August 10, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians of P.E.A.S.E. Academy Students,

Thank you for your patience regarding our official announcement regarding the start of the new school year. We were waiting to hear from our Governor, the MN Department of Education, as well as gathering data from parents and staff.

As of today, we plan on opening P.E.A.S.E. Academy in a hybrid mode. This follows both the recommendations and guidelines from the State as well as the feedback we have hear from you. Of course, any family/student that is not comfortable with doing partial in-person learning will be able to opt for complete distance learning. If you choose Distance Learning, be assured that your child will receive the same academic curriculum, have access to teachers, as well as receive support for their ongoing recovery. If you do decide to go with Distance Learning as opposed to the hybrid, in-person model, please let us know so we can plan accordingly.

The hybrid model has us dividing the school in half, based on Peer Support Teams. The “A” squad will meet at school on Mondays and Tuesdays, while the “B” squad will be meeting at school Wednesdays and Thursdays. The days when students aren’t in school, they will be working on-line in their classes. Fridays will be conducted much in the way we did last year through independent projects in art, physical education, and/or additional study time and Community Service.

We believe that the above plan will allow us to have less than 20 students in the building at any one time, 7 in each classroom with good social distancing, and manageable hallway passing times. Furthermore, it will allow us the crucial face-to-face interactions that will allow for better staff-to-student support, and even more importantly, positive peer-to-peer support.

We will be sending out specifics regarding whether your student will be an “A Day” or a “B Day” in the next few weeks. Also, please know that we may need to shift to a full distance learning if the COVID Numbers of Hennepin County rise to a level determined by the state to be unsafe, or if, goodness forbid, if we experience an outbreak here at school. P.E.A.S.E. Academy, along with Minnesota Transitions Charter School take student and family safety very seriously. We will do everything we can to provide a safe environment for your student to continue to be successful in their recovery and their education.

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Michael F. Durchslag
Director