Important Update on St. Paul District Operations

Dear St Paul Community,

During the week of December 14-18 our middle/high school will operate in an asynchronous instructional environment. Asynchronous means that teachers will provide directions to students in advance and students will be assigned work daily following their regular class schedule. Attendance will be recorded each day so students must complete the work assigned in order to be counted present. Teachers will be available next week to assist students who have questions or need additional support. In addition, certain students that have already been identified will receive 1-1 support and encouragement during the week in order to provide them with an opportunity to improve their grades and gain additional knowledge necessary for them to be successful in courses following the winter break. Our teachers will communicate expectations, give direction and notify students of when they will be available to provide support prior to the end of this week. As a district we continue to keep student, staff and community safety at the forefront as we provide the best quality education possible to our students. All of our district staff continue to work diligently to design and implement meaningful student learning opportunities in this very difficult instructional environment. I am extremely grateful and proud to be associated with this dedicated group of individuals. Our students are exceeding expectations in many areas including class participation and attendance, they too are to be commended for their efforts. Following the week of asynchronous instruction we will gather feedback from students and parents regarding this form of instruction. In January our middle/ high school will return to its regular instructional schedule. The first day back is Tuesday, January 5th and this will be an 8 period day.

Our middle high school has experienced a number of recent exposures to covid with no confirmed cases, this week of asynchronous learning will provide additional safety measures so that our teachers can self isolate over the winter break with their families.

I take great pride in our district and have given careful consideration to this decision and believe it is in our district’s best interest to have a week of asynchronous learning for our middle high school at this time. 

I continue to advocate on behalf of our district at the state level for the opportunity to return all of our students back to school as soon as possible. Even though we are seeing a surge in cases statewide there is a growing body of evidence that supports returning students to school with appropriate safety measures in place. As a district we are ready to move to a more normal instructional program as soon as it is allowed.

 I want to thank those of you who have reached out and shared your experiences and the experiences of your students, I also appreciate your continued support of our district. I hope you all remain safe and healthy and are able to enjoy time with your families over the holidays. 

GO BUCKS!

Sincerely

Joseph M. Wehrli

St. Paul School District 

Superintendent/Elementary Principal