Press Release

5/7/20

Good afternoon, I hope everyone is doing well and continuing to adjust to the new normal. It is hard to believe that we are in week eight of our pandemic shutdown. It’s also difficult to comprehend that we are only two weeks away from the last day of school. I’m sure everyone is going to miss the excitement that comes with the winding down of school and anticipation of a summer filled with activities. Needless to say things have been a little different this year. That being said, I want to make you aware of how we will operate during these last few weeks and over the summer.

First of all, we want to make sure that all assignments are turned in during the last week of school and all students continue to work hard up to that point. For those that checked out Chromebooks, individual schools will contact you with the schedule for turning the chromebooks in and allowing pick up of items left at school. We will continue to follow the Governor’s Order of limited size gatherings and social distancing during this process. In regards to the Governor’s Order and Phase I of the Forward Virginia Blueprint we are keeping our fingers crossed that Phase I will go into effect next Friday and some businesses will begin to reopen with social distancing guidelines still in effect. The three phases of the Forward Virginia Blueprint dictates the timeline in which we operate and has resulted in many changes to the end of year events that we normally celebrate. Those changes are outlined below:

  • Due to the fact that the three phases of the Forward Virginia Blueprint may not allow us to have social gatherings of more than 50 people until the end of July, CCPSD, in consultation with high school administration and senior class officers, will do a drive thru graduation on Saturday, June 13th at Tommy Thompson Field. During this time seniors, along with their parents, will drive around the football field to the graduation stage, park, exit the car to the staging area, then the student will walk to the podium to receive their diploma as well as being photographed with their diploma. The ceremony will be livestreamed and a video will be created for each graduating senior. More information will be provided by the high school in the upcoming days.

Our hopes were to do a traditional graduation in June or early July, however, with the outlook on opening up larger social gatherings looking very bleak at least until August, a decision on how to celebrate our seniors must be made. The drive-thru graduation is definitely not our first choice, however, it does provide our seniors the opportunity to celebrate their graduation with family members.

  • Both the Junior/Senior prom and end of year 8th grade dance will be postponed indefinitely. CCHS will be sending out a survey to current juniors and seniors to gather their opinions on the possibility of a Fall Formal to replace the prom. Other student recognitions will be addressed at the school level.
  • Summer school which will  be by invitation only and limited to small groups will be postponed until July.
  • School lunch delivery will stop on the last day of school (May 22nd). Beginning the following week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the summer lunch feeding program will begin with lunches being prepared and available for pickup at three sites; Carroll County High School, Gladeville Elementary School and St. Paul School. Meals prepared during those two days will provide students with meals for each school day of the week. Meal pick up on Tuesday will include breakfast and lunch for Tuesday and Wednesday. Meal pick up on Thursday will include breakfast and lunch for Thursday, Friday and Monday.  There will be no delivery available. Also, students that receive free and reduced lunches are eligible for a $370 EBT card. A press release is forthcoming with more information. As of today, May 7th, there have been over 148,652 meals including both breakfast and lunch prepared and delivered to the students
  • Beginning tomorrow, Friday, May 8th, CCPSD will begin a presentation of our first ever online art fair. Carroll County's art students, from Kindergarten through 12th Grade, have been creating amazing artwork all year long.  Normally, their artwork would be displayed in the annual Art Show at CCMS during the month of April.  This year we were not able to have our regular Art Show.  However, the county's art teachers wanted to share the wonderful work that had been created by their students.  Therefore, they have created CCPSD's First Digital Art Show.  The website displays artwork selected from every grade and school in the county.  This year, a fan vote has also been included.  It will be open from May 11 - 15. The art teachers and students would greatly appreciate it if you would take the opportunity to view and share the site.  There is amazing artwork that you won't want to miss.

https://sites.google.com/ccpsd.k12.va.us/2019-2020-ccpsd-art-show/home

  •  Don’t forget to complete your 2020 Census information either by paper survey or online. This reported information is vital so Carroll County can receive our fair share of federal funding to serve our community.

Finally, this is Teacher Appreciation Week. Please reach out to your teachers and let them know how much they are appreciated. Have a great final two weeks of virtual learning.

Take care and look out for each other,

Mark Burnette

Superintendent

Carroll County Public Schools