Welcome

Dear Prairie View Families,  
 
It goes without saying that your feelings and emotions are likely different than the typical back-to-school excitement. With so many unanswered questions and uncertainty in what the upcoming school year will look like, I want to share as much information as I possibly can. I empathize with all of you, our students, families, and staff, as you are being faced with challenges that are beyond your control. Over the next few weeks, the Prairie View staff will be working hard to make plans for delivering virtual (remote) instruction.  
 
Knowing that we are starting the year virtually, now is the time to come together as a Prairie View community. With a goal of mitigating the spread of Covid-19 in our community, the County Health Department has provided guidance for the School District of Holmen to start school virtually. The Prairie View staff is well aware that so many students and families count on us for the holistic services we provide. Especially during virtual instruction, I encourage you to reach out to friends, families, community agencies, and our staff at Prairie View if you need support. 
 
Although the start of the school year will look different this year, I want to welcome you to the 2020-2021 School Year! I have been so eager to meet our Prairie View students, and hopefully in the near future, I look forward to seeing them come into our building. In the meantime, I will certainly be joining our staff and students in our virtual classrooms. Below is some information that we do know at this time. 

• The school year will begin with virtual instruction. With continuous evaluation based on county guidelines, the earliest we may be face-to-face with students is October 12th.
• After reviewing parent and staff feedback, we have been working with teams of educators to plan instructional expectations and schedules. One of the goals of this work is to increase consistency at Prairie View as well as across the district. 
• The district leadership team is working on how we will provide equitable access to technology. When our technology plan is finalized, we will share more about distribution and insurance options. 
• Across all four elementary buildings, we will be working with two common learning management systems. Students in PreK-2 will use SeeSaw; students in 3-12 will use Canvas. 
• Educator focus groups are working on the appropriate balance between real time lessons (synchronous learning) with pre-recorded lessons (asynchronous learning).
• When we are all allowed to return to face-to-face learning, ?safety protocols such as monitoring symptoms of staff and students, social distancing, limiting the mixing of classes, limiting class sizes, and requiring mask usage by staff and students will be in place. 

We will be sending additional information regarding details on instructional expectations including schedules, technology, and open house (virtual) as soon as plans are finalized. As we start the school year in a pandemic, I cannot thank you enough for your support and patience.  
 
We will get through this together! 

Nick