Dear Riverside Parents and Families—
I am writing to inform you that starting this coming Monday, March 16, Riverside School will be closed to students for two weeks, including all afterschool student activities. Near the end of this period we will make a determination on whether the campus closure will continue.
Although we do not have any confirmed cases of Coronavirus in our school community, we believe that closing our campus is the best course of action at this time for our families and teachers. This is not a decision we made lightly, and I know that making arrangements for childcare will not be easy for many of our families.
This does not mean that instruction will cease. Riverside will shift to a ‘remote learning model.’ This means that teachers will be communicating with students and families electronically and creating learning experiences for their students.
I ask our families to have patience with us as we enter into new territory for Riverside. While remote learning will not be able to wholly replicate the Riverside experience, our extremely talented and creative teachers will be working to continue your students’ learning.
To that end, Monday and Tuesday of next week will be teacher workdays, where teachers will focus on planning. Wednesday, March 18 will be our first ‘school day,’ and I plan to begin it with an optional 8 a.m. ‘virtual’ Morning Assembly that will be broadcast to all of our families through the Zoom video conferencing platform.
To facilitate that, please download the free Zoom app on whatever computer or device your child will be using. You can find that here: https://zoom.us. On Tuesday morning at 7:30 a.m., I will be sending out an e-mail invitation to all of our parents for our optional practice run from 7:30 to 8 a.m. You will not need to be on for the entire time.
Please look on Monday for email communications from your classroom teacher and from your child’s Language Fundamentals teacher. I am available via email and through my cellphone at (804) 248-9245.
This is a period of disruption for everyone in our nation. Our goal at Riverside will be to maintain for your children the sense of normalcy and support they receive by being part of our community of learning.
Take care, and thank you for your support.
—Hal Waller
Head of School