San Juan Island Public Schools Fall Re-opening Plan

At last evening’s special board meeting, the San Juan Island School District Board of Directors approved a fall reopening plan for schools.  After several months of planning with the district workgroups and steering committee, Superintendent Fred Woods recommended to the Board that the San Juan Island public schools begin the 2020-2021 school year under a Teleschooling model. 

“We will start with a Teleschool model on September 3 and review the state of the pandemic after the first nine weeks,” explained Mr. Woods. “At that point it may be possible to bring students into the schools under a ‘hybrid’ model, meaning half the students at a time on a rotating schedule, or we may have to continue with Teleschooling.”

According to Mr. Woods, this fall’s Teleschooling model will be an improvement from last spring’s emergency online classes, as teachers and staff are more experienced and have had more time to prepare online-based curriculum.

Mr. Woods acknowledged that the Teleschooling model might be difficult for some families, as work schedules and other pressures do not always align with classroom timelines.  For this reason, the SJISD’s Griffin Bay School has been reimagined and will be relaunched to support all grade levels. Younger students will now be offered a “Remote Learning” model.  Remote Learning is locally defined as a program that allows for independent classroom work and study on the family’s schedule, and includes a once a week check-in with an instructor.  Materials will be provided by the school district.

As principal of Griffin Bay School (as well as superintendent of the district), Mr. Woods invites interested families to an informational “Zoom” meeting about new Griffin Bay School programs on Thursday, August 13, from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm.  Meeting details will be sent out to families and posted on the website.

Please check the website at www.sjisd.wednet.edu  for more information, or call your school’s office.  You may also type griffinbayschool in your browser to get to the Griffin Bay School Homepage. Additional information and schedules will be coming from the schools to families in the next couple of weeks.

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