August 23, 2021
Clackamas Middle College Students and Parents,
I hope all of you had a safe and enjoyable summer. I want to take this opportunity to thank our CMC Community for their patience and flexibility despite the changing nature of school during the last year and a half. For those new to us, welcome! We look forward to working with all families this year to produce a quality education, and your continued patience and flexibility will be key to helping us get through what looks like another challenging school year.
Our top priority at CMC is to safely return students to classes (in-person). To do this, we will be actively collaborating with ODE, OHA, and NCSD to provide the safest education possible. What happens with COVID-19 between now and during the school year may require changes in the state’s response efforts, and CMC's Back to School Plan would be updated to reflect any changes. COVID-19 continues to change with new variants and our knowledge of the mitigation efforts grows over time. For these reasons, the guidance for responding to COVID-19 also changes. Currently, the best tools to protect individuals are vaccination for those eligible, physical distancing, face coverings, ventilation and airflow, handwashing, and staying home if ill or exposed to someone with COVID-19. CMC will follow the Oregon Department of Education’s requirement that all students, staff, and volunteers will wear masks while inside our building (water/food breaks excluded), and while on district transportation. Masks are a critical tool to prevent spread of COVID-19 in a school setting.
Everyone in the CMC Community shares in the responsibility to keep our school community safe and healthy. This responsibility asks each person to both maintain their own health as well as respect the individual decisions of others regarding their own health and safety. This mutual respect shown by adults provides a powerful example for all the students in our community. It is expected that persons exhibiting COVID-like symptoms should NOT enter any of our facilities.
If you haven’t done so yet, please complete the following survey to help us accommodate members of the CMC Community for the 2021-2022 school year. This will help us set up accommodations for students who have computer or internet issues, as well as identified health issues or extenuating circumstances for in-person learning.
CMC staff will work diligently during the next few weeks to schedule students with required high school classes for graduation. Schedules will be made available during the first week back (Tuesday, September 7th). Students in our college programs will take online courses for the fall term through CCC and can access their college schedule through their college account. As updates become available, I will make sure to share any information in a timely manner.
While the specifics of the schedules for students are being completed within the next few weeks, we want to keep families informed of the following information pertaining to the schedule:
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- School will begin for students on Tuesday, September 7th
- Classes will run daily from 8:45am-2:45pm (spacing required for health and safety)
- Most students will be enrolled in a four to five period schedule
- Students are scheduled into classes based on high school and college need
- Students in our college programs will take online courses through CCC
- Student group and club time will be built into schedule
- A daily 45 min-1hour lunch break (spacing required for health and safety) will be provided
- CMC will provide check-ins, community building, social-emotional well-being, opportunities for additional support, college and career guidance, and content area course work
- Daily guidance/support through CMC Counselors and School-Based Therapist
- Specific communication pertaining to the first week back (Tuesday, September 7th) will be sent out next week
We want to ensure reliable school in-person, every school day, for all students, all year long, which focuses on the safety and equity of our CMC Community.
Thanks for your cooperation. We, at CMC, are very excited to work with our new and returning students and families to make this year a safe and successful one! Together, with your partnership, our students will succeed and move toward college and career opportunities while enrolled at CMC.
As always, for information pertaining to specifics of school at Clackamas Middle College, look for weekly emails, letters, or postings on our website (www.clackamasmiddlecollege.org) under Recent News and the Back to School 2021 link located on the Homepage (will be created/updated within the week). Pertinent information will be updated daily.
Take care, stay safe, and enjoy the rest of your summer!
Respectfully,
Brian Sien, Ed. D.
Principal
Clackamas Middle College