Welcome to Our School

December 1, 2020

Dear Families,

The Union Colony School Board met for our regularly scheduled meeting on Saturday, November 21, and we want to share with you the discussion and plans regarding the return to in-person learning for spring semester. We all recognize the challenges of remote learning and believe that in-person learning is better for the education of our students.

Union Colony greatly values our relationship with District 6 and look to them for guidance in a variety of areas. We recognize the challenges District 6 faces when making decisions for over 20,000 students. However, as a charter school, Union Colony has the responsibility to make decisions independently for our 800 students. Sometimes those decisions mirror those of District 6 and other times they differ.

As of today, both District 6 and Union Colony are planning to return to in-person learning on January 5. However, it is possible that District 6 could decide to delay the return to in-person instruction. If an announcement of that type were to occur, Union Colony would take that into consideration when we make an independent decision as to our plans for the start of the spring semester.

The December Union Colony School Board meeting has been moved up to Thursday, December 17 at 6:30 p.m. If District 6 makes an announcement to continue with remote learning for spring semester, we will make an independent decision for Union Colony at the December 17 board meeting. That decision could be to follow the district and start the semester off with remote learning, but there are also several other possibilities that we may consider. Those include proposals such as a return to in-person learning if we believe we can implement it safely within our small-school environment, the use of waivers for those who wish to return in-person, the delay of the start of spring semester by 1 or 2 weeks if that would allow us to start the semester in-person, the return to in-person learning for select groups of students.

We are all working hard to make the best decision possible during this unprecedented time. We take the health and well-being of our students and staff very seriously – both physical and mental health. We also understand the anxiety that results from uncertainty and the need for families to plan. We are trying to balance that need for planning with the need for time to make an informed decision. We are sending this plan out to our school community in order to avoid any confusion about what the process will be for Union Colony should a decision be made by District 6 to not start the spring semester off with in-person learning.

It is our sincere hope that the level of coronavirus in our community decreases in the coming weeks, not only because that increases the likelihood of us returning to in-person instruction but also because it means our community is healthier and safer. Please take care of yourself and your family during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Sincerely,

Heather Bunyan
Board President