Big Sandy ISD

The buses will depart this morning at 10:00 to deliver meals. Each child's meal sack will include a $20 voucher to Two Rivers courtesy of Ronald L. Dart Evangelistic Association and Church of God Seventh Day in Tyler. Please remember to have someone at the stop! Thank you!!!

Thank you Katie for your amazing essay of HOPE!!! Your positive message is inspirational to us all. While Governor Abbott has closed schools for the remainder of the year, Big Sandy ISD is committed to providing you and your classmates with a memorable graduation. I just know that you and your fellow classmates who are preparing to graduate are going to do amazing things out in our world. This is an experience that will impact and shape your lives in ways that we probably can't even imagine yet...BUT... I am so confident that you will take this experience and strive to make this world a better place!!! We love you all and are so incredibly proud of each of you!!! And...yes..."Our hearts beat strong for the blue and gold!!!" Following is Katie's essay... Right now we are experiencing unprecedented times. Hardly anyone within a lifetime has been through something like this and it’s scary because we are left with a lot of unknowns. I have found myself looking to adults, asking for answers, but they are at a loss as well. It’s a strange feeling to be living through something that no one can compare an experience like this to. However, even though we are unsure during these pressing times, there are some things that we can learn from a time like this. There’s been many times myself, and I’m sure everyone else has wished for a week off of school or a week off from work. We finally got it and it at first seemed like a good thing. As the weeks go on we realize more and more that this isn’t what we wanted. The saying “the grass is always greener” has never been more true. If we can learn anything from this it’s that we shouldn’t wish away simple things in life like going to school, going to work, running errands, and much more because we never know how our life might turn out to be when those things are taken from us. Personally, I am going to come out of this never again taking basic routines for granted. I hope we can all come out of this living in the moment without wishing we were at another point in our lives. To the underclassmen, don’t rush through your days here at Big Sandy. Be thankful for every sport you play, every UIL event, your prom, being in a classroom, and so much more that us seniors might not get back. Just remember that nothing is a guarantee and you should appreciate everything you participate in because you have no idea if that’ll be your last time to get the chance. For my seniors, I hate that our last year together has taken this unexpected turn, but I hope it makes us appreciative that we’ve gotten to spend all these years together. I also hope that when we go back to school in May, I’m staying positive, we make the most out of our time together before we walk the stage. If I know anything, it’s that our class universally will always have a connected bond through what we’ve had to give up, what we’ve lost, and our awareness of how things you’re looking forward to can be taken in an instant. From here on, let’s live without rushing, without complaints about everyday tasks, and value the little things. If there’s any community that can come back from something like this, it’s Big Sandy. The bonds that tie us together will keep us afloat in a time like this. This is a community that won’t fall to a pandemic, won’t forget their seniors, and won’t take our routines for granted once we get them back. We are going to bounce back from this and the repercussions will shape us for the better. Let’s use this catastrophic event and make it into something positive. All in all, we need to remember that what we may think we want is not always what it seems, we need to appreciate things that may seem to be a guarantee, and we need to remember that we can and will come back from this. We will have a greater sense of gratitude and we will be thankful for the moments we get to spend together. “Our hearts beat strong for the blue and gold,” we are Big Sandy. Katie Parker, Student Council President

Just a reminder-Big Sandy ISD will be delivering meals again this morning. Our buses will depart the school at 10:00. Remember, someone needs to be at the bus stop to receive the meals. Thank you so much for participating! Last week we served 3,980 meals. Thanks everybody!!!

Thank you parents for participating in our "Drive Through" Kindergarten Roundup today!!! We can't wait to welcome our students in the fall!!!

Just a reminder-Big Sandy will deliver meals again this morning; however, our buses will depart at 10:00 instead of 9:30. Please be at the bus stop to receive student meals for the week. Thank you so much for participating in our meal service during this time of school closures.

I would like to remind our families that our lunch delivery service will continue on Monday; however, our buses will leave school at 10:00 instead of 9:30. Remember, our meals are for the week and we ask that someone be at the bus stop for delivery. Thank you for participating!

Governor Abbott announced earlier today that schools would be closed for the remainder of this 2019-2020 school year. The Texas Education Agency and Commissioner Morath will be providing schools with additional guidance regarding graduation and other important information in the coming days. We will continue to follow our regular school calendar and administrators will continue to work together with the staff to find ways to support our students academically for the remainder of the school year. Again, we want to thank our families for your support during this challenging time. You have all been amazing during this period of "at-home" learning!!! Please know that we are missing your children and we are committed to supporting them throughout this process. Remember...together...we will get through this.

Big Sandy ISD will once again have drop off locations for student school work today from 9:00-7:00. The drop off for elementary school work is in the north end elementary pick-up area. Secondary students should drop their work off in front of the high school. Thank you!!!

We at Big Sandy ISD are missing our students, staff, and our families so very much! As Easter approaches, we want you to know that we are thinking of you ALL! Let's be strong, determined, courageous, and have faith! TOGETHER...we will get through this! We miss you all!!!

Before social distancing, each person with #COVID19 spread the virus to 2.5 more people. At that pace, most would get it, and many more people would die. But we can slow the spread. That’s why we all #StayHome. #ApartTogether we slow Coronavirus.

On Monday, March 30th, Big Sandy ISD moved from providing "Grab and Go" lunches to providing meal delivery to student homes for the week. The district ran all bus routes with drivers and their helpers leaving at 9:30. Any children 18 and under were eligible to receive the meals at no cost. The district launched a telephone campaign to assist parents in completing the necessary surveys. Over 300 students received breakfast and lunch for the week with over 3,000 meals being delivered to Big Sandy families. If anyone did not receive meals this week, but would like to be added to the list for next week, please email Joan Ford at jford@bigsandyisd.org. by Thursday, April 2nd, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. Big Sandy ISD would like to thank all of their families for their participation. Also, the district wanted to send a special "shout out" to the workers and volunteers that assisted in the successful launch of this new district initiative.

As announced yesterday, Big Sandy ISD will remain closed until May 4th based on Governor Abbott’s Executive Order. The district is committed to providing educational services through on-line resources as well as packets. Round two packets have been mailed to all families in the district that have children in Pre-Kindergarten through the twelfth grade. Packets include assignments through May 1st. Since students will miss direct instruction for a six week period, assignments are now required. This will help teachers to determine mastery of skills for our students. Beginning Tuesday, April 7th, the district will provide a “drop-off” for school work. Work may be dropped off in the container from 9:00-4:00 each Tuesday while school is closed. Secondary drop-off is in front of the high school. Elementary drop-off is in the “pick-up” area of the north end parking lot. Student work needs to be in the original envelope with the student name on the outside. We realize this is a difficult time for our families, but please know that we are committed to providing the necessary support and help to assist students in achieving success. Remember, all teachers are available to assist each school day from 7:35-3:45. Please do not hesitate to email them for additional assistance and support. Big Sandy ISD wants to send a huge “shout-out” and “thank you” to all of our families!

COVID-19 Update from Governor Abbott’s Desk... Governor Abbott, at his 2:00 press conference today, Tuesday, March 31st, 2020, issued an Executive Order to shut down ALL schools in the state of Texas from midnight, Friday, April 3rd through Friday, May 1st. This means that our current school closure will be extended through Friday, May 1st, with an anticipated return date of May 4th. Food service and instructional resources will continue to be provided for all students. Please check out our website for all of our resources. Go to “District Info” and click on SCHOOL CLOSURE INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES and you will be able to access lessons and resources from each grade level and department. Lessons and resources are updated on-line regularly and additional learning materials for April have been mailed to each of our students. Our staff is available to you from 7:25-3:45 each day and will be contacting each family to provide support for each student as needed while we are learning at home. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to campuses on Mondays through Thursdays from 8:00-11:30 if you should have additional questions or email staff members directly. As a district, we recognize that this is a difficult and challenging time for everyone, but we are here to support and help our families as needed. Remember, Big Sandy ISD is providing lunch delivery for the week on Mondays. If you did not get signed up this week, but would like to participate in the future, please email Joan Ford at jford@bigsandyisd.org. Thank you parents! You are the BEST!

The Love Big Sandy Project will be distributing food boxes to our local Senior Citizens and Big Sandy ISD students this Friday, March 27th from 10:00-12:00 at the Love Big Sandy Project building located on Broadway. If you should need delivery, please message 903 720-6033 or 903 812-0606.

On Monday, March 30th, Big Sandy ISD will deliver meals to student homes for the week. We will run all bus routes with drivers and their helpers leaving the school at 9:30. We are able to deliver meals for the week in one delivery, but we need parents to complete our survey. Any children 18 and under are eligible to receive meals at no cost. The district is launching a telephone campaign this week to assist parents in completing the surveys. The goal is to deliver meals to every family residing in our district. https://forms.gle/qrAKfTfCReSNL9em9

COVID-19 Update from Governor Abbott’s Desk Governor Abbott, at his 12:00 press conference today, Thursday, March 19, 2020, issued an Executive Order to shut down ALL school districts in the state of Texas from midnight, Friday, March 20, 2020 through midnight, Friday, April 3rd. This means that our current school closure will be extended through April 3rd. Food service and instructional resources will continue to be provided for all students. Please check out our website for all of our resources. Go to “District Info” and click on SCHOOL CLOSURE INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES and you will be able to access lessons and resources from each grade level and department. Also, the district mailed these same resources to each family earlier this week to ensure accessibility. Please know that our teachers, staff, and administration are continuing to diligently work on ways that we can be of service to our families. If you should have questions, please email teachers, staff members, or administration and we will respond as quickly as possible. We want to thank all of our families for all that you are doing to help support the education of our children during this time. You are such an important partner in all that we attempt to do here at Big Sandy ISD. As always, our parents are the best! Once again, we want to thank all of our educational partners and we will continue to push out information to our families and community as it becomes available.

Big Sandy ISD wants to send a "Shout Out" to our Child Nutrition Department Employees as they are working daily to meet the needs of our students during this school closure. Grab and Go lunches are continuing to be provided each day from 11:30-1:00 behind the school.

Hear ye, Hear ye: The Big Sandy Administration Team met today to discuss our approach to the closure of our school district. We have decided on several items that we want to share with you all. 1. At-Home Instructional Resources- We will use both high tech and low tech approaches to provide resources to our children during our closure. ---High tech approaches involve on-line programs, on-line software, etc. You can access the Big Sandy Website for more information about these topics. ---Low tech approach is to provide packets of educational materials to each child in our school. Teachers will work to gather materials to send home to each child. These packets will be mailed to the address that we have for each child. 2. The Big Sandy ISD will serve a "grab-and-go" lunch to each child, each day. These lunches need to be requested at this link: https://forms.gle/j3J3qUZaBiEPS1Tv9 There are instructions in the link for pick-up. 3. Due to the social isolation aspect of this COVID-19 outbreak, we will maintain a skeleton staff during the closure, and only those individuals that are required to be here will be. You may experience delays in return calls or you may trouble reaching someone on campus or in the Business Office. Please be patient with us during this time of closure. 4. The Texas Education Agency has cancelled all state testing for the 2019-2020 school year, so there will be no STAAR or EOC exams to be taken. The TEA is waiting on an answer from the Federal Govt on a waiver for the TELPAS exam (test for English language learners). 5. There is no organized practice whatsoever for the week of March 16-20. A decision will be made toward the end of this week for future practice times. 6. Our School Board will consider adopting a resolution to pay our employees during this time of closure. We are thankful to have a School Board that truly cares about our staff and does not want to see the staff pay affected by this emergency closure. 7. Re-opening School decisions will be made in the coming weeks. There are several considerations we have been given to take note of before we make a decision to re-open. 8. PROM WILL NOT BE CANCELLED, but it may be postponed. We are going to have a Prom for our kids, no matter what. We will have to decide what is going to be available to us at the time of the Prom. Right now, the Prom is still on as scheduled, but we may receive information in the coming days that forces us to change our date or venue. Please be patient as we work through all of these challenges. We understand the burden that this closure has placed on our families and community, but please know that we are in uncharted territory and are doing the best we can. Information will be shared with you daily, so that you can stay abreast with what we are dealing with in your child's school district. Communication is the key to all of being on the same page and understanding the decisions that are being made. Go Wildcats!

Attention Big Sandy ISD Community: In effort to continue to provide for our students and families, Big Sandy ISD will be providing lunch for all children under 18 years of age regardless of enrollment or economic status. Starting Tuesday and running all week, a "grab and go" lunch will be provided, free of charge, from 11:30am-1:00pm, at the back of the school, at the bus drop off area. Thank you for letting us serve the community during this challenging time. If you would like to have a meal prepared for your children, we have created a form just for planning purposes. Please click the following link: https://forms.gle/j3J3qUZaBiEPS1Tv9 Go Wildcats!

Its a great day to be a Wildcat!