4/1/2020

Dear Families,

As we all know, Governor DeWine has announced that schools will remain closed through May 1st, and I want to assure students and families that the Shelby City Schools will continue to provide meaningful instruction for the next four weeks just as we have since this closure began on March 16.  However, please know that certain teachers and buildings may tweak things just a bit…so if you are a parent of a Shelby student, please watch for announcements and updates from your child’s building principal.  Also, please keep in mind that you can always go to our district website www.shelbyk12.org to see all district updates, particularly those dealing with our closure and related information on our COVID-19 page.

Just as the Shelby City School District is committed to continuing instruction throughout this closure, we are equally committed to our effort to distribute food to our students, although our process has changed a bit since we first started a couple of weeks ago.  Beginning Monday, April 6th, all food pickup for any students in the District will take place from 11:00-12:00 on each Monday at the middle school; enough food will be distributed to each family so that each child has breakfast and lunch for five days.  Please come to the back of SMS to the loading dock area to receive your food.

May 2 and May 24.  These are two important dates for our seniors; May 2nd was the original date of our prom but because of the closure we know that we will not be able to host prom on that date.  Please know that we are going to do everything we can to find a creative way to still hold prom.  May 24th was our scheduled commencement ceremony and although we have not yet postponed or moved that event, we are exploring dates in the summer in case graduation ceremonies have to be delayed.  Again, please understand, we are working on establishing potential “make up” dates for both prom and commencement; we will certainly share that information once dates have been established to give families sufficient time to make their necessary plans.  Since this closure began, we’ve continually said that creativity and flexibility are going to be important during this challenging time, please know we want to find ways to celebrate our class of 2020!

Finally, I want to thank our entire staff, parents and community for the tremendous support, patience and cooperation throughout this extremely challenging time in; I know we will all continue to work together for the benefit of everyone.  With that being said, I also want to say, I recognize that this is a very, very difficult time in our community.  Families are hurting both emotionally and financially and although we can’t erase this hardship, please know that the Shelby City Schools will be there to help and to support your children and family in any way we can.  And to all of the health care workers, first responders and to everyone on the front line of this crisis, you are truly our heroes and we appreciate and thank you for your tremendous sacrifice and dedication.  Thank you!!

Please be safe, stay strong; go Whippets!

Sincerely,
Tim Tarvin
Superintendent, Shelby City Schools