Author: Carolina McGoey

Dear DHS Students,

We are sorry that circumstances prevented us from wishing you well when schools needed to be abruptly closed.  As I locked the doors to the building on Thursday, I felt a deep sense of sadness, shared by your teachers and our DHS staff, that our community has been disrupted.  As the adults in your lives, we guide you through heartbreaks, failures, losses and disappointments because we have all experienced these things in our own lives. Here we are traversing a new landscape together and the uncertainty can be unnerving.  I find that when things feel uncertain, finding ways to help others reduces worry and gives us a sense of control. So what is within our power to do in these circumstances? 

1. The most important thing you can do is likely going to be the hardest.   Even though friends will be returning from college and you will not be at school, it is important that you limit contact with one another.  With the weather improving and the days getting longer, it will be particularly challenging, but we will only be able to slow the spread of the virus if we remove the conduit for spread – human contact.  As many of you know, I am a biology teacher so I have some credibility when it comes to this advice. Pretend there has been a blizzard and you are snowed in, but the good news is you can go for a walk or read a book in the backyard!
2. Find ways to reach out to one another and remain in contact via technology.  Who would have thought that I would encourage social media? You can experiment with Google Meet to bring groups together to rehearse parts of the musical or share reviews for AP courses.
3. Your teachers will post two weeks of learning materials on Google Classroom by tomorrow morning at 8 am.  You can work through these units together using digital tools and encourage one another to engage in this work. There may be changes to this plan in the coming days, so getting started will be helpful for all. 
4. We do not have much information about AP testing but The College Board has indicated that there will be some limited flexibility with testing dates.  Those of you in AP classes will have units posted on Monday morning and can also take advantage of this time to begin to review. Working together online, you can support one another, reviewing one unit at a time.

To our seniors, leaders of our school community, this situation presents even more disappointments for all of you.  We have you on our minds, and things like the prom, senior internship, etc. will be reviewed as we move forward. We will be in contact with you regularly to keep you informed. 

For those who are having difficulty with this situation, I am attaching resources that are available to you from our support staff at  DHS Parent Resource – Mental Health Supports.  All of your school administrators are working and can be contacted via the emails listed below. If you have anything to share with us or questions for us, we welcome hearing from you during this time.  We are meeting with each other regularly using Google Meet and will share other platforms with you as we experience them.  

We are defined by our Blue Wave Pride and the spirit of community we share.  This is not diminished by our distance from one another. I believe it will be made stronger because we will be reminded of what is truly important as we prioritize those things in a challenging time.  We will find ways to sustain our community in new ways, and I thank you for partnering with us. We already miss you!   

With much fondness,

Mrs. Dunn

Edunn@darienps.org

Mr. Ribeiro

Pribeiro@darienps.org

Mrs. Dimoulas

Kdimoulas@darienps.org

Mr. Mazzone

Mmazzone@darienps.org

Ms. Emanuelson

Memanuelson@darienps.org

Mr. Manfredonia

Cmanfredonia@darienps.org