WITH THE GLOBAL SPREAD OF THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS KNOWN AS COVID-19, LAST SPRING USHERED IN A CHALLENGING SEASON.

Since March 18th when eLearning began, our school and its students and faculty have worked incredibly hard to sustain and reshape an educational experience that reflects the core values of Marshall: strong academic habits, respect, compassion, integrity, self-discipline and intellectual curiosity.

Here is a look back on the whirlwind eight months that have passed. While the end of the last school year and the beginning of this year have been unique to say the least, Hilltoppers have shown resilience and grace throughout the process.

 

MARCH 2 Marshall’s crisis team began meeting to consider potential COVID-19 impact and response.

MARCH 10 Academic Admin team completed plan for possible distance learning.

MARCH 13 MSHSL canceled winter state tournaments - the girls’ basketball team returned home after winning the quarterfinal game.

MARCH 15 Governor Walz ordered schools closed beginning

 

MARCH 18th Minnesota public school districts were given two weeks to prepare a distance learning plan.

MARCH 16 Marshall canceled in-person classes – teachers meet to prepare for eLearning.

MARCH 18 Marshall eLearning began.

MARCH 21 Virtual Auction event is held, with the Fund-a-Need focused on the Marshall School Community Fund.

DARING TO DREAM

The administrative team realized early on during eLearning that Marshall will be a better, stronger school after emerging from the pandemic. One core belief that will remain integral to the Marshall experience is the notion of Mission-based education, or what Kevin Breen refers to as “learning for a purpose.” In the school of the future, we will still emphasize compassion and integrity and respect, and we will still seek to graduate good citizens. To that end, we will engage our students in meaningful dialogue during advisory and elsewhere, and continue to carve out time for social-emotional learning activities. None of these activities will fall by the wayside even as we incorporate more hybrid practices. Through the transition to eLearning it became even more obvious that good mentoring is invaluable and indispensable. The world will continue to change, but in partnership with the parent community, Marshall will always be involved in the act of raising good kids.

 

APRIL 1 - 20 Marshall House residents, unable to return home, remained on campus for the rest of the school year; some stayed through the summer.

APRIL 8 School staff called every Hilltopper family to check-in.

APRIL 27 First virtual admissions open house held.

MAY 7 Parent survey reported high student engagement with eLearning.

MAY 14 Upper School Awards Assembly held virtually via Zoom.

JUNE 2 Grade Moving Up ceremony held on Zoom.

JUNE 3 Last day of school.

JUNE 7 Virtual Graduation ceremony held for Class of 2020.

JUNE 10 Campus “COVID-19 Taskforce” began intensive planning for 2020-2021 school year.

JUNE 15 Marshall launched summer residential learning program.

JULY 6 Limited summer athletic practices resumed with significant restrictions.

JULY 14 Marshall teachers engaged in a month-long hybrid learning professional development program.

JULY 24 Building and classroom spaces modified to accommodate social distancing.

AUGUST 17 Modified fall athletic season began. 

AUGUST 21 Teachers returned for professional development.

AUGUST 25 Students returned to campus on the first day of school, following a modified five-day class schedule.

 

SUMMER PLANNING

In planning this school year, we recognized the opportunities to leverage several strengths:

• Our independent governance structure, which enables us to pivot quickly.

• Our dedicated faculty willingly tackled significant professional development during the summer months.

• Our ten years of experience with 1:1 technology.

• Our spacious building and vast outdoor spaces.

• Our integrated advisory program and strong student/teacher relationships.

• Our motivated students, and our families who prioritize learning.

 

HEALTH & SAFETY FOR 2020

The administration and facilities team have been hard at work making our campus ready for in-person learning while keeping close watch on the local and regional factors that would cause us to pivot to a hybrid or fully online approach.