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Late last night, Governor Kate Brown ordered the closure of all Oregon public schools from March 16 through March 31, with staff returning to work on March 30. Students will return to school on Wednesday, April 1. This action is meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in our state and protect the health and well-being of the broader community. We recognize the significant impact that closing our schools will have on the students, staff, and families in our community. We appreciate your patience as we work together to address this emerging and rapidly changing situation. As you know, schools in the Sherwood School District will remain open on normal schedule today (March 13). This will provide students and staff the opportunity to gather personal belongings and prepare for the extended closure period. At this time, the District Office, including our Operations and Facilities Departments, will remain open to maintain operations and deeply clean all schools. Additionally, we will continue to provide certain support services to students and families during the closure, including access to nutrition services as needed. We are working on identifying ways to provide meals to students during the break and will likely identify specific school sites to serve as hubs where meals may be distributed and picked-up. Additionally, Champions (a community partner that provides daycare at District facilities) is able to serve both existing and new customers. Details on access to these services will be emailed to families this afternoon. We know that teachers, students and families have a lot of questions about continuing education if future closures occur. Our district has created a task force, that is working diligently to develop remote learning options for our students in the event that the closure is extended by the Governor. As we have seen in the last 48 hours, the reality of COVID-19 continues to evolve quickly, with guidance from state and local agencies subject to change at any time. Our district will continue to communicate updates and changes to staff and families over the coming days and weeks, through email, social media, and our website. Please take care of yourselves and each other, and extend grace and compassion. Thank you for your ongoing cooperation and patience as we continue to respond to this evolving and unprecedented event. For ongoing updates, please visit our COVID-19 (Coronavirus) page at |
