As we move into the third week of the State Mandated school closure our staff has compiled course work in anticipation of an extended closure period. Currently we have asked our staff to create work that would be sufficient through April 8th, 2020. In most cases, teachers are creating that work and sharing it through various websites/apps and other technology and those who have limited or no access to internet at home are provided work packets. Our early Elementary students are primarily provided work packets and this practice will continue.
Beginning Monday March 30th, we will begin distributing new work packets according the following schedule. Additionally, any completed work that students would like to turn in may also be handed in at this time. Moving forward if students would like to hand in completed work they may do so Monday-Friday at PORTA Central from 9-11am.
Work Packet pick-up
Jr/Sr High—9-11 AM—Monday March 30 at the High school Main Entrance—Only those who need paper only work packets due to lack of internet access need to pick up at this time. Those students whose teachers have communicated to them that the work for their class is in paper form should come in for pick up Monday morning.
PORTA Central—9am-1PM—Monday March 30 at PORTA Central main entrance—Again paper only packets will be picked up at this time. Report cards will be mailed to all grade levels and 3rd grade paper only packets will be mailed with those report cards. So no pickup will be necessary for third grade students.
Petersburg Elementary-9-11 AM and 5-7PM on March 30th at the AM/PM parent drop off and pickup doors on the south side of the gym.
Completed work packet drop-off
Completed packets can be dropped off during the listed pick-up times or M-F 9-11AM at PORTA Central.
Please remember that the goal in providing these educational opportunities is to create some continuation of education for our students, work will not negatively impact your student’s grade and in fact can only help your grade improve.
If you currently have no access to internet the following information may be beneficial while our school closure continues. We understand that having internet access can be costly and in many of our rural areas we find access is very limited at best regardless of a families desire to have internet access. We will continue to find ways to help our families through these unusual times.
Beginning Monday March 30th, we will begin distributing new work packets according the following schedule. Additionally, any completed work that students would like to turn in may also be handed in at this time. Moving forward if students would like to hand in completed work they may do so Monday-Friday at PORTA Central from 9-11am.
Work Packet pick-up
Jr/Sr High—9-11 AM—Monday March 30 at the High school Main Entrance—Only those who need paper only work packets due to lack of internet access need to pick up at this time. Those students whose teachers have communicated to them that the work for their class is in paper form should come in for pick up Monday morning.
PORTA Central—9am-1PM—Monday March 30 at PORTA Central main entrance—Again paper only packets will be picked up at this time. Report cards will be mailed to all grade levels and 3rd grade paper only packets will be mailed with those report cards. So no pickup will be necessary for third grade students.
Petersburg Elementary-9-11 AM and 5-7PM on March 30th at the AM/PM parent drop off and pickup doors on the south side of the gym.
Completed work packet drop-off
Completed packets can be dropped off during the listed pick-up times or M-F 9-11AM at PORTA Central.
Please remember that the goal in providing these educational opportunities is to create some continuation of education for our students, work will not negatively impact your student’s grade and in fact can only help your grade improve.
If you currently have no access to internet the following information may be beneficial while our school closure continues. We understand that having internet access can be costly and in many of our rural areas we find access is very limited at best regardless of a families desire to have internet access. We will continue to find ways to help our families through these unusual times.
- Information on Free Internet service--
- CASSCOMM-- will be offering their basic speed internet package to residents who are not current customers at a rate of 9.95 a month for 3 full months. For more information please visit CassComm’s website at casscomm.com or call 1-800-252-1799.
- AT&T
- AT&T is expanding “Access from AT&T,” our low-cost home internet offering to qualifying households AT&T will continue to offer internet access for qualifying limited income households at $10 a month through our Access from AT&T program.
- They’ve expanded eligibility to Access from AT&T to households participating in the National School Lunch Program and Head Start.
- Additionally, they are offering new Access from AT&T customers two months of free service.
- All AT&T consumer home internet wireline customers can use unlimited internet data.
- AT&T is redirecting more resources to provide communication services and tools for first responders, health care professionals, educators and other essential customers. This additional support will help ensure these customers can continue providing critical support to the country and their communities, particularly to first responders using the FirstNet network.
- Spectrum Free Broadband: Spectrum is offering free internet to students in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Starting March 16, 2020 the company will offer free broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription. Installation fees will be waived for new student households. To enroll, call 1-844-488-8395.
- Comcast is taking steps to implement the following new policies for the next 60 days, and other important initiatives:
- Comcast has opened their Home Hotspot network for all non-Comcast customers. If you rent router/WiFi equipment from Comcast, you can enable it to help out those around you in this unprecedented time of need. Comcast promotes it as secure and will not impact your own network experience. Plus, they have removed any network caps for the next two months. Considering all Illinois schools will be closing for the next few weeks, sharing your resources with your neighbors could help students out (regardless if they are our specific students). Please consider turning this option on at the following: https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/disable-xfinity-wifi-home-hotspot
- Xfinity WiFi Free For Everyone: Xfinity WiFi hotspots across the country will be available to anyone who needs them for free – including non-Xfinity Internet subscribers. For a map of Xfinity WiFi hotspots, visit www.xfinity.com/wifi. Once at a hotspot, consumers should select the “xfinitywifi” network name in the list of available hotspots, and then launch a browser.
- Pausing Our Data Plan: With so many people working and educating from home, we want our customers to access the internet without thinking about data plans. While the vast majority of our customers do not come close to using 1TB of data in a month, we are pausing our data plans for 60 days giving all customers Unlimited data for no additional charge.
- No Disconnects or Late Fees: We will not disconnect a customer’s internet service or assess late fees if they contact us and let us know that they can’t pay their bills during this period. Our care teams will be available to offer flexible payment options and can help find other solutions.
- News, Information and Educational Content on X1 and Flex: For those with school-age students at home, we’ve created new educational collections for all grade levels in partnership with Common Sense Media. Just say “education” into your X1 or Flex voice remote. To help keep customers informed, we also have created a collection of the most current news and information on Coronavirus. Just say “Coronavirus” into your X1 or Flex voice remote.
- 24x7 Network Monitoring: Underpinning all of these efforts, Comcast’s technology and engineering teams will continue to work tirelessly to support our network operations. We engineer our network capacity to handle spikes and shifts in usage patterns, and continuously test, monitor and enhance our systems and network to ensure they are ready to support customer usage. Our engineers and technicians staff our network operations centers 24/7 to ensure network performance and reliability. We are monitoring network usage and watching the load on the network both nationally and locally, and to date it is performing well.
- Mediacom - In response to the covid-19 virus, Mediacom's "Connect2Compete" plan is free for 60 days and they're increasing speeds. This is available to families with students on free/reduced lunch. Regular price is $10/month and there's no installation fee. Website is https://mediacomc2c.com/ or 1-855-904-2225 to sign up.