March 26, 2020

Dear Parents and Guardians:

As we work toward the conclusion of week two of the extended school closure, I wanted to share a few updates. 

Rocky River City School District (RRCSD)

• In keeping with Governor DeWine’s Stay at Home order, all RRCSD buildings are closed through Monday, April 6. During this time, there will be no school or school-sponsored athletics, activities, or meetings. If the closure is extended, we will communicate that via email.

• During the extended school closure, we encourage you to check your email frequently as this is the primary form of communication. We will also implement our Instant Connect phone call system for certain updates.

RRCSD Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information Website

• The RRCSD has a comprehensive website to provide a listing of resources and support services that are available to assist students and families during the extended school closure. 

House Bill 197 (H.B. 197)

• On Wednesday, the Ohio General Assembly approved H.B. 197 that Governor DeWine said he will sign. The bill addresses several important public education issues, including:

• Waiving state testing and state report cards for the 2019-2020 academic year.

• Waiving usual requirements to permit high school seniors who were on track to graduate before the crisis.

• Exempting schools from retaining students in the third grade under the Third-Grade Reading Guarantee,

• Granting local governments, including school boards, the flexibility to meet remotely with provisions for public participation.

• Lifting the cap on granting credit for distance learning, allowing schools to use distance learning to make up for the weeks school will be closed.

Academics

• Assignments for week 3 of the extended school closure (March 30-April 3) for grades K-5 will begin posting to the district and building websites on Friday, March 27. Assignments from week 1 and week 2 will remain available on the website. For grades 6-12, each teacher’s assignments will continue to appear in the location where they normally post.  As a reminder, you can access assignments for grades K-12 at this link.

• I encourage you to reach out to your child’s teachers if you have any questions regarding assignments.

Lunches for Next Week

• The Nutrition Services Department will once again offer boxed lunches for students in Grades K-12 next week (March 30-April 3). If you have not yet filled out the form and are interested in lunches for your child(ren) next week, please fill out this form to order your lunches. The form will need to be filled out for each individual child in your family.

• Orders for next week are due by Monday, March 30, at 9:00am.

• Drive through pick-up will take place on Monday, March 30, between 12:00-pm-1:30pm at Rocky River Middle School.

Technology

• Our technology team continues to work hard answering trouble tickets from around the district on a daily basis. If you are having tech issues during the extended school closure, please visit our Extended School Closure Trouble Ticket and our team will do its best to respond as soon as possible.

#RrSchoolsVirtualSpiritWeek (March 30-April 3)

• We had so much fun with our inaugural #RrSchoolsVirtualSpiritWeek that we are going to continue it next week. Thank you to all of the students and staff who have taken part this week and I look forward to seeing all of the Rocky River Pirate spirit wear tomorrow!

• Please click here to see next week’s themes for #RrSchoolsVirtualSpiritWeek.

FAQ’s

Following are questions we are receiving from parents/guardians. Please use this form to submit any questions you may have regarding the extended school closure.

Is there an update regarding the 8th grade Washington, DC trip?

The final payment for the June 2-4, 2020, Washington, DC trip has been postponed until April 24. A decision about the trip will be made prior to that date.

Will teachers start to use Zoom to hold classes?

Zoom is one of several resources available for teachers to use during the extended school closure, along with Achieve3000, Successmaker, ALEKS, MyOn, Wonder, text resources, Google Classroom, Screencastify, and Studies Weekly to name others. If grades 6-12 teachers plan to meet with their class via Zoom, they are required to do so during their normally scheduled class time.

How will exams be administered?

During the extended school closure from March 16-April 6, teachers are posting assignments online for students to complete. If the school closure extends beyond April 6, we will address this matter.

Regarding application for senior scholarships, will students be able to apply on the date originally posted?

If we are unable to hold our Spring Recognition program in person, we will still award scholarships. A Google Form will be shared with all seniors on April 3 and the application will close on April 20. After the application window closes, RRHS administrators and counselors will meet to determine who the recipients are. 

We received notification that school will be resuming normal operations on April 6th. Does that mean the students will be back in the school buildings then and no longer completing lessons from home?

Governor DeWine’s Stay at Home order that was introduced on March 22 runs through April 6. During this time, there will be no school or school-sponsored athletics, activities, or meetings in the RRCSD. If the closure is extended, we will communicate that via email.

Thank you for your continued support of the Rocky River City School District.

Sincerely,

Dr. Michael G. Shoaf

Superintendent