Dear Friends,
With the month of Ramadan soon coming to a close, Ramadan Mubarak to our Muslim neighbors who are observing. We look forward to wishing each of you Eid Mubarak in the days to come! May this be a meaningful time for families, friends and the wider community.
As the academic school year is ending, we want to salute our teachers, administrators, students and parents for persevering through another challenging year. School can be challenging enough during a normal year — add in a deadly virus, a pandemic, social and political unrest, and a stay-at-home order and you have a recipe for disaster.
Strong leadership from both Orono and Wayzata School Districts enabled new creativity that quickly adjusted to remote teaching and learning. Students were able to remain engaged in the education process while learning something that academics could never teach them: how to handle adversity and be resilient.
Great Expectations (GE) is a collaborative partnership between the Orono and Wayzata School Districts and Interfaith Outreach to ensure every child in our community has access to educational opportunities – from cradle to career. GE’s programming operated differently this year, and the partnership played a key role in supporting students and families to ensure they had access to the internet and tutoring. Many things have changed as a result of the pandemic. But what hasn’t changed is our Great Expectations for each and every student, and Great Expectations of what we can do together!
An important part of the Great Expectations Initiative is its foundational program, Caring for Kids (CfK). This program provides quality early child care and education, parenting resources, and board wrap-around support services for young kids and families. This program has proved to be vital, particularly for those with 0 to 3-year-old children — and indeed the entire community — in the work of preparing our youngest learners for success in school and in life. By providing access and support to families early on, we create a cradle-to-career support system.
A special shout-out to parents and caregivers. Thank YOU! Supporting your child’s learning given the circumstances is not easy. We see you!
Your ED,
Kevin Ward
Executive Director