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April 2, 2020 5:00p.m. – Message from President J.D. Childs

Dear Students and Families,

As we pause for Easter Break, we want to convey some important information to our O’Dowd families.

Remote Learning Moving Forward Remote Learning will resume when we return from Easter Break April 20. We have been intentionally listening and assessing our remote learning practices over the past weeks to understand our students’, teachers’, and families’ experiences. Based on this feedback, and in preparation for the possibility of extended remote learning based on guidance from local health officials, we are making necessary adjustments to ensure structured, direct instruction as well as essential student support services and meaningful interactions that strengthen our community bonds. This new weekly schedule will be effective upon our return from Easter Break, April 20. View the Weekly Schedule effective April 20

Spring 2020 Grades Upon return from Easter Break, students will continue their graded coursework through remote learning. Principal Smart, his academic leadership team, department chairs, and teachers have diligently architected and are implementing equitable assessments for student work during this time of remote learning.

Class of 2020 Celebrations We are finalizing our contingency plan for seniors and families to celebrate at a later date to honor friendships, traditions, and special rites of passage. Should school closures be extended, we will share this plan with families.

College Planning for Juniors and Seniors As you may have seen in the news, colleges and universities are creating contingency plans for applicants, including changing requirements that address the interruption of coursework and testing this year. We encourage students and families to contact their student’s colleges and O’Dowd counselors for guidance around specific questions with the understanding that these shifts in policy are still emerging at colleges and universities across the nation.

How to Help Many in our community have inquired how they may help students whose families have been financially impacted by COVID-19. Tomorrow we will be sharing an opportunity to donate and support families during this challenging time through a Student Emergency Fund.

May the hopefully slower days of Easter Break ahead provide your family with restorative time. Regardless of our faith tradition, may we all see this time of uncertainty as an invitation from a loving God to take a step back and quiet ourselves, letting go of fears and distractions to focus on what is most important. Thank you for your patience as O’Dowd’s administrators work diligently to care for our community during this time.

Be well, O’Dowd families,

J.D. Childs President

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