Welcome back to the 2020-21 school year! As you are well aware, the entire Argyle CSD school community has spent the last 6+ months working together to ensure a safe and successful return to in-person instruction here at ACS.
Well, as we near the end of our first quarter of instruction, I’m pleased to report that our collective efforts have paid off! While things here in school are certainly different than they were just a year ago, we have been able to return to everyday in–person learning for all of our students. It’s important to point out that Argyle is one of only a few schools in the area with the physical space, the student enrollment, the staffing, the transportation, and the school-community support to make the return to in-person instruction possible.
At the same time, we realize that not every student or every family felt/feels comfortable returning to in-person instruction at the school. To address these concerns, the district offers our students the option to participate either in-person or remotely (by using their devices). While making this happen is not an easy task, I couldn’t be more proud of how our faculty, staff, students, and parents have all risen to the challenge to make this a productive learning experience for all of our students.
Now, don’t get me wrong—things are not perfect, and things certainly are different, but to date, there hasn’t been anything we haven’t been able to put our heads together and work through! Being a school, our obvious mission is to provide for the education of our children; at the same time, responding to the challenges of this pandemic has reminded us that the health and safety of our students and their families continue to be a top priority here at Argyle. There is no doubt, we spend a lot more time and effort each day ensuring our building is cleaned and disinfected than we ever have before; these efforts include increased cleaning and disinfection of our building throughout the day, disinfection of our buses every day, and each classroom, bathroom, and hallway being disinfected—or deep cleaned—each night by our custodial staff.
I would also like to offer a note of gratitude to our students and their families. On behalf of the entire district, thank you for continuing to complete your daily health screening forms, for making the commitment to transport your children to and from school each day, and for working with us to ensure our students understand and follow all of our new safety requirements—your patience and your partnership really has made a tremendous difference during our on-going reopening efforts.
If there is one thing I’ve learned in responding to the challenge of re-opening our school it is that it will require all of our on-going collective efforts to ensure the Argyle Central School District continues to provide outstanding educational opportunities in a safe and supportive environment.
Stay safe and stay healthy.