Principal's Update

We hope you were able to enjoy your Spring Break. It looked like Mother Nature wanted us to experience all the different seasons in one week. Nonetheless, there were some really beautiful days to be outside and enjoy the sunshine. I hope you were able to take advantage of those days.

Since our last communication right before Spring Break, the staff and administrators at all levels in the district have been working on our Continuity of Learning Plan (CLP) that must be submitted for county approval. In our CLP, Buchanan High School will follow a Credit/Incomplete model for second semester. This means that no grades will be given to students, but students will have to continue learning remotely in order to earn credits for their courses. All online and college courses should be continued as normal. No modifications to these classes will be made. Students who choose to not engage, or are not able to engage in remote learning will earn an Incomplete for the semester and will be placed in the same class next year to recover those credits not earned. We understand that remote learning will be a challenge for some students. We ask that every student maintains contact with their teachers and be honest about their learning from home. We understand that distance learning can be difficult, please give your best effort to complete assignments as given, ask for help, ask questions, and give feedback to your teachers. Again, this is a new situation for all of us. Our teachers are very understanding of some of the challenges that learning from home can present, so please be forgiving of your teachers who may also be trying to raise their kids at home, learn new ways of teaching, and managing households while providing meaningful learning opportunities for students.

Over the past week, lots of plans and communications surrounding seniors has taken place. Unfortunately, Prom has been canceled for April 24th. since we will not be able to assemble as the "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order will still be in place. Mrs. Cuthbert and the Prom committee are communicating about possible alternate plans. Many other senior activities have been either cancelled, postponed or re-invented. A separate communication to seniors and their families has been sent to them.

Also this past week I attended a virtual Town hall meeting with Governor Whitmer. She was very thoughtful and understanding of the education implications of her decisions as she too has two high school students at home. She has assured us that Colleges and Universities will be flexible and compassionate and will be more vocal in the coming days about giving grace to students when it comes to fulfilling admission requirements. She added that the NCAA will also be more flexible in their strict requirements. When asked about schools being able to open in the fall, she replied that "the longer people violate the stay at home order, the longer we will wait." So it is our duty to stay at home and ensure that our students, staff, and community maintain their social distancing, continue to help our heroes in the field, and stay home. We are a strong and proud community. If anyone can can be successful at taking care of our fellow man - it's Buchanan!

As always, stay safe, stay healthy, stay positive, and stay BUCKSTRONG!

Sincerely,

Mrs. DeMaio

Starting next week your teachers will be assigning lessons and holding office hours on the following days:

Monday - All Math Courses

Tuesday - All ELA Courses

Wednesday - All Science Courses

Thursday - All Social Studies Courses

Friday - All Elective Courses (Art, Band, Spanish, PE & Health, Seminar, Tech, Transitions)

For example: If your schedule looks like this:

1st hour: ELA 11

2nd hour: World History

3rd hour: Basic Art

4th hour: World Wars Through Film

5th hour: Algebra 2

6th hour: Chemistry

Your new remote learning schedule will look like this:

Monday - Algebra 2

Tuesday - ELA 11

Wednesday - Chemistry

Thursday - World War Through Film AND World History

Friday - Basic Art

If you need access to the Internet to complete any of your coursework, our Tech Team has installed access points in the parking lot of our building. Students should park in the high school student parking lot and your district provided device will automatically connect to the High School hotspot. If you are using your own device, you may connect to the BCS_GUEST network at any of our four campuses. The free guest network is available to everyone and does not require a username or password. The Internet provided through this service is filtered the same as it would be if the student using were using a computer inside the building. If anyone should experience problems connecting, they may contact the Help Desk through email at helpdesk@buchananschools.com or phone at 269-695-8428.

If you need to contact the school by phone, please be sure you use Option 1 or Option 2 only. Emails are best as they can be checked more regularly from home offices.

We are in the process of updating our social media accounts.

Email: sdemaio@buchananschools.com
Website: www.buchananschools.com
Location: 401 West Chicago Street, Buchanan, MI, USA
Phone: (269) 695-8403
Twitter: @BHS_Bucks