Families: Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year!
Hello, LEAD families!
I’d like to welcome you to the 2020-2021 school year, one that I believe will be as successful as any in our history in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. I say this because of the collective power we all hold when working together — students, teachers, families, and staff members alike. I believe that we have the most talented team in Nashville and I can’t tell you how much of an honor it is to work with your children, our students.
As we open the 2020-2021 school year remotely, we do so with these key principles in mind:
- The health and safety of our students remain our No. 1 priority. While we open with an online learning program, we continue to plan for an in-person return to our schools. When that occurs, we will: supply masks for all students and staff members; require temperature checks upon entry to school; and require social distancing and other in-school measures, like plexiglass partitions in all of our school offices and the addition of multiple sanitation stations across our schools. We will have daily “deep-cleans” of all buildings from our cleaning service once in-person school is in session. We will continue to follow the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local health officials, as well as guidance from Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and the state.
- We will deliver a high-quality remote learning program for our students. This academic program is why you chose LEAD Public Schools and we owe it to you to provide an online continuous learning plan that not only meets the needs of families but exceeds them.
- We are providing Chromebooks to all students this year for remote learning and we have added the Talking Points app to enhance the levels of communication you receive from LEAD. Communication with you is of utmost importance as we begin the year. For more information, please visit your school’s remote learning handbook. They are all linked below. Thank you for your partnership on this initiative.
- Our teachers and staff members just finished LEAD University, our annual professional development program in preparation for the school year. We are ready to go and we can’t wait to see our students’ faces, even in this remote environment. By now, you should have heard from our schools about the academic program we will be providing you as we begin the school year remotely. For an overview of that plan, please visit this link.
- We are all in this together. During this pandemic, we have seen firsthand what it means to lean on one another, trust in one another and support one another. Even in a remote environment, we must be here for one another. One way we can continue to work together with you is the Possip app, which allows our schools to send out a weekly survey gauging your experiences and asking about your needs. We want to hear from you as much as possible so that we know we are meeting your needs. For more information about Possip, please visit your school’s remote learning handbook. They are all linked below.
We will continue regular updates for you throughout the month of August and into September as we monitor when it will be safe to reopen our schools. As the school year begins, please continue to check our website for up-to-date information about LEAD during the COVID-19 pandemic (you can access our updates here). You will also find important information about school procedures and guidance on our school web pages and via our Closed Facebook groups and social media. To join one of our Closed Facebook groups, please reach out to one of our Family and Community Engagement coordinators for your school. Contact information for them is listed below my signature.
Finally, we at LEAD live by our Ethos — we are courageous, committed, disciplined, self-reliant and, above all else, we serve others. Your children are taught these Ethos from the very first day they enter one of our schools; they are the core behaviors that guide staff and students alike. With our Ethos in mind, we created “Serve Other Stations” for our families that dates back to the tornadoes in March and has continued throughout this pandemic.
If you are a LEAD family in need of assistance during this uncertain time, please don’t hesitate to complete our “LEAD Serve Others Stations” form, and a member of our Family and Community Engagement Team will follow up with you based on your unique needs. These stations allow us to bring the Ethos “Serve Others” to life in our day-to-day operations by providing items ranging from household cleaning supplies to food and other needs, including internet connectivity. If that is you, we hope that this can be a resource to you and your family.
It is an honor to work with you as we prepare ALL of our students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in college and in life. Thank you for your commitment to LEAD Public Schools and best of luck this school year. If I can be of assistance to you and your child, please contact me via email (dwayne.tucker@leadpublischools.org) or on my cell (615-430-4751).
Sincerely,
Dwayne Tucker
CEO, LEAD Public Schools
Family and Community Engagement Coordinators
LEAD Academy and LEAD Cameron: Rania Agaib, 615-479-9743, rania.agaib@leadschoolsdev.wpenginepowered.com.
LEAD Brick Church: Dalona Jones, 616-466-3885, dalona.jones@leadschoolsdev.wpenginepowered.com.
LEAD Neely’s Bend: Blanca Cross, 830-212-3057, blanca.cross@leadschoolsdev.wpenginepowered.com.
LEAD Southeast Middle and High: Marta Sanchez, 615-573-9866, marta.sanchez@leadschoolsdev.wpenginepowered.com.
In the event you are unable to reach a school Family and Community Engagement Coordinator, please call Corey Burton, the Director of Enrollment and Family Engagement, at 615-525-1614. For Spanish services, please call Marta Sanchez at 615-573-9866.
