Dear London Families,
Happy new year and welcome to the second semester of the school year! In many ways, this school year seems as challenging or perhaps even more challenging than last year. However, unlike last year during the first semester, we have been fortunate enough to be able to attend school every day, in person, and without interruption. Although I am sure our students and likely staff would appreciate a delay or cancellation soon, it has been wonderful for our students to be in our classrooms every day.
As our national pandemic enters its third calendar year, we all remain fully aware that COVID19 and its variants are ever-present in our society. Our daily decisions are driven by this fact and our decisions about schools are no different. The top priority of our district this year remains to provide for the safety of our students, staff, and all of those visiting our schools while returning our schools to normal as much as possible. I shared the following information at the start of the school year and it remains true today:
Simple strategies like keeping your child home when sick and being kind and understanding if they are required to quarantine can go a long way in the positive and efficient operation of our school district. I also highly encourage you to consider having your student wear a facial covering and get the vaccine if eligible. We will continue to monitor the trend of infections in our district and the availability of staff to ensure that we can operate effectively. Should our numbers increase considerably, the district will have to consider other strategies to combat the spread of the virus.
Parents and community members may review the district’s Safe Return to School Plan on our website. The plan was last updated on October 12th, 2021, however, the district is currently considering updating the plan consistent with the most recent Ohio Department of Health guidance for limiting isolation of positive cases. The district has established a public comment form in which parents and community members may provide feedback to the administration regarding the district's COVID19 plan.
In November, I launched our Community Connections program as another strategy for our schools to connect to parents and community members. The premise for the tours was simple - to provide an opportunity for parents and community members to engage with our schools, ask questions of students, staff, and administrators, and understand the strengths and challenges of our district rather than relying on national controversies and social media to form an opinion. Thank you to the dozens, who have already toured our schools or are signed up for future tours. Tours will continue on January 12th (currently full) and January 26th. Each session will be held from 9:30 - 12:00 pm. Parents and community members interested in participating may sign up using this online form or call the district office at 740.852.5700. Additional dates may be added in the future.
Finally, our district conducted a stakeholder survey in the fall as one way to assess how we are doing in meeting our district goals. While we are still reviewing the data from this survey, I can share that over 87% of respondents indicated that they were proud of our school district. I am pleased with this result but will continue to work to improve this percentage and to live up to our mantra of #londonpossible.
As always, if there is anything I can do to assist you or your child or to answer a question about the district, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Best wishes,
Dr. Lou Kramer
District Superintendent