I would like to take a few moments to provide you with information regarding the upcoming Virtual Day at Idabel Public Schools. This event is a direct result of Idabel Public Schools trying to fulfill our main purpose as an educational organization. Our main purpose is to be exceptional at 1) the safety and security of your children and 2) maximizing student learning. We take our responsibility seriously and dedicate a tremendous amount of time and resources for this purpose.
Virtual Days are days in which an event such as hazardous weather or power outage makes it unsafe or unwise to open school for the day. A virtual day is designed to allow students to continue to work on lessons, which are directly related to their regularly scheduled class work, at the convenience of the parent or guardian. We know the inconvenience for parents who work to arrange day care for their children when school is cancelled. We also know not everyone has access to reliable internet at home. So keeping this in mind, each virtual day lesson will have a paper/pencil option and a digital option. Also, many of our lessons have been designed to where the student work product is done by paper/pencil, but transmitted to the teacher by simple photo and a text message or email. Our teachers will be available on virtual days to help students and will be accessible by email or through Google Classroom. The first Virtual Day practice is scheduled for February 28th. This date was selected as the perfect day to practice for a school cancelation due to the nationwide Digital Learning Day event. (https://digitallearningday.org/) However, just like the fire drills we conduct twice a semester we have a plan in place to maximize the safety and security of your children.
In closing, please understand IPS has the best interests of your children in mind when we make calendar decisions. We do not take our responsibilities lightly regarding the safety and security or the academic achievement of our students. Virtual Days will allow us to plan ahead and reduce the last minute school closing decisions whenever the weather is a concern. Virtual Days allow students to complete instructional hour requirements without having to make up cancelled school days.
It is my sincere hope that this letter has shed better light on why our district is joining schools across the nation and hosting a “Virtual Day.” It is not lost on me the sacrifices parents and other IPS stakeholders make to ensure today’s students have a brighter tomorrow. Thank you for all you do and, as always, if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas in which we can better achieve our purpose of student safety and academic achievement please don’t hesitate to contact the school. I may be reached in person at my office, by school phone 58-286-7639, by cell 580-212-8132, or by email at doug.brown@idabelps.org.
Enthusiastically
Doug Brown, Superintendent