Dear Manhattan 114 Families,
I hope that my message continues to find each and every one of you doing well, both physically
as well as emotionally. As I am sure you are well aware of by now, this afternoon Governor
Pritzker announced that schools will be closed for the remainder of the year. Knowing full well
that this was a possibility and anticipating this announcement, our administration and entire staff
have been working very hard to prepare for this possibility.
I am certain that you will have many questions, and we are working to answer them as quickly
as possible. Some of the questions that you may have and that we will be providing you with
information in future communications, include but are certainly not limited to:
● How many days of Remote Learning will the Illinois State Board of Education require?
● Will the school year end with the current school calendar, on May 29, 2020?
● How will teachers and students pick up all their personal belongings?
● Will there be ESY for our special needs learners?
● Will the curriculum be revised for the beginning of the new school year?
● What will happen to the remaining funds in our parents’ lunch/milk accounts?
● What are the plans for some type of celebration/graduation for our 8th graders who are
graduating?
● What about graduation fees?
● How will students get their yearbooks and/or memory books?
● What happens to 3rd trimester report cards or IEP goal progress reports? Will there be
any final grades? Will there be a pass/fail designation?
I’m sure there are other questions that we will think of over the next few days, as will you. I will
work to communicate the answers as quickly as possible about the aforementioned questions
and any other questions that may arise. For now, we will continue with our current Remote
Learning plan. Remote learning poses many challenges for staff, students, and parents alike.
We appreciate your patience and understanding, particularly during the first week of
implementation as we all became familiar with the framework and addressed some minor
technical issues. In the weeks ahead, we are confident that we will serve students the best way
that we know how in this new environment. We invite you to complete the MSD 114 Remote
Learning Survey (click the link) to provide us with valuable feedback that will help guide us as
we move forward for the remainder of the school year.
I want to continue to remind all of our families that we will continue providing lunches. Meals are
available for ALL of our families. We are also working on plans to continue to make lunches
available to all of our families that need them, through the summer months. Please do not
hesitate to contact Mrs. Sarah Bancsy at sbancsy@manhattan114.org so that we can assure
we have plenty of meals ready to go. Meals are currently being distributed on Mondays and
Wednesdays between the hours of 10:30am - 12:30pm. Those hours will be extended if
necessary.
Additionally, if you find that you still have technology needs, such as a device for remote
learning or internet connectivity, please contact us and we will work to assist you immediately.
Please contact Mrs. Kristen Morphew, kmorphew@manhattan114.org or me, Mr. Rusty Ragon,
rragon@manhattan114.org.
Please “Stay Connected,” stay “Manhattan Strong,” and adhere to the social distancing rules
that are currently in place. We will eventually make our way through this together. We continue
to make the safety of our children, our first priority. While we all want them to continue learning,
we also want to focus on their well-being and happiness during this time. Please let us know if
you need assistance or support. We will continue to stay in touch with all of our students and
families during this incredibly challenging time. We wish all of you the very best and look forward
to hopefully seeing everyone sooner than later.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rusty Ragon,
Superintendent