Newsletter Highlights Include:
Open Houses
Athletic User Fees
PreSchool Tuition
Zoom Information
COVID Travel Order
Phases of learning
DPS Weekly COVID Dashboard
Substitute teachers
Important Documents
Thank you to all the families that responded to our survey on the hybrid model and those families that attended the zoom sessions this week. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and important. Principals have access to your concerns and will be responding appropriately to them over the next week. Some things we can easily fix and others will take more time. I am also aware of the challenges posed to families, students, and teachers as a result of being in a hybrid model. Over the next two weeks, I will be working with teachers to listen to their feedback on the model now that we have spent three full weeks in it. As I said over the summer, if we need to pivot, adapt, and adjust we will do it. Once I get more information and examine it I will share it out. We want this to be right for everyone.
We had 6 of our 7 close contacts at the Elementary school receive negative results on their COVID tests. The 7th person is asymptomatic and is not being tested but will also quarantine for the required 14 days. Students and staff are due back on Thursday. As we see a spike in the numbers both locally and across the state, this is just another reminder to follow all the safety protocols such as hand hygiene, masks, and social distancing. I can not stress this enough.
October 23 is a full day of professional development day for teachers and no school for students. One topic we will cover will be how to better meet the needs of families, students, and teachers on remote learning days. We will share our findings in the upcoming weeks.
Open Houses
Preschool- Oct, 20 @ 5:30
Kindergarten- Oct. 21 @ 6 and 6:45 for Blatchford
Grade 1- Oct. 20 @ 6:30
Douglas Elementary School- Oct. 22 from 5:30 to 7
Douglas Middle School- October 29 from 6:00 to 7:30
Douglas High School- October 28- from 6:00 to 8:00
Principals will send out more information next week. All open houses will be done via Zoom.
Athletic User Fees:
The School Committee approved the following refund structure for athletic fees for families should a season get cut short as a result of closing schools due to COVID-19. Although we hope and want to be in school for the full year, we also need to be proactive and prepared should we need to close.
The Athletic Director will determine the total number of weeks in season by sport starting on the first day of tryouts and running through the last scheduled game
The total number of weeks will be divided by the user fee to determine a weekly rate (ex: 10 weeks, $200 user fee for $20 per week)
If a season is canceled the Athletic Director will determine the total number of active weeks (Weeks start on a Monday) to determine refund total based on the refund rate
Once 2/3 of the games have been played in a particular sport there will be no athletic fee refund
PreSchool Tuition:
As some of you may know, a portion of our preschool expenses are funded through tuition. As was the case with athletic fees, we need to be prepared should we need to close as a result of the pandemic. The School Committee approved this week and updates fee structure for the preschool should we have to close:
Once a month has started there will be no refund or adjustment for that month’s tuition fee
Families that wish to continue having access to our program teachers and curriculum will pay 40% of their monthly tuition fee
Families that pay the 40% tuition fee will have first access to the preschool program when and if we reopen
A detailed letter has gone out to families.
Zoom Information and Help:
As we continue to try to provide the best educational experience for your children while they are learning from home, we have two requests to help the Zoom meetings be as effective as possible:
It is ok to help your child log on to a Zoom meeting but then it is best to step away and let them participate in the lesson independently. This will allow them to rely on their teachers during their lessons and have a more authentic school experience.
We are asking that parents not ask questions on the Zoom meetings. This takes away from the lesson and in many cases causes a disruption to the learning of other students. Any questions that parents have should be emailed to the teacher which will be responded to in a timely manner. Technology questions can be sent to helpdesk@douglasps.net.
COVID Travel Order:
Currently, all visitors and returning residents of Massachusetts must follow travel orders, which are outlined here on the mass.gov website. Unless you are returning to Massachusetts from a “low-risk” state and/or classify for an exemption, you are required to quarantine for 14 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72 hours prior to your arrival in Massachusetts. As of October 6, the low-risk states are New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, and the District of Columbia.
Exemptions to the order for those traveling from high-risk states include people commuting for work or school, patients receiving medical treatment, and military personnel.
Visit the mass.gov website for full details on the out-of-state travel order.
These requirements are in addition to Massachusetts requirements for wearing a mask or other face covering in both indoor and outdoor settings, any time you cannot socially distance and remain 6 feet from other people.
This week's data show:
Douglas's Average Daily Case Rate: 5 per 100,000
Douglas's 14 Day Percent Positivity Rate: .94%
MA Positivity Rate - 1.3%
Last week's data show:
Douglas's Average Daily Case Rate: 0 per 100,000
Douglas's 14 Day Percent Positivity Rate: .0%
MA Positivity Rate - 1.1%
Important Documents
Here are links to 3 documents. The first document provides information to families on what to do if your student is sick. The second is a link to our mask protocol along our guidelines for when we will change models.
Mask and Change in model guidance
Comments