A 2020 – 2021 END OF YEAR LETTER
FROM
THE MAIN STREET ACADEMY’S GOVERNING BOARD
On March 12, 2020, The Main Street Academy’s (TMSA) leadership, members of the Governing Board, as well as faculty and staff, were attending the Georgia Charter School Association’s Annual Conference. The conference was a chance to meet colleagues from around the state and attend seminars on good governance, strategic planning, curriculum guidance, and many issues related to charter school. We did not wear masks, although there was lots of elbow bumping in place of hand shaking. The world was just beginning to be leery of COVID-19.
Later that evening, TMSA Governing Board would hold an emergency called meeting, closing the school for any in-person instruction. TMSA scholars, effectively did not return to the in-person, face-to-face classes for over a year.
March 2020 essentially marked the end of one school year. It’s when we got a taste of virtual learning. Teachers, students and families scrambled to use Google classrooms, YouTube videos, email, Class Dojo messages and old-fashioned phone calls to finish the 2019-2020 academic school year.
The summer of 2020 brought the full force of impacts from COVID-19 into our lives. By August 2020 TMSA was prepared to begin a new school year, in a whole new way - 100% virtual. We learned how to use Microsoft Teams, OTUS and emails to create new learning environments for our kids. We learned how to make bedrooms, kitchens and cars our new classrooms. Kids learned how to log-in, pay attention, use chat functions, upload assignments, and interact with teachers and friends whom they may have never met in-person.
However, by November the new virtual learning was starting to feel “normal”. Our kids are now masters of their Chromebooks, parents can log into OTUS without looking at the cheat sheet for instructions. Grandma knows when specials are scheduled. Teachers made learning interactive, fun and engaging.
By April 2021, TMSA resumed face-to-face instruction (initially January 2021). Students came to campus May for Georgia Milestones Testing. Teachers found ways to have end of the year celebrations on campus and online.
We have all cried, struggled and laughed to just get through the 2020-2021 school year. Congratulations! We made it through not just another school year, we made it through a global pandemic that re-shaped our world, TOGETHER.
Together we celebrated, too! TMSA celebrated Spelling Bee winners. Students released trout, which were grown in a 7th grade classroom, back into the Chattahoochee River. We completed our 12th Annual Virtual Run -Walk. TMSA installed 55 new Promethean Boards in classrooms and began an enormous basement renovation project. TOGETHER, we learned.
Thank you, parents and guardians, for loving your families and teaching patience to your children. Thank you for your kindness and support to teachers and staff.
Thank you TMSA staff and leadership for finding cleaning supplies when needed, for helping keep the building safe for us all and supporting the faculty.
Thank you TMSA teachers, for not giving up on education. Thank you for not just pointing out problems but being part of the solutions. Thank you for loving our kids and putting learning first.
Thank you TMSA scholars for attending class, virtually and face-to-face with smiles on your faces and joy in your hearts. Thank you for learning reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, Spanish, science, and other classes in new and unique ways. Thank you for helping each other adapt.
Thank you TMSA family for being part of TMSA and helping TMSA to lead the way. Congratulations of the completion of the 2020-2021 school year (the longest ever)! The TMSA Governing Board is honored to serve and looks forward to an amazing year in 2021-2022.
Cheers,
The Main Street Academy’s Governing Board