Superintendent's Message 4/30/20
Dear Lawrence Families,
In mid-April, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy extended the executive school closure order through May 15, 2020. We acknowledge continued school closures are difficult for students, staff, families and our entire community. This was disappointing news for all of us: students miss their friends and teachers, and we miss our students.
Our prolonged closure raises questions for students and families. Will we reopen during the current school year? Can we return to school in the fall? Will we remain closed and continue remote instruction? Will we have a combination of both?
As we await the governor’s decision regarding school closures for the remainder of this year, we are working to answer your questions as soon as possible. Our entire administrative team is working diligently to plan for a variety of scenarios, not only for the remainder of this school year but also for the summer and looking ahead to next fall.
Remote Instruction—we continue to research platforms other than Google Meet and Zoom, looking to find something that not only meets our instructional needs but also functions well on a chromebook.
Class of 2020—as the end of the school year approaches, our seniors may be increasingly disappointed as one by one, events they have looked forward to throughout high school are canceled or modified to observe social distancing. High school administrators and district communications are engaging with seniors to celebrate them and their milestone in various ways. The Project Graduation committee, composed of parents and community members, is delivering lawn signs sharing Cardinal Pride to each senior’s home. To further support our seniors, general graduation celebratory lawn signs are available for purchase from the Project Graduation committee. https://lhsprojectgraduation.org/2020/04/21/purchase-a-lawn-sign-2020/
We will make decisions about the prom and graduation once we learn the governor’s decision about this school year. We discourage car parades as it encourages participants to relax social distancing in the excitement of seeing friends.
Fall Sports—the athletic department is providing rising 9th through 12th graders with a means of signing up for fall sports by emailing the various sports’ head coaches. If we return to school this school year, students will be able to sign up at school also.
Meal Distribution—our food services and transportation departments, in addition to other district staff and volunteers, continue providing lunches for almost 500 students, delivering three days of meals at a time. If you know of anyone who needs lunches, have them email lunch@ltps.org.
Next week, May 4-8, is Teacher Appreciation Week. If you have a chance, please pause and take a minute to thank a teacher(s). We also want to celebrate our fabulous, dedicated teachers and are going to solicit and post via our district Facebook page student messages of appreciation for teachers. If you care to participate, please email to ltpssocial@ltps.info a very short video of your child thanking a teacher or a photo of your child holding a sign expressing their sentiment. Feel free to include your child’s first name and the teacher’s name in the body of the email or in the video and submit your appreciation email by noon on May 8.
We will continue to support our students and families during this difficult time. We are committed to delivering the very best education possible in these unprecedented circumstances and to doing all we can to support students’ well-being. We are a strong community, and we will get through this together because we are #LawrenceStrong.
With gratitude,
Ross