Altamont Superintendent Shares Letter w/District Residents

Altamont School Superintendent Steve Mayerhofer has released a letter for all Altamont district residents to review concerning the district's plans while schools are closed.

Here's the letter...

Altamont Community:

First, I want to thank all of our staff and students for doing a great job with developing a plan to continue providing meals for our students. Also for developing a plan to continue learning opportunities for our students. This is an unprecedented time in our community and across the country, and I am proud to work in a school district where we can continue to provide meaningful opportunities for our students. We are committed to providing regular communication for updating our community on this changing national pandemic. The district has identified four point plan to guide our efforts during these difficult times.

#1 - Account for the safety, and health of our students and staff 

#2 - Feed the children of our district

#3 - Continue learning opportunities for our students

#4 - Communicate clearly

#1. Account for the safety, and health of our students and staff

Practice Social Distancing:

• ○  Maintain a 6-10 foot distance from others
• ○  Do not take your children to group activities
• ○  Do not share food or beverages
• ○  Stay at home but do not hesitate to be outside as long as social distancing is
  practiced
• ○  Contact your doctor if anyone develops a cough, fever, sneezes more than
  normal or has trouble breathing
• ○  Play games together as a family. Look at online resources together. Check out
  documentaries or just have fun watching a family movie together
• ○  Avoid media and news hype about the COVID -19 virus
• ○  Maintain a sense of calm
• ○  Remember to breathe deeply
• ○  Sing songs from the musicals and plays that have been cancelled
• ○  Avoid social settings outside of your immediate family in your homes
• ○  Keep washing and sanitizing hands
• ○  Cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue. Discard tissue appropriately.
  Social distancing and hygiene may be two of the most important things we can do physically. Staying positive, balanced and calm will help keep emotions in check. We are all in this together.

Below are a couple good resources for parents:

• The National Association of School Psychologists has additional guidelines about talking to children about COVID-19 at https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-climate-safety-and-crisis/health-crisis-resources/talking-to-children-about-covid-19-(coronavirus)-a-parent-resource.

• As you know, from scientific news reports, the number of COVID-19 cases has grown in our state over the past week. Please see the CDC for how to protect your family

#2. Feed the children of our district

• We delivered just under 900 lunches during the week of March 16th. Lunches include 9 items: food for lunch, snack and breakfast for the coming day. 
• Lunch is free for any Altamont student 18 years of age and under while school is cancelled. This will continue weekdays through March 30. 
• If you are in need of a lunch, please contact Mrs. Wendling (618) 483-5171 or Mrs. Tedrick (618) 483-6193.
• Any changes to this schedule will be communicated.

#3. Continue learning opportunities for our students

• I want to be sure you are aware of the free internet access opportunities from AT&T, Spectrum, and Comcast. ISBE has listed these opportunities at www.isbe.net/keeplearning. Please share them with everyone. We need to be prepared to continue remote teaching and learning both online and off, potentially beyond March 30!

• The Grade School plan uses packets. At this point, you should have a packet from your child’s teacher. This will require you to return them to the grade school when complete. Mr. Whitt has placed a drop box outside the grade school entrance.  Please ensure your child’s name and teacher’s name are clearly labeled on the packet. 
• Students in grades 7-12 will use laptops. These continued learning opportunities will look differently depending on what resources your child’s teacher uses such as Google classroom, etc.
• Any work completed may be graded, but only recorded if it IMPROVES a student’s overall grade.Goal is to KEEP KIDS’ MINDS ACTIVELY ENGAGED WITH SCHOOL AND STAY CONNECT WITH TEACHERS.

Grade School Learning Packet Drop Box

Place Packets Here (Include Name and Teacher) 

#4. Communicate clearly

• Communication regarding the Altamont District’s response to COVID 19 can be found at: https://www.altamontschools.org. From the home page, choose the tab COVID-19 Information.
• The public is encouraged to keep up with all Altamont #10 news and updates by visiting the grade school and high school’s Facebook and/or following @Unit10Tweets.  
• As information becomes available, we will communicate it to all those in our community. 

• All information is subject to change at any time from things out of our control!

Yours in Education,

Steve Mayerhofer

Dr. Steve Mayerhofer

Superintendent-Altamont Schools