Dear Parents and Community Members:

 I hope this message finds you and your families safe and well. As you may already know, Governor Pritzker announced today that he is ordering all schools closed for the remainder of this school year.  This is not what anyone wanted to have happened, but it is as many of us expected this issue to play out.  Our Remote Learning Plan has been working well, and we will continue with this plan for the rest of our regularly scheduled school year.  I want to emphasize how proud I am of all the teachers, staff, and students at A-C Central for how you have ALL responded to these crazy circumstances.  Day after day I get feedback from people telling me stories of how people here at AC Central are showing kindness, positivity, and are continuously working hard to stay focused and engaged in our tasks.   

 Like you, we are saddened by the reality that our school community will not be able to reconvene in person this school year due to this public health crisis. So many of you have worked so hard to learn and grow in both the classroom and in extracurricular activities that today’s announcement may feel like a step back. 

Having said that, today’s announcement will result in multiple significant scheduling changes in our district. As this announcement about the end of the school year was just made by Governor Pritzker this afternoon, it will take us a few days to sort out the many schedule details that are on the books including such events as such as Prom and Graduation.  Our administrative team will be discussing these issues at length and we will get more information pushed out to so as soon as we can.  I can tell you now that we will not be holding final exams, and the last day for our remote learning for this school year will be May 29.   

These are far from ideal circumstances, but I believe A-C Central is navigating through this mess like no other school district.  It’s a still great day to be a KNIGHT!  

Sincerely, 

Tim Page

A-C Central Community Unit School District No.262

501 W. Buchanan St. / P.O. Box 260, Ashland, IL  62612

Mr. Timothy M. Page, Superintendent

 (217) 476-8112     Fax (217) 476-8100

“Preparing today’s Students for Tomorrow’s World.”

Remote Learning Plan

Communication: The District will communicate regularly to all staff via email, Schoolreach, school Website, and the School Facebook page.  Principals will communicate to its staff via email, Schoolreach, and Zoom conference calls.  The schools will communicate to the families via Schoolreach messages, Teacherease email, school webpage, and the school Facebook page.  Teachers will communicate with their students via email, school website, Teacherease, Zoom/Google Hangouts, and group texts. (Staff will not directly communicate with students through personal email, text, or personal social media.)

Lunch/Breakfast:  Lunch/Breakfast will continue to be made available in a grab and go format from 11:30 – 12:30 each weekday at each building.  Packet drop off/pick up will be done at this same time.

Attendance:  For the Purposes of Remote Learning, ISBE has determined that all students are present.

ISBE Guidelines: In an effort to support student engagement during remote learning, the district has outlined maximum student engagement times by each student in remote learning activities.  All minutes are inclusive of digital interaction and assigned work.

Students with 504/IEPs:  Staff will reach out to each student to set up a phone/video conference. Accommodations will be agreed upon during the conference and verified with a letter that must be signed and returned to the building principal by the parents. 

• A-C Central will focus on keeping children emotionally and physically safe, fed and engaged in learning.

• Student work will focus on review and retainment.  New content may be introduced at teacher discretion.
• We will provide opportunities that include a blend of real-timed, flexibly timed, digital and non-digital options that best fit our students and families and focus on essential standards
• We will focus on the whole child and social-emotional learning - making connections with kids.
• We will focus on the continuity of learning and creating learning environments that are inclusive of all learners.
• We will serve students with exceptionalities to the greatest extent possible by tailoring remote learning so that provides educational benefits to all.

At any time during this closure, please reach out with questions to you building principal:

Deb Rogers, Elementary  Principal (217) 458-2224

Candi Shaver, MS-HS Principal: (217) 476-3312

Suggestions for Additional Family Activities 

• Reading, e.g., independent reading, listening to someone else read, audiobooks 
• Puzzles, Word Searches 
• Write a story or in a journal 
• Count money  
• Draw a map of your neighborhood 
• Building with blocks or Legos 
• Listen to a podcast 
• Watch a documentary 
• Take a walk 
• Dance 
• Exercise 
• Fine/gross motor activities 
• Stretch or do yoga 
• Play a sport 
• Listen to music or sing 
• Playing (inside or outside) 
• Creative arts 
• Coloring or drawing 
• Imaginative play 
• Meditate/Pray
• Do something you’ve been avoiding 
• Clean up your room 
• Do age appropriate chores 
• Gardening 
• Fix something broken 
• Take care of pets or plants 
• Cook or bake 
• Write a letter to someone 
• Play board games with a family member 
• Tell jokes or riddles 
• Build a fort and tell stories in it

JB Pritzker’s current order is to use Act of God Days through March 30.  Later, the Governor ordered schools to remain closed through April 7, but he has not yet made any determination regarding how the school should treat these days regarding attendance and academics.  I fully expect that we will be under some type of E-Learning mandate.  I also expect that there will be yet another extension of the school closure.  With this in mind, I have met with our administrative team, and we are attempting to make sure devices get in the hands of every student and that every student will have some type of access made available for them to get on the internet.  This will allow all students to utilize our teachers' e-learning plans to their fullest extent including some digital interactive time with their teachers and classmates, and then we will be better able to continue progressing through our curriculum using this platform.

Also -  Please know that CassComm has opened up all of their public hotspots for free.  There are many local areas where this is available.  Please see their webpage for these locations and remember to continue to exercise appropriate social distancing if utilizing these services.

https://home.casscomm.com/wifi-hotspots/

While those plans materialize, let me leave you with this:

Lunches/Breakfasts are still being provided in a grab and go format from each building from 11:30-12:30 every weekday.

For those who received packets from their teachers before we dismissed and they have been completed, you may bring those back to the school and drop them off during the same time as lunch is being made available.  We will get them to the teachers for you.

When I have more information, I will push it out to you.

Thank you and stay safe!

I hope that this message finds you well.  I want to share that all Sangamon area school districts that attended the Career Fair received the message below from Mary Jo Wood, Director, Regional Office of Career & Technical Education.

AC Central had many sophomores attend this Career Fair. While the risk for contamination was low, we believe it important to share with everyone out of an extreme abundance of caution. 

"Our office was given information late last night that one of our representatives at Career Day was the third person in the county to test positive for the coronavirus.  She was representing the State Treasurer’s Office.  There was minimal exposure as she was one booth that not many students approached.  She was behind an 8-foot table with her back to the wall.  Those students not approaching her and that were in the aisle in front of her table were 8 to 10 feet from her.  She is recuperating at home.

Per Conversation with the health department, the health department will reach out to those who were in direct contact with her per their review and evaluation of her.

If anyone experiences symptoms they are to contact their physician or call their local health department.

Cass County: (217) 452-3057

Morgan County: (217) 245- 5111

Sangamon County:: (217) 321-2606

Menard County: (217) 632-7864

Per the Sangamon County Department of Public Health (SCDPH) along with Memorial Health System, HSHS St. John’s Hospital, Springfield Clinic and SIU Medicine have issued this joint communication:

“If you have had limited contact with a person under quarantine, you do not have to go into quarantine yourself, but you should stay away from others as much as possible. “Limited contact” is defined as being at least six feet apart from the quarantined person for 10 minutes to up to two hours. If you have had contact with an individual under isolation, you should be quarantined.”

We certainly appreciate your patience as we work through this together.  Thank you for your cooperation.

As the Coronavirus dominates the news cycle, we wanted to put some basic information out that will just remind everyone of how best to prevent infections.  Basically, the Illinois Department of Health recommends the same procedures for avoiding other illnesses such as the common cold or flu.

The IDPH recommends the following precautions in preventing any virus:

• Washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
• Avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoiding close contact with people who are sick.
• Staying home when you are sick.
• Covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

While we obviously encourage students to attend school regularly, it is important for parents to remember that our policy has always been and will continue to be that if a student displays symptoms such as a fever or vomiting, they should not attend school or school functions for at least 24 hours after the symptoms have subsided. 

The following are informational links for schools to use:

CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Illinois Department of Public Health
http://www.dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/diseases-and-conditions/diseases-a-z-list/coronavirus