April 24, 2020 | An Update for the Rest of the Year NOTES FROM SCHOOL LEADERSHIP Garhett Wagers, Headmaster What's the Plan for the Rest of the Year? As we have all heard by now, Governor Abbott issued an Executive Order last week, which states that schools — including public, private, and higher education institutions — will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. In support of our collective efforts to social distance and in accordance with the Executive Order, we will keep campus closed. Distance learning efforts will remain in full force, with a commitment to ... READ MORE Bobbye Hicks, Head of Lower School Distance Learning in Lower School: Week Five! As we approach the last month of the school year, our end of the year routines are also moving into the virtual realm of today's world. Here are a few changes in my work and things we are working to plan as a school. 1. We will work on class rosters for 2020-2021 in the next two weeks. If you have information about your child's learning or social needs that you want us to consider in their next ... READ MORE Matt Burgy, Head of Middle School Distance Learning in Middle School: Week Five! When we began our planning for distance learning, we made a conscious decision to create an environment that was based on Design Thinking principles that was released in phases. This was done very intentionally in order to accomplish a few goals: Like the first weeks of school, we needed to settle into new routines. The first weeks of distance learning were meant to orient our ... READ MORE DISTANCE LEARNING UPDATES Dear St. Mark's Families,
We have completed another week of Distance Learning! Below, we have information on a fun school-wide challenge, along with new tips updates for parents and students as it relates to the technical aspects of Distance Learning. In addition, we are excited to share a document that outlines our recap and next steps for the Distance Learning program at St. Mark's. We are all learning together, and we appreciate your feedback!
Distance Learning Recap and Next Steps Have you been wanting more information about our Distance Learning program? Why have we made the choices we've made? What's next for Distance Learning? Please click here to access a document that outlines our process for Distance Learning.
The following information about the St. Mark's Museum Challenge is also shared as a Topic on class pages in the portal. Museum Challenge to Recreate Famous Art Paintings at Home
The Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California sparked a viral trend of recreating art masterpieces at home by asking online followers to recreate famous artwork with household items. The internet enthusiastically responded with thousands of at-home quarantine masterpieces.
We would love to continue this challenge with our St. Mark's Community! Consider yourself challenged by the St. Mark's Fine Arts department! Send us a picture of your recreation with the famous painting next to it so we can curate our own collection of art interpretations. The album on this page includes examples for inspiration. We will be posting your submitted photos for all to see!
Please turn in your submissions here by next Friday, May 1!
Related resources for the Museum Challenge:
New How-To Guides for Students
Parent Reminders and Updates: Google Meet:
With Distance Learning in place through the end of the school year, we will be introducing student portal logins for 2nd grade students starting next week. More information on how students will login and interact with the portal will be coming from the School and the 2nd grade homeroom teachers next week.
Student Reminders: Google Meet
Missing Assignments (Middle School students)
Don't forget! You can find all of these tips and many other resources on the Parent Student Tips and Tricks Resource Board in the Portal, and many of our teachers are also adding these resources to their specific class groups.
As always, if you need any help or technical support, please email helpdesk@stmes.org.
Sincerely,
Allie Sarahan |