The following is an emergency message from Durango School District 9-R. Due to inclement weather, all in-person learning and activities will be cancelled today, Tuesday, January 19, 2021. Continued snow accumulations are expected throughout the day making travel conditions challenging. Remote learning will resume for in-person learners, while preschool, childcare and kids’ camp are all cancelled. Remote meal services are also cancelled today.

Should we have a weather situation that prevents the safe opening of schools for in person learning, we will pivot to remote instruction for the day rather than call a snow day. This will be our practice with inclement weather for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year.

From January 11 through January 29, Monday through Friday, remote meal service bus route locations will continue to run as previously scheduled and site pick up times will be reduced to a 30-minute window. Families do not need to sign-up for meal services during this time, and any child age 0-18 are eligible for the meals, which include a fresh breakfast and lunch option. Please see the bus route schedule on the Food and Nutrition page of the website.

Our Return to In-Person Learning Task Force met again this morning to review the new state guidance that was released after our Return Matrix was presented to the community. We recognize the challenges our families are experiencing due to the school closures and are committed to getting our children back to school as soon as possible. That being said, we also want to make sure that we do so in a manner that will not require another closure this Spring, barring of course, any major changes in the status of the pandemic and local transmission rates and risks.

CAGT is the Colorado Association of Gifted and Talented. The state conference was held virtually Oct. 19-20. GT students were invited to submit a piece of art interpreting the theme: Through Their Eyes: A Wider Lens of Gifted.

Delia Bong, a 7th Grader at Escalante Middle School won 2nd place out of entries from all over the state.
Title: 2020 in a Nutshell
Delia's Description: "I wanted to represent 2020 and how it has been a complete disaster, but I also wanted to show that there is still hope in the world during the tragedies of today."
Delia is the daughter of Sarah and Matt Bong. Way to go Delia! You are an amazing artist and we look forward to seeing more of your work!

Happy New Year 9-R families!

As you may know, our community transitioned to Level Orange on Friday of last week with regard to the COVID-19 impact in our community. With that change, we will look forward to elementary children returning to in-person learning next week. As per a Durango 9-R Matrix developed in conjunction with teachers and staff prior to the holidays, elementary-aged children who had been previously served five days a week may now return for in-person learning two days a week, Mondays and Tuesdays, while at Level Orange. Watch for more communications and details on this return from your child's school.

We hope this message finds you safe and healthy as we move into our winter break scheduled from December 20 to January 4. Students will resume with remote learning on January 5, 2021. We have developed a matrix that outlines what our actions will be in response to our community COVID-19 transmission rate, that aligns with the level of risk and transmission in the re-opening phase as issued by San Juan Basin Public Health (SJBPH).

Escalante Middle School staff and students have been supporting Christmas dinners for families in need for several years now. Even in COVID times, this amazing school community has pulled it together again, and plans to distribute 50 full Christmas meals to 50 school families, including the turkey and homemade apple pies!

As the holiday season is upon us, the Nutrition Services team is assembling 1,000 meal packets, containing 5,000 total meals, to be distributed to students on Friday, December 18, 2020. These packets include a breakfast and a lunch for 5 days, as well as recipe cards and instructions for keeping the food fresh. Extra bags are also being prepared for those identified families that regularly access meal supports but are unable to order online or pre-order.

Earlier this fall the Return to Learn task force was formed, comprising teachers and administrators from all school sites, with the purpose of reviewing the current Return to Learn 9-R Plan and making proposed changes to the plan based on the current public health situation in the area. Currently the task force is evaluating and creating the data points that will help drive the district timeline decisions for returning to in-person instruction, and the variations that will be considered in learning models and needs depending on local health data and availability of school supports and resources.