The Signature: 2020 Year In Review
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SIGONELLA COMMUNITY SCHOOLS emote learning, social distancing, contact distanced classrooms, and mask wear for all. Without R tracing, quarantine, restriction of movement, the tremendous support we received from our mask wear, brick and mortar, and Department of community, including volunteers who spent hours at Defense Educational Activity (DoDEA) Virtual School (DVS)—these are all terms that were rarely or never used a year ago, but which have become part of our daily vernacular here at Sigonella Community Schools. Flexibility has been the key to navigating this very unusual year. In March, we experienced a school closure on a Tuesday evening and reopened with remote learning that Friday. Our teachers and staff learned to teach virtually practically overnight. Team Sigonella provided tremendous support to the schools to help us get through the spring closure, including but not limited to providing technology resources to families. In March, the Sigonella Middle/High School Choir released a video of an acapella performance that struck a chord with people all over the world. With more than three thousand shares on Facebook, this rendition of Heavenly Father by Bon Iver lifted spirits far and wide. Summer brought about a whole new set of conditions as we geared up to welcome students back to brick and mortar schooling in August after many months away. All families had the option to enroll in the newlyexpanded DoDEA Virtual School (DVS) or to return to in-person school. As teachers were assigned to the DVS from the brick and mortar schools, we retooled schedules and teaching assignments, demonstrating our newly found flexibility. A true team effort made Sigonella schools work in a brand new way, instituting one-way hallways, socially
the school helping us prepare the building, we would not have been ready for the return of the students. Despite the challenges, we opened successfully and started to navigate school in this new normal. As we began the 2020-2021 school year, our administrative team looked a little different. Dale Moore took a short walk from Sigonella Elementary School principal’s office over to the Sigonella Middle/High School side of things to become the M/ HS principal. Richard Dye served as interim principal for Sigonella Elementary School until Courtney Schonffeldt arrived, and several new staff members also hit the ground running this year as well. Later in the fall, our in-person school switched to remote learning for three weeks as a precaution, requiring us to present instruction virtually for the second time in a calendar year. The M/HS choir once again created a beautiful video to accompany the MWR Virtual Tree Lighting, but thankfully our time apart was short this time. We were thrilled to be able to bring the students back in the building to work with them face-to-face once more. Our students, our families, and the command have all been incredibly supportive, patient, hard-working, and kind as we have worked through these transitions we never thought we would have to face. Everyone has remained flexible and has made the best of a difficult situation to ensure that student learning, no matter what, still takes place. We’re proud to be part of team DoDEA and Team Sigonella!
