred they get off at their stop as soon as possible.
• 3-4 students are also able to get off the bus at the Catholic Church, which will arrive around 3:55pm.
• Special Note that 3-4 students riding Ross’ bus will wait in the Pierson commons until his bus arrives around 3:55. They are supervised at this time.

Middle School (5–8)

• All the details below in BLACK are only reminders as we continue within our plan. New information will be in RED.
• Classes will continue as normal.
• There have been a few questions about what things physically look like in Pierson, especially since some of our district staff do not teach full-time in Pierson but instead serve multiple grade levels and buildings. I want to provide clarification about how we are using the space and ensuring that instruction continues smoothly.

• Pierson was never designed to hold 220 students, but it is, and it is working right now.

• Here is a breakdown of how we are using instructional spaces:

• Art: The art room is housing Mrs. Groepper’s 3rd–8th grade classes. She is teaching K–2 art in those grade-level classrooms.
• Middle School Technology:

• 5th grade technology is taking place in the regular classrooms.
• 6th and 7th grade technology classes are meeting in Mrs. Boustead’s open classroom during the time she teaches title one and as prep.
• 8th grade technology is being held in Mrs. Glade’s classroom.

• Spanish: Spanish is now housed in the English classroom during 7th period, as that teacher has a prep period at that time.
• Choir: Choir is sharing a space with Art. They alternate days, so they are never in the same area at the same time.
• Band: Band meets on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in Pierson. During these times, both the gym and stage are available. Due to the band room currently being used as a classroom, band equipment is being stored on the stage. Students are performing on the stage as well, and also have access to the gym as needed.

• We knew that adding students to Pierson would create challenges with space. While this has required flexibility and creative solutions regarding locations, it has not reduced the quality of instruction or academic opportunities for students. Teachers continue to deliver full instruction, and the schedule is designed so that no two classes or teachers share a space at the same time.
• The Pierson building is full, but it is functioning well due to the teamwork, great effort, extreme flexibility, and professionalism of our staff.

High School (9–12)

• The teachers said Plan A Thursday and Friday went well with a few minor technology issues.
• PLEASE READ THE PLAN BELOW THOROUGHLY!
• One of the confirmations we received Wednesday night from the Department of Education is that we cannot exceed five days of online learning for our students. Any additional days would require us to amend our school calendar and push those days to a later time. Although we were already preparing for Plan B, the urgency and timeline for implementation significantly increased with this information.
• We are actively preparing for the implementation of Plan B. Please understand that while this plan remains fluid and tentative, it becomes more solid each day as we work through details and receive new information.
• We are currently addressing the many logistics of Plan B, including teacher classroom placement, shuttle transportation, internet access at various locations, physical partitions, bell schedules, lunch plans, and more.
• A special thank you goes to the City of Kingsley, the city council, and the mayor for their partnership. Their support and willingness to provide access to the community center has been crucial to making Plan B possible.
• Tentative Plan Overview

• Partitions will be picked up from the Plymouth County Fairgrounds on Sunday afternoon and delivered to the community center.

• Although volunteers are welcome, having too many people may complicate setup. If high school students or parents of high school students wish to assist, Mr. Brand will send a JMC message tomorrow with details. The current plan is for partitions to arrive at the community center around 3:00 PM.

• The community center will house Jody Reinking, who will serve as the secretary from that location.
• The current classroom placement plan includes:

• 2 classrooms in the room to the right inside the community center
• 4–5 classrooms in the main community center area
• At least 3 classrooms in the unused bay of the fire station
  
• Additional 3–4 classrooms in the shop

• Wifi installation at the community center is scheduled for Monday.
• While physical setup occurs, students will continue online learning in the same format used on Thursday and Friday.
• We will hold several planning meetings with high school teachers early next week to support implementation.
• Teachers should be able to begin setting up classrooms and technology on Tuesday and Wednesday.
• We expect to modify our bell schedule on Tuesday and Wednesday to allow teachers and students time to set up classrooms in both the shop and the community center.

• Our current plan is to begin in-person learning for high school students on Thursday at 8:15 AM.
• Although the bell schedule will be adjusted, students will attend all 8 periods as usual.
• We are planning for an open campus lunch to reduce the load on the Pierson kitchen, which would otherwise need to produce over 400 meals in a short time frame.
• For students who need lunch provided, meals will be served in the basement of the Catholic Church. Students will continue using the sign-up form for meals.
• Jody Reinking will be sending an open campus form to any student who did not complete one at the beginning of the year. Please return it as soon as possible.
• Students needing to travel between the shop and the community center will be required to use a shuttle bus, which will operate before and after each period.
• We will share additional details with students early next week regarding:

• The updated bell schedule
• Teacher classroom locations
• Expectations for movement between buildings
• Any additional procedures needed for a smooth start

• Thank you for your flexibility, patience, and continued support as we work through this challenging situation. Our goal remains the same: to provide the best possible learning environment for our students while ensuring their safety and educational continuity.
• If High School students are needing lunch, be sure to complete the lunch form here. They should pick it up at the basement of the Catholic Church or the Pierson School between 11:35-12:15. Click Here to confirm a lunch.
• Thank you parents for ensuring your learner is attending.
• The current modified bell schedule for online learning is below.
• Through Wednesday, ALL classes will be online. Students are expected to attend online. Attendance will be taken.
• Students need to adhere to the bell schedule, use their option times to their advantage, check their emails regularly, and connect with teachers when they need support!
• Please see the attachments below for high school.
• All SENIORS should continue their internship as normal for 6th-8th period. They are NOT on pause. That has changed. If a student is not able to complete their internship for any reason, they need to contact Mrs. Goodwin.
• High School Virtual Learning Bell Schedule
• High School Virtual Learning Expectations
• 9th Grade Social Networking Link (2:30-3:15)
• 10th grade Social Networking Link (2:30-3:15)
• 11th grade Social Networking Link (2:30-3:15)
• 12th grade Social Networking Link (2:30-3:15)
• All 9-12 Social Networking Link (2:30-3:15)

Service Masters will continue to address the water damage throughout the building, and we gain progress each day. They are continuing to make ongoing plans and improvements. Our building looks entirely different from Monday, it is drying out, and smelling better as well. We have additional contractors involved and companies to support our damage assessment and response to restore our building. This will continue next week. To be clear, the timeline is still unknown, so please do not share a timeline; however, as things are removed and restored, we may start to develop timelines for parts of the building. It is currently too early to tell.

We continue to have people offer support, as we prepare for “Plan B”, which offers more in person learning, for high school students we will be seeking volunteers to set up the community center. We are looking for students and volunteers to support next week to set up classrooms. We will send more communication then. We will use our students to help set up our locations as well. We will continue to share updates through our social media, and parent communication through JMC as new information becomes available.

Thank you for your patience, understanding, and continued support of the Kingsley-Pierson Community School District. We look forward to continuing in-person learning for our K-8 students, and to implement Plan B for our high school students later this coming week.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Mr. Brand or the office and we will get questions or concerns addressed.

Thank you,

Adam Brand
K-12 Principal
Kingsley-Pierson Community School District