Message from CEO Eric S. Gordon

CMSD’s decision to begin transitioning from a full Remote to a Hybrid Learning model came after a year of disruption for our students, families and staff.  Since last spring, our school community has worked together to adapt to changing conditions during a pandemic that closed schools across the country and took students and families by surprise. While we had hoped to begin bringing students back to our school buildings far sooner than March 2021, public health data has driven every decision we have made along the way about remote and in-person learning--always with the safety of our entire school community in mind.

The feedback of our school community has been vital in planning and implementing a safe return to our schools in March, 2021. As public health data has continued to improve, CMSD educators have remained fully committed to supporting students and families that opted to transition from a remote to a hybrid learning model this spring. Our back-to-school planning included providing COVID-19 vaccinations for CMSD staff and a phased-in approach for students, with special populations returning the week of March 8, students in Grades PreK-2 and grades 9 and 12 returning the week of March 15, and students in Grades 3–8, 10 & 11 returning to in-person learning the week of March 22.

Weekly messaging, our Hybrid Learning website and CMSD’s Hybrid Guidebook for Families have been vital for acclimating students and families to our planning and implementation of the Hybrid Model, as well as to the health and safety protocols in place to keep our staff and students safe at school.

We know that teaching and learning is best when our students and educators are together in school; however, we continue to be empathetic to the varying comfort levels of our school community during times of uncertainty. For this reason, our school enrollment specialists continue to support families daily at 216.838.3675 as we work together to ensure every child finds success in the learning mode deemed best for them.

The support of our school community throughout the year was instrumental in bridging a digital divide that was laid bare by the pandemic and in providing children and families the help they needed during an unprecedented national crisis. Thank you for your continued partnership in the success of Cleveland’s kids.

Sincerely,

Eric S. Gordon