First and
foremost, we want to thank all the students for their patience during these
uncertain times. Their cooperation has been essential as we have moved to
an online environment for learning the next two and half weeks. We will
also take this opportunity to update you on topics for the next few
weeks.
During a time of
unrest or high anxiety, for both children and adults, it is best to have a
routine and stay active. We understand that the more we adhere to a routine and
participate in daily physical exercise, the better we will be able to deal with
the unexpected. Therefore, we suggest that you have a routine for your
children and yourself while you are at home that includes physical activity
multiple times a day. Keep a regular
sleep/wake schedule, get outside for a walk
or a hike with the family or something else that is fun and can be done around
the home, while keeping isolated from others in the community.
The BFA/NWTC
buildings are closed to all outside visitors as we do a thorough cleaning of our
facilities; however, the Academy Street entrance will remain open. If you need to communicate with any of the
staff members or administration, we ask you either call or e-mail us. Our
e-mails can be found on the BFA/NWTC website, under the staff link in the menu
on the left-hand corner of the main webpage.
The faculty at
BFA/NWTC have created work packets for those who do not have internet access or
would like paper. If your child was not here this week, work packets will
be ready for pick up on Thursday, 3/19/20 from 12:00 until 5:00 and from 8:00 -
3:00 on Friday 3/20/20. Please come to the BFA entrance at Academy Drive.
You will be met at the front door. Once we know your student's name, we
will look up his/her schedule and send staff members to the cafeteria to gather
your student's work. We are hoping this whole process will take less
than five minutes.
Additionally, for
families that indicated through our technology survey that they needed a
device, a Chromebook will be provided and available at the same time on
Thursday and Friday during the work packet pick up. Furthermore, if your
family is in need of internet access during this time to support the
maintenance of learning, Comcast is offering free internet through internetessentials.com. There will most likely be a
waiting period, but as we are dealing with an ever-changing landscape it may
not hurt to set this up as we do not know exactly when operations will be back
to normal.
If you have questions
or concerns, we ask that you call your child’s counselor as they will be
assisting with either answering your questions or finding any information you
might need.
Thank you for
your continued support and cooperation.
Sincerely,
Bill Kimball Leeann
Wright
Interim Principal Director
Bellows Free Academy Northwest
Technical Center
