Green Dot Public Schools Tennessee Re-Entry Updates 2/14

GDPST Family,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for continuing to partner with Green Dot Public Schools TN. At no other time in our history has it been more important for our organization to lead green. If you are a member of the Green Dot team, you know what it means to "lead green" and understand how each principle uniquely applies to everything we have been doing over the past eleven months of distance learning. For our valued stakeholders who are not privy to this very inside terminology, there are five principles that drive the work that we do in transforming public education:

Since safely reopening schools for in-person instruction three weeks ago, we have come to a greater appreciation of these principles as they have come to represent all of the effort and commitment exhibited to make re-entry a success. Everyone has been working together to ensure the past three weeks have gone off without a hitch. The classified staff, janitorial team and nutrition services have offered support on every campus that has been invaluable to the daily operations of each campus. Our teachers have risen to the challenge, not only providing quality instruction to the students who have chosen to return to the building but also making sure the students who remain at home are included in daily instruction. Our principals have had to stretch themselves and their teams to ensure the safety plans that they so painstakingly created are executed with fidelity each day, maintaining the health and wellbeing of students and staff.

Green Dot Public Schools TN will continue to lead green through the pandemic and beyond. We will work to make sure the students we serve continue to receive a quality education, whether it is in-person or through distance learning. We will continue lead green by being TEAMSTRONG as we continue to work together to provide safe spaces for students in need of mental and physical support while we continue through these challenging times. We will OWN IT as others around us question the decisions we've made to re-enter the buildings for in-person learning. We will STRETCH IT to make sure we are bridging the gaps for students who are already academically underserved, championing all efforts to mitigate learning loss. We will GET IT RIGHT because everything we do is ALL ABOUT THE STUDENTS.

As always, we want to reiterate our beliefs regarding students returning to the school buildings:

First, if each of us enacts safety measures with fidelity, schools will be safe for students and staff.  With over 94% of districts in Tennessee offering In-Person Learning options, health department records indicate that there is little virus transmission inside schools. At GDPST, safety precautions have been carefully planned: school supervision plans have been reviewed and rehearsed; rooms are configured to ensure proper distancing; protective equipment is on site and ready for distribution; and, teams are receiving training and practice needed to execute daily expectations

Second, this is an equity issue for our students. We have always contended that students learn best in-person. Now that science deems it safe enough to provide that option, we must act to ensure our students get the best learning environment possible.

Please feel free to reach out to your school administrators if you have any questions.