Superintendent's Weekly Email August 13, 2020

Dear Douglas Families and Community,

Last night the Douglas School Committee voted 5-0 to start the school year off in a phased in 2-1-2 Hybrid Model. I know that this decision is met with mixed and strong emotions from each of you; I understand that. I want to re-emphasise that the decision to go with a phased in hybrid model is based on the information as it stands today and very well could change between now and the first day of school. If new information becomes available we will pivot and make adjustments as necessary. As I said last night, just because this is the model I recommended on August 12th, it does not mean this is where we will end up in September. We need to be flexible and follow the data. For now, we will go forward with our plans for a safe return to school on September 16, 2020 with a phased in 2-1-2 hybrid model.

 

What follows is some information that will help clarify many of the questions we have been asked the last few weeks:

 

Cohorts:

In a hybrid model students will be split into two cohorts. This will be done “mostly” by alphabet. As we look at creating a conducive educational environment and balance within the schools there will be instances in which straight alpha placement will not work and we need to make adjustments. Information as to which cohort your student will be in will go out the week of August 24.

 

Informational Meetings:

Principals and nurses will begin to host multiple meetings over the next few weeks to keep you informed. These sessions will include information on the following topics: safety protocols, PPE guidance, schedules, cohorts, explanation of the hybrid model, etc. Please be on the lookout for dates from nurses and principals.

 

Calendar:

August 31: This is the first day of school for teachers. This will also be day 1 of a 10 day professional development program to help teachers get ready for the first day of school.

 

September 16: This is the first day of school for students. This will be done in a remote setting for students. The expectation at this time is for teachers to introduce themselves to students, outline what the first few weeks of school will look like, begin to establish norms and routines, and build relationships. Each principal will send out a follow up email as to specifics per building.

 

September 17, 18, 21, 22: For these days only 25% of the students will report to school for live instruction, while the other students engage in a remote experience. This slow phased in approach will also allow us to collect data and modify our plans by only having a small population of students back to school at any one given time. Again, principals will share out information as to which students will report on which dates.

 

September 23: This will be a remote day for all students.

 

September 24: We will start our live 2-1-2 hybrid model on this date with half the students coming in on the 24th and 25th and the other half on 28th and 29th. 

 

Options for Families:

If you as a family make the decision to not send your student to school there are a few options available to you. In short they are:

  1. Remote Platform or the Douglas Learning Academy: These options will be free to families and provided to you by the Douglas Public Schools. Depending on enrollment and staffing one of these two options will be available. The remote platform will allow for students to engage with a 3rd party vendor in a remote educational experience. Through this 3rd party students would be signed up for classes and be monitored for progress by a staff member. This option is 100% self paced. If numbers allow for it, the other option would be to enroll in the Douglas Learning Academy. Students will receive instruction from Douglas staff members in both a synchronous and asynchronous platform. It may also occur that one method is used for certain grades while the other for the rest of the grades. Again, this is all based on numbers which is why the following survey is critical. 

  2. Homeschooling: Under this option you would unenroll your student from the Douglas Public Schools and you would be 100% responsible for their education.

 

Just to be clear, the decision to use a remote platform or the Douglas Learning Academy has not been made yet. The decision will be based after we receive survey information from families. Below are links to 4 surveys to help us get this information. I ask that you complete one per child by Tuesday August 18. Once I have more information I will be sure to share it with you.

 

 

Douglas Primary School

Douglas Elementary School

Douglas Middle School

Douglas High School

 

Health, Safety, and Cleaning Protocols:

The guidance and data we have received has been clear. If the infection rate is less than 5% and we are following proper health and safety guidelines (mask wearing, physical distancing, and hand hygiene) that schools can and should open. Mask wearing, hand hygiene (hand washing and hand sanitizing), and physical distancing will all be in place for each day of in-person learning. Although some schools are going back at 3 feet of distancing, we are going back at 6 feet for added safety. Classrooms will be set up for our faculty to ensure that students are seated six feet apart. We will disinfect each classroom, in all buildings, every evening throughout the school year and our custodial staff will be trained in proper cleaning techniques later this month.

 

Transportation:

For the start of the school year, we are only allowed to have 1/3 capacity on each bus. Which means that only one student per seat and each seat will be assigned. Last week a survey was sent out on transportation. We need to hear from each family to plan our bus routes. If you have not had the chance to take the survey please do so. Bus routes and times will be available a week before the start of school 

 

https://forms.gle/YeyW71Udb1CkbXVWA

 

Zoom Meetings

On Tuesday August 18, I will host two Zoom Sessions; one at 12 PM and the other at 7PM to be able to answer your questions. Below are the links to those meetings.

 

Topic: Community Zoom

Time: Aug 18, 2020 12:00 PM 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82931925286?pwd=MSt1YW4wamRDaHhRZnJ1WHV3U0VHdz09

Meeting ID: 829 3192 5286

Passcode: U6kAh1

        

Topic: Community Zoom

Time: Aug 18, 2020 07:00 PM 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88484234264?pwd=VlpYdElRdWZHZzFNVkIvV2txTTV2dz09

Meeting ID: 884 8423 4264

Passcode: ErB04q

 

In closing thank you for your patience and flexibility during these difficult times. I wish I could be more concrete with some of this information and I will update you as it becomes clearer. What you have is the most concrete information we have at this time. Please be on the lookout for more information.

 

 

Best,

 

Paul Vieira

Superintendent of Schools

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