It’s been a while since I have touched base, so I want to bring you up to date on some things. I know end of year events like graduation and prom are on everyone’s mind. I’m sorry that answers haven’t come sooner, but we have waited to make decisions as we continue to receive guidance for the State Department of Education, the State of Oklahoma, and the City of Cleveland. It is our utmost desire to have these activities for our students, but we want to follow all guidelines and keep our students and staff as safe as possible.
Graduation and Prom
As restrictions are slowly being lifted, we are beginning to look at possible dates for both prom and graduation. Mr. McArthur has been working with his staff on these issues and will be presenting a plan to me by the end of the week. I will discuss possible dates for both of these events with the Cleveland Board of Education at our next meeting and hope to be able to announce dates next week. We are still working on logistics, but intend to get these details worked out soon.
May 9 Graduation
As most of you know, May 9 was the original date of our graduation. We are just as disappointed as you that we will not be allowed to have our graduation ceremonies at that time. This is an event that we look forward to every year, and are saddened that we have to postpone it. Although it will not come close to replacing the actual event, it is the desire of Cleveland Schools that something special occurs for our Seniors on this day. On Saturday, May 9 at 7:00 p.m., we will post a Senior Graduation Slideshow on our website. This will give us the opportunity to briefly recognize our Seniors on what should have been an important night for them. I want to mention again, however, this is not intended to take the place of an actual graduation ceremony. We intend to announce a new date for our graduation ceremony after next week’s board meeting. This slideshow is simply an opportunity to recognize our Seniors on the day of their intended graduation.
Pre Kindergarten Enrollment
Because of the crazy times we are in, we are handling Pre-Kindergarten enrollment a little differently this year. Beginning Thursday, April 30, we are asking you to call the Primary School office (918-358-2210, option 5) and add your child’s name to our Pre-Kindergarten list. Our goal is to be able better calculate our Pre-Kindergarten numbers for the 2020-2021 school year so we can serve them with the highest standards possible. When you call, we will ask you for some contact information and mail you an enrollment packet. You can mail the enrollment packet back to us with the following necessary documentation. Let us know if you can’t provide the supporting documentation right now and we will work with you to get it later.
- Up to date immunization record
- Birth Certificate
- Proof of Residency
- If applicable – Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB card)
Our enrollment packet is also available for download for those who have the capabilities to print it prior to our official enrollment dates. We will provide those enrollment dates and more information as soon as possible. Please call the Primary School office at 918-358-2210, option 5 with any questions.
New Student Enrollment
If you have a new student who needs to enroll, please call the Administration office at 918-358-2210, Option 1. We are now enrolling new students and we look forward to the opportunity to serve them in the fall. Upon calling, we will set up a time for you to come and enroll your child in person, or will send you an enrollment packet.
Food Service
I am so thankful for our Food Service and Transportation Departments. We provided 36,602 meals to our students during the month of April. That is not a typo. Over thirty-six thousand meals were provided to Cleveland students in the past 30 days. This is just an astronomical number. During a difficult economic time, we have been honored to have the ability to continue to provide for our students through meal service. Thanks go out to Cindy Proctor, Jason Gilbert the food service staff, transportation department, and all of the many volunteers, both certified and non-certified, who have spent many hours making this happen. We will continue to provide meals through the early part of summer, but I wanted to give a shout out to these incredible people and their hard work.
Distance Learning
We have also provided distance learning opportunities for our students over the past five weeks. I have been encouraged by the amount of participation we have had. Many students had the opportunity to improve their grades during this time, and more importantly, we believe that these efforts lessened the loss of learning that took place due to the school closure. It certainly did not take the place of spending these last 7 weeks in school, but we are hopeful that the time put in by our staff and students will help when we return to school in the fall.
Locker Clean Out
Again, as social distancing protocols will allow, we will set up times for you to come to the school to clean out your child’s locker, pick up any personal items, and turn in any school materials. We hope to do this soon, but in the interest of safety, this will not be scheduled until protocols allow. We will give information on this area as soon as we have it.
I want to thank you for your patience during this time. I probably did not answer every question, and those I did answer may not have been answered as completely as we would like, but I will continue to give you the information as I have it. We are working every day to end this spring semester as efficiently as possible. Although we have missed out on some events, it is our desire to give our students as many of the “normal end of year” memories as possible, while taking into account current safety protocols. Thank you for your patience as we continue to work through these unprecedented times.
Alan Baker
Superintendent of Schools