Superintendent's Weekly Update 12/18/2020
Hello,
Yesterday, I was able to sit back and relax for a bit during the snow day in between shoveling snow and wrapping presents. At one point during the day I was going through my notes and emails and just paused with pride; I had a moment. I said to myself, we are doing some awesome, amazing, and great things here in Douglas. A lot of it flies under the radar, but I just want to take some time to highlight my observations and thoughts yesterday.
We have a School Committee that is supportive and committed to doing what is best for students and staff. They want the best for our kids.
Our Leadership Team works tirelessly to make sure kids and staff are safe and feel supported. They are committed to ensuring the needs of the whole child are being met during this pandemic. Striking that balance is not always easy, but they have found it.
Our staff is second to none! They have been incredible this year and deserve to be recognized and commended. They too do what is needed to make sure that the needs of every child is being met. They show compassion for students when needed, they are flexible and accommodating, and they have also been able to find that balance between academic rigor and meeting the social emotional needs of students.
The students here in Douglas have been just incredible. Each of us went into education for students. What our kids have been through is something we never thought could or would happen. I can see through my observations that it pains our staff to see our kids go through this; it has been a difficult 9 months for everyone. Students have followed our safety protocols, which has allowed us to stay open. They too have been flexible, accommodating, and understanding. And personally very welcoming to me to Douglas. Simply put they have been wonderful.
This week each of our buildings celebrated a spirit week. It looked different than in other years, but they did so to try and spread some joy to students and have some normalcy in the year.
Our school communities have donated to the Snowflake Fund and made other donations so that families in need can have some happiness this holiday season. This is just awesome. We have kids and families in need and our community stepped up to help them; I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of the Douglas Community.
In the new year Ms. Socha and Mr. Bell will be putting together a committee to establish a PreK-5 literacy plan. Reading and writing is the foundation of every student’s success. This plan will build upon what we are already doing to further strengthen our program.
Our Middle School uses data to identify learning gaps and address them. This helps to ensure that our students do not fall too far behind. This year they began using a program called CloseGap. This is a daily social emotional check in for our students. Both of these help to address the needs of the whole child.
Our High School will offer students the opportunity to earn a Seal of Biliteracy. This will be awarded to successful seniors who show fluency in two languages. Additionally, the high school is doing work on creating more academic pathways for students along with increasing the rigor within these pathways. Both of these will make our students more marketable upon graduation and set them up for success.
These are just a few of the things going on and the list could be a lot longer. As I sit back and think about the great things that are happening with all the restrictions of COVID, it gives me such excitement and optimism for what the future holds for our students and community when we come out of this COVID world.
Rapid Covid Testing:
We are pleased to announce that we have now connected with Project Beacon. You have the ability to directly give your testing consent online. Once you reply to Project Beacon's email and register, we are able to offer your child a free Covid -19 BinaxNow antigen test at school should they become ill with signs of COVID-19. You will immediately receive the results and follow up instructions from your school nurse. Please contact the school nurse if you have additional questions.
Safety Protocols:
People have been great in schools and in the community with these safety protocols and keeping us informed. We need this to stay open. We can not get a false sense of security with what we have seen and must continue to follow the guidelines below:
Avoid large social gatherings
Wear a mask
Practice social distancing
Wash your hands frequently
Follow the guidance set forth by the Governor
If the Board of Health calls, please answer and provide them with the information they need
If you are sick, stay home
If you live with someone that is symptomatic, stay home until they test negative
I really would like to highlight the last two:
If you are sick, stay home
If you live with someone that is symptomatic, stay home until they test negative
Travel Advisory:
Below is the travel advisory that has been in place for Massachusetts for the last few months. Schools have had to recently close as a result of people not following the travel advisory, I include it here again as a reminder, especially over the next few weeks.
All visitors entering Massachusetts, including returning residents, who do not meet an exemption, are required to:
Complete the Massachusetts Travel Form prior to arrival, unless you are visiting from a lower-risk state designated by the Department of Public Health.
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.
If your COVID-19 test result has not been received prior to arrival, visitors, and residents must quarantine until they receive a negative test result. Failure to comply may result in a $500 fine per day
For more information here is the link: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-travel-order
This week's data show:
Douglas's Average Daily Case Rate: 42.2
Douglas's 14 Day Percent Positivity Rate: 7.75%
MA Positivity Rate: 6%
Last week's data show:
Douglas's Average Daily Case Rate: 31.6
Douglas's 14 Day Percent Positivity Rate: 6.69%
MA Positivity Rate: 5.7%
guidance for families (Updated 12/18/2020)
We have a short week next week. Today is the last day in school for Cohort B for 2020. Next week we are in school for Cohort A on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday is a scheduled half day for everyone.
Stay warm and safe,
Paul
