Tharptown Elementary School

Wow! What a whirlwind week we had last week...rather, what a crazy day we had on Monday and how fast things can actually change. I can honestly say, I have never seen such an outstanding demonstration of teamwork that I witnessed last week from Tharptown Elementary School and from the Franklin County School System. Over the past week I have seen:

• teachers putting together hundreds of learning packets for students with short notice.
• teachers who remained calm and supportive of their students and helped relieve their anxiety.
• teachers and other school personnel who volunteered to come early, stay late, and help in any way they could possibly help, including handing out packets to parents, posting updates on Facebook and our webpage, and helping prepare meals for students.
• cafeteria workers who prepared thousands of meals so that our students could eat during the time school is not in session.
• central office staff and community volunteers who came together to help support our effort in preparing meals.
• custodial staff who worked endlessly to sanitize our classrooms, restrooms, and facilities.
• bus drivers who delivered meals to hundreds of students.
• law enforcement who provided a safe environment for our workers and volunteers.
  
• nurses who made numerous phone calls to get parents to school to pick up medicine for their children.
  
• secretarial and bookkeeping staff who worked to make sure invoices were paid and parents were issued refunds for cancelled field trips.
• a superintendent who made the hardest decisions of his career and worked tirelessly to organize system programs to make sure our students had what they needed.
  

I am so very honored to work with such a great group of loving, caring, and committed people! It takes a "village" and I am so proud to be part of this village!

So where do we go from here? First, our students still need you. Take time to call them or send them a note/letter. Send out messages using the communication devices you have used with parents this year (Remind, ClassDojo, etc.). Let your students know you miss them and care about them. These are hard times for everyone, but especially for children.

Also, let me encourage you to stay home! Protect yourself and your family by quarantining yourself....with as few people as possible! This is serious business and all of you are so very important to me and this community. I am seeing so many pictures on Facebook where family members, extended family members and even friends are gathering together to play games, eat, and socialize. What they don't realize, is that they are risking every person in their family when they decide to do this! Obviously, family members that live in the same house have no other choice. However, many of these events I see are families that don't live together, but are choosing to gather for the sole purpose of having fun. Be smart! Don't get out unless it is absolutely necessary and maintain your distance if you have to go out. Mrs. Butler and Mr. Clark are working hard to deep clean and disinfect our school and we are trying to minimize risks to everyone so please refrain from coming to school.

I believe, like President Trump, that after this is over, we will be stronger and better than ever. I find encouragement in that thought. I have seen strength, resilience, and courage over the past few days and I know it will be there when we return. No, this was not the way we expected this year to go, but sometimes things are out of our hands and we must make the best of it!

If there is one positive out of this terrible situation, it is there will be NO state testing this year and NO state report card. For that, we can all be grateful! Mr. Hamilton has told us that the state will be making decisions concerning the remainder of the school year by March 30th. I will continue to push out information to you as I learn it.

I miss all of you as you are my family, my friends, and my support group. Without all of you, well...I am lost. The halls have no sounds of children, learning, and laughing. There are no hugs, no smiles, and no high fives. However, I know these will return soon and for that day, I cannot wait! Just remember, tough times never last, tough people do! I believe all of you are the toughest group of people I know!

Until then....please take care of yourself, stay safe, and pray for this to be over very soon! Also pray for the medical teams who must take care of those who are sick. They are also our heroes!