Greetings Vikings,

We are pleased to announce that the District Learning Lab Committee has approved us to begin offering In-Person Learning Labs for our Smith students. For the past two weeks, we held learning labs virtually. As a district we continue to closely monitor community COVID positivity rates and since they have been below five percent for the past two weeks, we have been given the green light and are welcoming our students to face to face learning labs. 

The purpose of the learning lab will be to support students’ remote instruction not replace it. It is possible your child can attend a learning lab 2-4 days a week with each day being two learning labs for an hour each. This will depend on the need and will vary for each student. If you have questions about this, please contact your child’s teacher as they will be sending out invitations.

 Student invitations will go out next week from each teacher at Smith for students who would benefit most from in-person and small group instruction. We have a soft start this week for students who were already scheduled to come in for testing, etc. The total number of students in each teacher’s Learning Lab will start at 3 students per 60 minute session. We will offer two sessions everyday in the afternoon – except on Wednesdays.

In order to attend Learning Labs, the district will run a bus/shuttle for students who receive district transportation. Starting October 12th, students will be picked up from their home elementary schools – River Oaks and Duvall – following the Bus Schedule attached below.

We may increase our number of students to 6 per Learning Lab session in the near future. Parents will also be required to fill out the consent form below. This form must be turned in the first time a student attends a Learning Lab. As a reminder, only students who have been invited by a teacher will be allowed to enter the building for Learning Labs.

All safety guidelines will be adhered to as outlined in the MDE Return to School Road Map. In between the LL periods, there will be a 10 minute transition period to allow for staff to disinfect the classroom and to escort students to and from the door safely to avoid gathering. Teachers will escort and supervise students to avoid gathering. All safety precautions will be taken.

Here is the daily schedule for Smith’s Learning Labs:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday each week:

Session #1: 1:00pm-2:00pm

Cleaning desktops and touchpoints: 2pm-2:10pm

Session #2: 2:10-3:10pm

In closing, I would like to thank you for supporting your child and for your patience as we navigate through these challenging times. We will continue to evaluate all situations and tweak as needed. I assure you that the health and safety of your child is our utmost priority. If you have any questions please contact me or any one of our staff members.

Have a great weekend!

Principal Jebril