Family Communications

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Good morning, as communicated last week, today we begin week two of Distance Learning. Please review the details for your child’s grade level outlined below.

Week of April 6, 2020

Access the DASD Family Distance Learning Website here.
Note: Enhancements have been made to the Help Desk & Technology Support Page.

• Kindergarten - Grade 6 will continue Phase I of the Distance Learning Framework. This includes new optional activity menus on the DASD Family Distance Learning website. Students will not need to make up these days, due to the waiver from the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the 2019-20 school year.

• Grade 7 - Grade 12 will move to Phase 2, Flexible Instructional Days (FIDs). Students will complete learning assignments provided by their teacher posted on the DASD Family Distance Learning website at home to support the continuation of learning activities in a variety of ways designed by the grade-level and/or subject-level team. Students will be engaging in subject area content that would have originally taken place during a regular school day. Additional enrichment resources and optional activities may also be provided for exploration when applicable.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or school principal directly.

Sincerely,
Erin M. Heffler, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent

Dear DASD Families,

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be most critical to everything that we do. Yesterday, Governor Wolf ordered all schools in the Commonwealth to remain closed for an additional two weeks, through at least Monday, April 6, 2020. Additionally, the Pennsylvania Department of Education communicated that the closure order could be extended beyond April 6, 2020, if necessary to save lives and stop the spread of the virus.

In response to this new measure, Dallastown Area School District will remain closed through Tuesday, April 14, 2020. Governor Wolf has stated that days missed during this closure will not count against the state-required 180 days, therefore the end of the school year date is not affected.

I know this is a challenging time for families, and that this extended closure adds to the disruption to our students, staff, and families; however, this response is necessary in an effort to keep our students and staff safe and healthy as the pandemic continues to grow each day in our region and throughout the country.

Since schools were originally closed on March 16, 2020, the DASD Leadership Team and teachers have been preparing academic activities and opportunities for your child(ren) as we strive to continue to provide the best possible education for our students given the circumstances. Information related to these learning opportunities will be communicated later this week by Dr. Erin Heffler, Assistant Superintendent, and will be available to all students and families beginning on Monday, March 30, 2020. While we know this is not an ideal situation for families, it is our hope that these educational resources and opportunities will keep students engaged during their time away from school.

Please know that this plan laid out today may need to be altered over the next several weeks. We will continue to update you during this very fluid situation.

PA Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said, "Pennsylvanians have a very important job right now: stay calm, stay home, and stay safe." May we all continue to work together to heed that advice.

With sincere appreciation of your continued support and understanding,

Joshua A. Doll, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Dear DASD Community,

Thank you for your participation in our first week of Distance Learning. The district leaders and teachers have spent countless hours preparing these learning opportunities for students of all grade-levels.

DASD Distance Learning was designed to be implemented in phases, with the understanding that we may need to deliver instruction for longer than a few weeks. This past Monday, March 30th, Governor Wolf announced that schools will be closed indefinitely. We are preparing to complete the school year with the Distance Learning model, if necessary. We believe our learning plan will allow us to keep our students on track, while protecting what is most importation - their health and well-being.

Distance Learning:

• Dr. Heffler, Assistant Superintendent, will be communicating with DASD families tomorrow, Thursday, April 2nd, regarding Distance Learning and our upcoming transition to Flexible Instruction Days.

Lunch Program:

• We are continuing to serve meals every Monday through Friday, from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. at the High School. Grab-N-Go Lunches are being served in a curbside manner. This is for ANY child under the age of 18.

• Note: During the week of April 6, we will NOT be providing meals on Friday, April 10 and Monday, April 13, however additional food items will be included in Grab-N-Go bags on Thursday, April 9.

Calendar Updates:

• Parent Teacher Conferences, which were scheduled to be held Wednesday, April 8 and Thursday, April 9 have been canceled.

• April 9 - 13, 2020 - We will observe the previously scheduled non-student days. There will be no school on these dates.

There certainly are many questions regarding the remainder of the 2019-20 school year, calendar items, and events. We will continue to provide updates on all topics throughout the closure and encourage you to remain connected with your child’s teacher and the school community.

We miss our students terribly and continue to strive to make the best of the situation for everyone. Thank you for helping us rise to this challenge and for your continued support as we navigate these uncertain times. Stay well.

Sincerely,
Joshua A. Doll, Ed.D
Superintendent

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Good morning, as communicated last week, our teachers and staff have been working to finalize the Distance Learning Framework to provide our students with learning opportunities. Today we begin Phase 1 of Distance Learning.

Here’s how Phase 1: Distance Learning will work during the week of March 30, 2020

• Optional learning activity menus will be posted on the DASD Distance Learning Framework website for families to access.

• For families in need of paper copies of the learning activity menus, a plastic bin will be placed outside (outdoors) the main entrance to each school building by grade levels and/or departments/courses.

• Grade span specific announcements:

  • Grades 9-12 Only: Due to the complex nature of the high school course structure, please contact the district switchboard to request a packet of high school materials by phone at 717-244-4021 or email kim.delp@dallastown.net).

  • Grades 4-12 Only: If your student is able to access his/her school email, please ask them to do so, especially at the high school level.

Access the DASD Distance Learning Family Website here.

Access to Teachers During the Day

• During this week your child's teacher will be communicating and engaging in further professional development for the DASD Distance Learning Framework. As you have questions please reach out to your child's teacher by email.

• For families with students who receive special education services, please access the materials provided on the specialized services page of the site as well as grade/subject specific pages. Your child’s teacher will be in communication with you to connect as we engage Phase I and transition into Phase II.

We believe that providing students with learning opportunities will enable us to continue the learning of our students while they are at home. The distance learning menus created by our teachers provide a unique choice and voice option for engaging in curriculum. Our teachers and staff are prepared to assist as needed remotely and we look forward to connecting in this time of isolation.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or school principal directly.

Sincerely,
Erin M. Heffler, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent

Good Morning!

The purpose of this email is to announce both a preliminary plan for Dallastown Area High School’s Class of 2020 commencement ceremony as well as to describe our thoughts regarding contingency plans.

At this time, the ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, June 2, 2020 at 6:30 pm at American Legion Field at Wildcat Stadium, weather permitting. The inclement weather location will be the high school gymnasium.

Our District is certainly continuing to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic as well as declarations from the Commonwealth and public health officials. We recognize that with Governor Wolf’s recent announcement closing schools for an indefinite time, it may not be feasible to have a traditional commencement ceremony this June. This is a truly heartbreaking reality and not one that we take lightly.

That said, I assure you that we have already begun discussing potential alternatives. Assuming there are no major changes over the next few days and weeks, we will begin reaching out to our seniors and their guardians to elicit your feedback. Your input and suggestions will be extremely important to us if we ultimately need to develop alternative ways to celebrate the many accomplishments of the Class of 2020.

Finally, I need you to be aware that Jostens has set April 10th as the final deadline for all cap and gown orders to be guaranteed. Please order your cap and gown as soon as possible if you have not already done so. Please visit Jostens website at this link to place any last minute orders.

Again, please know that on behalf of the entire administration and faculty of DAHS, we are sincerely sorry that we are not able to simply announce a firm date for commencement of June 2nd. We will continue to keep open lines of communication regarding this year’s commencement.

Sincerely,
Zachary M. Fletcher, Ed.D.
Principal
Dallastown Area High School

Dear DASD Families,

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be most critical to everything that we do. Yesterday, Governor Wolf ordered all schools in the Commonwealth to remain closed for an additional two weeks, through at least Monday, April 6, 2020. Additionally, the Pennsylvania Department of Education communicated that the closure order could be extended beyond April 6, 2020, if necessary to save lives and stop the spread of the virus.

In response to this new measure, Dallastown Area School District will remain closed through Tuesday, April 14, 2020. Governor Wolf has stated that days missed during this closure will not count against the state-required 180 days, therefore the end of the school year date is not affected.

I know this is a challenging time for families, and that this extended closure adds to the disruption to our students, staff, and families; however, this response is necessary in an effort to keep our students and staff safe and healthy as the pandemic continues to grow each day in our region and throughout the country.

Since schools were originally closed on March 16, 2020, the DASD Leadership Team and teachers have been preparing academic activities and opportunities for your child(ren) as we strive to continue to provide the best possible education for our students given the circumstances. Information related to these learning opportunities will be communicated later this week by Dr. Erin Heffler, Assistant Superintendent, and will be available to all students and families beginning on Monday, March 30, 2020. While we know this is not an ideal situation for families, it is our hope that these educational resources and opportunities will keep students engaged during their time away from school.

Please know that this plan laid out today may need to be altered over the next several weeks. We will continue to update you during this very fluid situation.

PA Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said, "Pennsylvanians have a very important job right now: stay calm, stay home, and stay safe." May we all continue to work together to heed that advice.

With sincere appreciation of your continued support and understanding,

Joshua A. Doll, Ed.D.
Superintendent

To the DAHS Class of 2020,

I want to take a moment to share a message that is written specifically for you. I want to begin by saying I am sorry. I am sorry that your senior year has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. I am sorry that the last few months of what you have worked toward for 13 years is fleeting before your eyes. I am sorry that you wake up every day wondering if you will get to see your friends in school again, wondering if you will have a spring sports season and/or musical performances, wondering if you will get to celebrate with a Senior Prom, and especially wondering if you will get to experience walking across the stage in front of your family and friends to receive your diploma. Most importantly, I am sorry that I do not have the answers to those questions today.

This all seems so unfair right now, and it is okay to feel that way. But no matter how unjust this may be, I have a firm belief that your class will be the students to help us all get through this. Since you were born, you have been the group to remind our community the true definition of perseverance. You were the first class to be born in a post-9/11 world. You have watched countless, senseless school shootings and come to school the next day. Throughout your lifetime you have lived through the unimaginable, and yet you are the group who has led the way to healing. While it is hard to process what is going on around us and what tomorrow will bring, I believe that through your determination and grit, you will be the generation who creates cures, builds bridges rather than borders, practices random acts of kindness, and has the greatest positive impact on our future.

I want you to know that myself and other district leaders are doing everything we can to ensure that you have a memorable senior year as soon as we are able to safely resume our operations as a district and community. We are closely following all of the information and guidelines being given to us from the government and public health officials. It is my hope, that if we all do our part to flatten the curve, we will be able to come back together to complete your educational journey at DAHS before you leave to begin the next chapter in your life in work, post-secondary school, the military, or whichever path you have chosen.

While we are all eager for the return of normalcy, please remember that as your Superintendent, I will do what is in my power to preserve, protect, and pursue those memorable senior year moments that you have been looking forward to and so rightfully deserve. As untimely as this all is, and as uncertain each day must feel, just remember your strength and desire for an amazing future will outshine even these darkest days. You are the class of GRIT. You are the class of tenacity. You are the class of goodwill. You are all of this because you are, and will always be, the Class of 2020.

Respectfully,
Joshua A. Doll, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Dallastown Area School District

To the Parents/Guardians of the DAHS Class of 2020,

I recently sent a message to your senior child and now wish to take a moment to share a message that is more specifically written for you, the parents/guardians. I want to begin by letting you know that I am also the parent of a senior, a proud member of the Class of 2020. I want you to know that I, too, have the same apprehension about the next few months as you do; and just as I said to your child, I am truly sorry. I am sorry that we are all wondering how our children are handling this, I mean really handling this. I am sorry that we are all worrying about how these uncertain times will continue to affect our child’s academic future, their spring sports seasons, musical concerts, and moments like Senior Prom. I am sorry that many of us are wondering if we will be given that moment of pride we all rightfully deserve as we watch our children walk across the stage at graduation. Most importantly, I am sorry that I do not have the answers to those questions today.

This all seems so unfair to our children right now, but equally unfair to the parents/guardians of the Class of 2020. I am optimistic that our kids are resilient, prepared, and have a new chapter to begin and to look forward to once high school ends. But, for parents/guardians, these next few months give us the closure and serve as the milestone we have anxiously waited for over the last 13 years.

As I stated to your children, district leaders and I are doing everything we can to ensure that your children have a memorable senior year as soon as we are able to safely resume our operations as a district and community. We are closely following all of the information and guidelines being given to us from the government and public health officials. It is my hope that if we all do our part to flatten the curve, we will be able to come back together to complete the Class of 2020’s educational journey at DAHS before they leave to begin the next chapter in their lives.

While we are all eager for the return of normalcy, please remember that as your Superintendent, I will do what is in my power to preserve those memorable senior year moments that you and your child have been looking forward to and so rightfully deserve.

I fully believe in the strength of our children. They are tenacious, kind, and hard-working. They are all of this and more because of the amazing parents/guardians who stand proudly beside each one of them. They are all of this because they are, and will always be, the Class of 2020.

Respectfully,
Joshua A. Doll, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Dallastown Area School District

Dear Dallastown Families,

The purpose of this communication is to provide our DASD families with an update as we work our way through what is truly uncharted territory.

Over the past week, district staff in essential roles have been, and will continue to be, providing meals to our students. In addition, our employees have been working remotely on preparations for online academic activities and learning opportunities, in the event school closure extends beyond these ten days.

Should the launch of distance learning and/or flexible instruction days be necessitated, below are some items you can do to at home in advance to ensure a smooth transition to a digital learning environment for your children:

• Check your home internet access; If you have internet challenges, here are some resources available to you.

• Ensure that your child’s device is charged and able to connect to your home internet.

We recognize that not all families have access to technology or internet and additional details to allow equitable access to all DASD families will be forthcoming.

While we know this is not an ideal situation for families, it is our hope that providing educational opportunities will provide a sense of normalcy to children during this time.

Additionally, we have received notification from the Pennsylvania Department of Education that all statewide assessments for the 2019-2020 school year have been canceled. This includes the PSSAs, PASA, and Keystone Exams.

Please note that I plan to provide the DASD community with an update on or before Wednesday, March 25th to announce whether school closure at Dallastown Area School District will continue past ten days. We understand there are questions, concerns, and 'what if' situations that will continue to surface. We will continue to provide additional information as it becomes available, so please remain connected with our school community.

Sincerely,
Dr. Joshua A. Doll
Superintendent