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March 22, 2020

Good evening all-
I hope you are well and staying healthy. I look forward to seeing many of you tomorrow if you want to join the meeting. I will record it for anyone that can't make it! 
Faculty check-in's:
Kelley St Coeur is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Time: Mar 23, 2020 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/188287480
Meeting ID: 188 287 480
If you are interested in joining student meetings here are the links:
Meetings will be every day at 1pm
Senior meeting - 159-090-884 (Monday)

Junior meeting - 494-645-688 (Tuesday)

Sophomore meeting - 365-806-565 (Wednesday)

Freshmen meeting - 187-668-113 (Thursday)


A few years ago I took a course with the organization Modern Learners. They are a great resource as we navigate this current situation. Missy, on the leaders of Modern Learners shared her thoughts on where we are right now. I found it helpful and wanted to pass it along:
My preliminary thinking starts with three phases that I'll flush out more as I live in this space awhile. I'm sharing now because it might help you.
  1. Phase 1 is Contingency— we're operating in this now. School leaders are creating long term contingency plans for every level of operations in their school. Contingency plans in most cases hinge on state and federal governments, broadband providers, supply chain management of goods. Everything is in flux. I’m a bit fearful that as we create contingency plans for teaching and learning online, no one is planning for staff and students to get sick. That will also happen. The contingency plan must be set in order to get to phase two, but information used to create the contingency plans has been rapidly changing on an hourly basis.
    ​
  2. Phase 2 is Continuity—the goal is to get to continuity of learning and operations. When the contingency plan is put into place, we will be able to settle in a bit. Then we'll seek continuity. Our systems will go through significant disruption during this time, and new and better ways of operating will be actualized. In a few months, what continuity will we seek? School the way it was before the pandemic? School how it was during the pandemic? or a blend of both...something new?
    ​
  3. Phase 3 is Transcendence —A new normal will come from this if there are people leading us through contingency and continuity with intention. We must cease this opportunity to create new systems that consciously focus on learning. We must solve for inequity before it is created. We must shift the narrative from achievement to learning. We must co-create with students and communities what will become the new school.
    ​
    I feel a need to provide the definition I working from for this phase.
    ​    Transcendence is the act of rising above something to a superior state. ... Transcendence comes from the Latin prefix trans-, meaning "beyond," and the word scandare, meaning "to climb." When you achieve transcendence, you have gone beyond ordinary limitations.
There has never been a better time to reimagine school with a focus on learning.

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