Lincoln Families,
Welcome Back from Spring Break. While we aren’t returning from this break with sun-kissed skin, sand in our shoes, souvenirs from exotic destinations or fun travel stories to tell, I’m confident that this Spring Break will not soon be forgotten. I’m hopeful that the lessons of genuine kindness, compassion and community outreach we gain daily from this human experience will continue to humble us and remain with us long after this storm passes.

Like many of you, I’ve passed the days bingeing on Netflix, pacing my home, eating too much and spending too much time scrolling through social media. While getting lost in the abyss of Facebook posts, I did come across this gem and though it might make good content for today’s Lincoln Log. Here is a voice recording I made of this post that helped put things into better perspective or me. Enjoy:

There is no parent or teacher playbook for what we are collectively experiencing, so as we venture into our second week of E-Learning, I’d like to thank you for the outpouring of support that our community has displayed for our teachers. E-Learning is new for us as well and I couldn’t be prouder of the behind the scenes efforts such as planning, collaboration and communication that our Fine Fine teachers have been extremely engaged in as they navigate these uncharted waters and prepare meaningful virtual-learning experiences for our kids. With little notice our teachers accepted this challenge and have quickly become See-Saw experts and frequent participants in Google Hangouts and Zoom meetings….logging more screen time in one week than they likely have in years! A teacher’s craft and magic is best displayed “live and in action,” and since we are currently on hiatus from “teaching as we know it,” this week D-90 is providing our teachers with a virtual teacher work-day on Wednesday, April 1. This day will provide our faculty the opportunity to virtually collaborate with their peers and the opportunity to support and refine their E-teaching craft. Therefore there will be no E-Learning on Wednesday. (No this is not an April Fools prank :-))

The most perfectly executed E-Learning lesson pales in comparison to any lesson our teachers could deliver within the walls of their classroom. While we will keep flooding your child’s See-Saw account with meaningful and standards based assignments, PLEASE DON’T WORRY ABOUT THEIR POTENTIAL FOR ACADEMIC REGRESSION. Teachers are experts at course correction and when our doors reopen the Fine Fine teachers at Lincoln will be there to support every child and their family. These are unprecedented times that WILL pass. At the end of all this, your child’s social emotional well-being will be more important than any math or reading lesson. The memory of this collective human experience we are living though will remain with them and each of us longer than any See-Saw post or E-Learning lesson. Simply put avoid confrontation or argument about submitting the perfect assignment or having the correct answer…..be there for your kids, listen, reassure and give lots of hugs. Our kids take their cues from each of us, therefore for the duration of E-Learning they can look forward to a daily embarrassingly silly Morning Message from me and unconditional virtual love from everyone at Lincoln.

Finally, before we start the week, I’d like to take a moment to express the Lincoln community’s collective gratitude to all the Lincoln families who daily put their lives at risk to keep each of us safe. The Lincoln community is full of heath care professionals and various other essential workers, who have not been afforded the opportunity to quarantine like many of us. Therefore, this week, I will be challenging our kids to create cards, signs and other messages that will be delivered to area hospitals and hung in areas to reassure our doctors, nurses and other health care professionals that we are sending lots of “Lincoln Love” their way. Beginning tomorrow, there will be a plastic container outside of the Park Avenue entrance to our school. Please drop off any signs or messages by Thursday, so these messages can be delivered to our local hospitals to show our much needed appreciation!

As always, thank you for your unconditional support of Lincoln. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if there is anything more I can do to better support your kids or family. Like each of you, I long for the return to “life as it was.” Until that day comes, please tell your kids that myself and everyone at Lincoln loves and misses them more than words can express. Lincoln Love to you all. Be Well. ~CG

In case you missed it last week, here is the video we created to welcome kids back from Spring Break: https://vimeo.com/401426517