Big Sandy ISD

COVID-19 Update from Governor Abbott’s Desk... Governor Abbott, at his 2:00 press conference today, Tuesday, March 31st, 2020, issued an Executive Order to shut down ALL schools in the state of Texas from midnight, Friday, April 3rd through Friday, May 1st. This means that our current school closure will be extended through Friday, May 1st, with an anticipated return date of May 4th. Food service and instructional resources will continue to be provided for all students. Please check out our website for all of our resources. Go to “District Info” and click on SCHOOL CLOSURE INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES and you will be able to access lessons and resources from each grade level and department. Lessons and resources are updated on-line regularly and additional learning materials for April have been mailed to each of our students. Our staff is available to you from 7:25-3:45 each day and will be contacting each family to provide support for each student as needed while we are learning at home. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to campuses on Mondays through Thursdays from 8:00-11:30 if you should have additional questions or email staff members directly. As a district, we recognize that this is a difficult and challenging time for everyone, but we are here to support and help our families as needed. Remember, Big Sandy ISD is providing lunch delivery for the week on Mondays. If you did not get signed up this week, but would like to participate in the future, please email Joan Ford at jford@bigsandyisd.org. Thank you parents! You are the BEST!

The Love Big Sandy Project will be distributing food boxes to our local Senior Citizens and Big Sandy ISD students this Friday, March 27th from 10:00-12:00 at the Love Big Sandy Project building located on Broadway. If you should need delivery, please message 903 720-6033 or 903 812-0606.

On Monday, March 30th, Big Sandy ISD will deliver meals to student homes for the week. We will run all bus routes with drivers and their helpers leaving the school at 9:30. We are able to deliver meals for the week in one delivery, but we need parents to complete our survey. Any children 18 and under are eligible to receive meals at no cost. The district is launching a telephone campaign this week to assist parents in completing the surveys. The goal is to deliver meals to every family residing in our district. https://forms.gle/qrAKfTfCReSNL9em9

COVID-19 Update from Governor Abbott’s Desk Governor Abbott, at his 12:00 press conference today, Thursday, March 19, 2020, issued an Executive Order to shut down ALL school districts in the state of Texas from midnight, Friday, March 20, 2020 through midnight, Friday, April 3rd. This means that our current school closure will be extended through April 3rd. Food service and instructional resources will continue to be provided for all students. Please check out our website for all of our resources. Go to “District Info” and click on SCHOOL CLOSURE INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES and you will be able to access lessons and resources from each grade level and department. Also, the district mailed these same resources to each family earlier this week to ensure accessibility. Please know that our teachers, staff, and administration are continuing to diligently work on ways that we can be of service to our families. If you should have questions, please email teachers, staff members, or administration and we will respond as quickly as possible. We want to thank all of our families for all that you are doing to help support the education of our children during this time. You are such an important partner in all that we attempt to do here at Big Sandy ISD. As always, our parents are the best! Once again, we want to thank all of our educational partners and we will continue to push out information to our families and community as it becomes available.

Big Sandy ISD wants to send a "Shout Out" to our Child Nutrition Department Employees as they are working daily to meet the needs of our students during this school closure. Grab and Go lunches are continuing to be provided each day from 11:30-1:00 behind the school.

Hear ye, Hear ye: The Big Sandy Administration Team met today to discuss our approach to the closure of our school district. We have decided on several items that we want to share with you all. 1. At-Home Instructional Resources- We will use both high tech and low tech approaches to provide resources to our children during our closure. ---High tech approaches involve on-line programs, on-line software, etc. You can access the Big Sandy Website for more information about these topics. ---Low tech approach is to provide packets of educational materials to each child in our school. Teachers will work to gather materials to send home to each child. These packets will be mailed to the address that we have for each child. 2. The Big Sandy ISD will serve a "grab-and-go" lunch to each child, each day. These lunches need to be requested at this link: https://forms.gle/j3J3qUZaBiEPS1Tv9 There are instructions in the link for pick-up. 3. Due to the social isolation aspect of this COVID-19 outbreak, we will maintain a skeleton staff during the closure, and only those individuals that are required to be here will be. You may experience delays in return calls or you may trouble reaching someone on campus or in the Business Office. Please be patient with us during this time of closure. 4. The Texas Education Agency has cancelled all state testing for the 2019-2020 school year, so there will be no STAAR or EOC exams to be taken. The TEA is waiting on an answer from the Federal Govt on a waiver for the TELPAS exam (test for English language learners). 5. There is no organized practice whatsoever for the week of March 16-20. A decision will be made toward the end of this week for future practice times. 6. Our School Board will consider adopting a resolution to pay our employees during this time of closure. We are thankful to have a School Board that truly cares about our staff and does not want to see the staff pay affected by this emergency closure. 7. Re-opening School decisions will be made in the coming weeks. There are several considerations we have been given to take note of before we make a decision to re-open. 8. PROM WILL NOT BE CANCELLED, but it may be postponed. We are going to have a Prom for our kids, no matter what. We will have to decide what is going to be available to us at the time of the Prom. Right now, the Prom is still on as scheduled, but we may receive information in the coming days that forces us to change our date or venue. Please be patient as we work through all of these challenges. We understand the burden that this closure has placed on our families and community, but please know that we are in uncharted territory and are doing the best we can. Information will be shared with you daily, so that you can stay abreast with what we are dealing with in your child's school district. Communication is the key to all of being on the same page and understanding the decisions that are being made. Go Wildcats!

Attention Big Sandy ISD Community: In effort to continue to provide for our students and families, Big Sandy ISD will be providing lunch for all children under 18 years of age regardless of enrollment or economic status. Starting Tuesday and running all week, a "grab and go" lunch will be provided, free of charge, from 11:30am-1:00pm, at the back of the school, at the bus drop off area. Thank you for letting us serve the community during this challenging time. If you would like to have a meal prepared for your children, we have created a form just for planning purposes. Please click the following link: https://forms.gle/j3J3qUZaBiEPS1Tv9 Go Wildcats!

Its a great day to be a Wildcat!

Hey Big Sandy Wildcats Basketball Fans: The First Round of the State Championship Basketball Playoffs for our Wildcats will take place on Monday, February 24th, at 6:00 pm, in Spring Hill High School Gymnasium, vs Linden-Kildare! We are the HOME Team! We are also the first game of a doubleheader! Go Wildcats!

And just like that, the Varsity Wildcats beat Beckville, 72-38, and WIN THE DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP! Go Wildcats!

Hey Big Sandy: The Junior High Dance is tonight, Friday, February 14, 2020, from 5-7:30, in the Student Center. The cost of admission is $4.00. Concessions will be available, with all items costing $1.00. This is a joint fundraiser between Junior High Cheerleaders and the National Junior Honor Society. Go Wildcats!

Hey Everybody: We are holding a blood drive with Carter Blood Care today, in the Main Gym Foyer, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Please consider giving blood, as every drop can be used to save a life! Everyone is welcomed to give! Go Wildcats!

Thank you! Thank you! To you, our students, and our staff! Our unannounced Lockdown Drill went perfect! We are back to regular business at the school! Our kids did an amazing job! It is unfortunate that we have to practice drills such as these, but we are thankful to work in a community that helps us keep our students and staff safe! Go Wildcats!

Attention Big Sandy: This is just a reminder that at some point this week, we will be conducting an unannounced Lockdown Drill here at the school. We conduct these drills to help stay prepared and to train for the event of any situation that would require an actual Lockdown response. The Lockdown Drill will take approximately 30 minutes to complete and no one will be allowed into or out of the building during the drill. Thank you for allowing us to train our staff and students on best practices to stay safe in all situations. Go Wildcats!

Attention Big Sandy: The Texas Education Code requires all school districts to perform Lockdown Drills, at least 2 times per school year. The Big Sandy ISD has already had one this school year, and now, it is time for us to have an unannounced Lockdown Drill, to see how well we are prepared if we ever have to go into a Lockdown for an actual threat on campus or in our area. Next week, we are planning to have an unannounced Lockdown Drill. This will occur between Monday, February 10 and Friday, February 14. The Lockdown Drill typically takes about 30 minutes to complete. We are proud of our kids and staff for taking these drills seriously and administration has very specific jobs to do during the Lockdown Drill. Thank you for partnering with us to help keep our kids and staff safe, each and every day. Go Wildcats!

Hey Big Sandy: On Friday, February 7th, 2020, starting at 7:30 am, the Big Sandy Elementary will be hosting the Annual 'Donuts with Dad' Event! This will be held in the Big Sandy Student Center, which is the area right outside the Auditorium! They will have donuts, coffee, and juice! We hope to see you there! Go Wildcats!

Hey Everybody: Tonight, we have High School Basketball at HOME vs Harleton, with JV Girls starting at 4:00 pm, followed by JV Boys, then Varsity Girls, and ending with Varsity Boys! Also, tomorrow, Saturday, February 1, 2020, at 7:00 pm, the Big Sandy PTO is once again putting on the Annual Big Sandy Coronation! Tickets at the door are $5. People will be allowed in just before 7:00 pm, in plenty of time for the show to start! Go Wildcats!

Big Sandy ISD in Upshur County DOES HAVE SCHOOL TODAY, Friday, January 31st. Apparently, there is some confusion due to a news report for a Big Sandy ISD in another county. See you at school, Wildcats! Happy Friday

Hey Big Sandy Elementary Parents/Guardians: We need your help. Just a friendly reminder- For the safety and security of all of our students, Big Sandy Elementary encourages parents to remain in their vehicles and pick up their child(ren) at the designated stop during afternoon "pick-up" time. Student safety is our top priority. We would like to thank parents so much for their support and continued cooperation in helping keep our students safe. Go Wildcats!

Attention: We will be holding a Substitute Training Class on January 30, 2020, starting at 9:00 am, in the High School Gym Foyer. If you would like to substitute teach for the Big Sandy ISD, please consider attending this training session! If you attended in August 2019, you are not required to attend again for the 2019-2020 school year. Call 903-636-5318 and ask to speak to Mrs. Tressa Ellis, if you have any questions prior to the training. Go Wildcats Substitute Teachers!