Dear Pivot Charter School Families:
While some of our local districts have set dates in October or November to re-open their schools with different variations of “cohorts” and blended programs a few days a week, I have sought input from staff, local officials, our Governing Board and used the recent parent survey results to decide that our resource centers will remain closed to the public and we will not be implementing the supplemental site-based program that requires staff to be at the resource centers until at least after winter break. Pivot staff have done an amazing job at creating online support in the form of workshops, office hours, and face to face check-ins with students and we are very pleased how well our students are progressing in the independent study program; Pivot was formed over 10 years ago to be a school for “distance learning” and we are proud to be excelling in this field.
This decision was not made lightly. It is based on input from County Health Departments and country wide trends as well as best practices and input from our Governing Board. It is expected that with the holidays and some schools re-opening, cases of COVID-19 will continue to rise. And I do not want to put staff, students or your families at risk when I know that Pivot is exceptional at providing our academic program and supporting students incredibly well without access to the resource centers. The parent surveys for our LCP also demonstrated that there are not many families that want to come to the resource centers right now. All of that input and data informed this decision.
We realize many of you are facing challenging situations right now. Please reach out and let your teachers know if there is anything Pivot can be doing to support you or if there are resources that we can find for you. We care a great deal about each and every student. It is our job to ensure that with the many challenging things happening in our students’ lives, that their education continues and that disruptions are minimized so that there are no detrimental long-term effects on their futures.
If you have any questions, please respond directly to me at jgaskell@pivotcharter.org. I would be happy to discuss your individual situations. Please continue to take care of yourselves and your families and let us know how we can help.
Jayna Gaskell
Executive Director, Roads Education Organization/Pivot Charter Schools