Good Morning Dixon Families,
Preparing for a new school year is always an exciting time. The staff members at all our schools are truly looking forward to seeing students once again. Our main goals for this year are listed below.
- Provide a safe environment
- Continuity of Education - Ensure essential learning standards are covered
- Prepare kids for a totally remote environment
With these goals in mind there has been extensive planning and preparation for the means by which we will deliver instruction. The purpose of this message is to provide clarification on how the district is approaching the distribution of Chromebooks to its families. All teachers will be utilizing technology to deliver instruction to a much greater extent this year. Our blended and remote instructional models will require teachers to use online resources. This means that students will need to have access to devices to allow them participate in online instruction. Last semester we surveyed our families to determine who needed a device and also those that did not have internet access. Parents and guardians have been responding to this request again for the upcoming semester. Currently, the district does not have enough Chromebooks for every student. Our goal is to identify homes that have no personal devices at all and also those that do not have internet access. We appreciate parents who have been reaching out to determine what types of devices would work. If you already have any of the devices listed below you would not need to borrow a device from the district.
- Chromebook
- Desktop
- Laptop
- Smart phone
- Tablet – Apple or Android
Last year we started a 1 to 1 program at Dixon High School which put a Chromebook into the hands of every high school student. Through additional state funding we will be able to do the same for our middle school students this year. However, we are not expecting delivery of these devices until mid to late September. This is due to the increased demand across the entire country. We truly wish our resources would allow us to provide all students with a Chromebook. We understand that there may be homes where there are not enough devices for everyone in the household to have one of their own. In these situations, we ask that families develop a system to share the devices you have available. Our teachers will be recording their lessons for students to access instruction at any time which means all students within a household do not need to log in and complete their work at the same time. Teachers will be doing some live instruction as well; however, these lessons will be recorded to allow students to view the lesson when they have access to a device.
If you had previously requested a Chromebook, but after reading the above information now know you do not need to borrow one please contact Jane Gascoigne at jgascoigne@dps170.org or call (815) 373-4966 extension 5100.
If you requested a Chromebook loaner you will be contacted in regards to pickup date.
We are truly looking forward to seeing our students again. Our overall desire, no matter what the situation, is to make our district a great place for students to learn. Thank you for taking the time to review the above information.
Doug Stansford
Assistant Superintendent