IMPORTANT UPDATE: 8.25.20 Lyle Schools Will Make a "Soft Start" August 31 - September 4 

- Instruction will start on a small-group hybrid schedule Tuesday, September 8

-  Increased COVID activity requires smaller class sizes

- Teachers will conference with parents to provide training in the online technology families and students need for success 

The week of August 31 - September 4 is now a scheduled "soft start" for Lyle Schools. Our first week of school will now be dedicated to student/family conferences with teachers, during which you'll be able to check out a new laptop for each child and go through some training in the technology you and your kids will need to be able to use this year.  

This change is part of several adjustments we’ve made to reopen school with a hybrid on-site/remote learning schedule. Because of a revised recommendation from the health department, most students will attend on-site ONE day a week.

Classes will start on Tuesday, September 8
In order to set up our students and families for success, we strongly believe we need to make time for families to meet classroom teachers, pick up laptops (every student will receive a laptop from the district to ensure they are set up correctly to work with our technology), and to get a quick run-through on how to log in and join classes.

These meetings will look very similar to Parent/Teacher conferences and will allow the time needed for staff to ensure we are all ready to hit the ground running.

During the week of August 24 through 28, you will receive a call from the school to schedule your time to meet with staff. If you don’t receive a call by Thursday, August 27, please contact the school to set up your meeting. Call 509-365-2211, ext. 120.

In case you're wondering, the health department guidelines limiting the number of people in a room came into play in this decision, as well. Meeting times had to be spread throughout the entire week instead of consolidated into a more traditional open house.

If you haven't already heard, there have been several other last-minute changes in how school will start this year:

• Because of rising COVID-19 activity in the county, the health department has directed us to open with small groups only in the classroom. To meet these requirements, we are currently limited to five individuals per room.

• This means we’ll need to use every spare space in the school in order to meet that requirement. It also means we have to decrease the number of times a student can be at school each week – from two times to just one.

• This means our students will be using technology to participate in class REMOTELY four days a week.

These late changes have forced us to make course corrections when we would normally have our plans firmly locked in place. For this, we sincerely apologize.

As we gear up for the beginning of the school year, we must do what is best for all students, but especially those with the highest educational and support needs.

Our goal is to make the 2020-2021 school year as successful as possible, whether students are physically in the school classroom or learning at home. We are working closely with the Department of Health to safely resume instruction and learning during this extraordinary time.

Again, THANK YOU for your patience and for extending us grace as we navigate the way school will look like for next year.

If you have questions, feel free to email support@lyleschools.org or call the office. More background information is available here.