Damascus Christian School update on COVID-19 emergency, May 1, 2020
It has been a very unique season for all of us. And as the extensive mandates to “stay home, stay healthy” continue, we remain steadfast in our reliance on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to see us through.
We continue to closely monitor the progression of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and are prayerfully reviewing all the latest guidelines and recommendations presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Department of Education, the Governor’s office, and a multitude of other reliable sources. As executive orders, guidelines, and recommendations are presented, we continue to seek God’s wisdom to discern how best to adapt to the current situation while at the same time caring for the spiritual, emotional, and educational needs of our school families and staff.
We wanted to provide an update to our school families concerning finishing the school year amidst state mandates related to COVID-19. In the mist of this difficult time, DCS has been commended by our school families, other educators, and ACSI. We will remain committed to the following:
- 1)Damascus Christian will continue to deliver our distance and digital learning initiated on April 1st for the duration of the academic school year.
- 2)We will continue to weekly call families for prayer requests, distribute surveys and check in on how the distance and digital learning is going.
- 3)We will foster students' academic growth, relationships with them, and spiritual development.
Campus Details:
- There will typically be no more than 3-4 people on site at a time.
- Office hours will be irregular.
- We will follow up with phone and email messages as we are able.
School Activities: All items on the school calendar have been cancelled beside the ones listed below, which have been modified, postponed, or still being considered.
- •All in-person school classes and activities on campus have been suspended for the rest of the school year. Students will continue to use our digital and distance learning platform to complete the year academically.
- •Teachers are onsite in a limited, intermittent capacity to prepare lesson plans and curriculum for both take home packets and online distance learning. However, they will primarily be working remotely.
- •Our secondary teachers have decided to give 7-12th graders a moratorium or break from screen time starting Friday the 8th – Sunday the 10th. Students essentially have this time off and should be encouraged by parents to not work on any schoolwork. Also, teachers will not post assignments for the following week until Monday. We want our secondary students to take a break from screens. Students have been working diligently on screens for around six hours a day, and we want to provide them with a break.
- •Jr/Sr Dessert and Senior Superlatives will take place on Friday May 15th at 8:30 PM by invitation only. Monday, May 18th, will be our alternative date in case we encounter rain.
- •Promotion Ceremonies for both Pre-K and Kindergarten are still going forward as planned, but we are exploring alternative options if we are still unable to gather in large groups.
- •Promotion Ceremony for 8th grade is still going forward as planned. However, as an alternative if we are still unable to gather, students have voiced preference to postpone the 8th grade promotion ceremony until the Fall of 2020.
- •Commencement Ceremony and Senior Awards for 12th grade is still going forward as planned, but we are exploring alternative options if we are still unable to gather.
- •We will be sharing our secondary student’s art next week via a Virtual Art Fair.
- •We will be honoring our senior’s during the month of May through a variety of platforms.
- •May 28th will be the last day for our kindergarteners.
- •May 29th will be the last day for our 1st – 11th graders. High schoolers will not take finals.
- •We will have a final drop-off and pick-up day for packets and books and remaining school items from student desks and lockers on Friday, May 29th and Monday, June 1st from 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM both days.
Governor Kate Brown has mandated a limit on gatherings and group size. The state’s plan continues to change as does our plans for end of year celebrations. Unless noted below, the original event dates remain unchanged.
Last days for different age groups include:
- May 22nd will be the last day for our seniors and they will not be required to take finals.
School Communication:
- Website (Check out the distance learning page)
- Emails
Please remember the week of May 4th is teacher appreciation week. I would love to show our teachers how much we appreciate them. To thank our teachers, I would like you to write a brief message and take a picture of it. Send it to dcs@damascuscc.org. I need these by May 3rd so I can organize them in a presentation to share with our teachers. Please see the example to the right.
In closing, we want to thank you all for your patience and flexibility during this difficult season. We continue to pray for the health and safety of all our school families on a regular basis. Our hope and prayer are that sometime soon we will again hear the sounds of God’s people gathered together singing His praises and of school families celebrating the achievements of the graduating class of 2020.
By His Grace, Principal Davidson and the DCS Board