POLSON — On Friday the Polson School District sent out a press release detailing how the schools within the district have been faring since the transition to remote learning on April 13th.
The press release also detailed how the school district tried to meet the needs of the students.
One priority was to ensure that students still had access to meals. Therefore, a system was designed and implemented to provide all students with free grab-and-go breakfast and lunch meals.
According to the press release, since March 17th, the district has been delivering approximately 1,000 grab-and-go meals per day to seven different locations and to date, the Polson District has distributed about 25,000 meals.
The Polson staff had tried to reach out to students to check on their well-being.
“Teacher and staff members have a very significant impact on students. This impact goes far beyond teaching academics. We provide our students with inspiration, praise, acceptance, and stability. We are their world for about six hours each day. And they are ours,” said Scott Boen, second grade teacher, and newly hired director of human resources and communication. “We all thought it important to do our best to maintain this inspiration, connection, and continuity during the school closures.”
Many of the staff members also sent students personalized letters or cards or made them videos, one staff member even made a video performing a ventriloquist act.
“I thought it would be a fun and unique way to encourage people and brighten their day,” said Linderman School’s head custodian Marvin Bjorge.
To meet the academic needs of its students, the district transitioned to a remote learning platform on April 13th, where each teacher set up a virtual classroom in which their students could access and complete their schoolwork.
If the students did not have a device at home to work on, the district had some they could borrow. Also, the district technology team researched internet access options for families who had no connectivity in their homes, including discounted internet rates, Wi-Fi hotspots near schools, and mobile Wi-Fi hotspots.
Additionally, should the community have any questions regarding COVID-19 and/or school operations, the school district included an “Update Center” on their district website which you can view here.
“I’ve been exceptionally proud of our District and the tremendous team effort our staff has put forth,” said Rex Weltz, Superintendent of Polson School District, “and, we will continue
our effort to support our community throughout this academic year during these uncertain and trying times."
