Superintendent's Weekly Update 9-2-21

 


Hi all,

I hope everyone had a great first few days of school. I loved seeing our schools filled with kids, life, energy, and excitement again. It is tough to believe that it has been 18 months since we were all together. Like is the case every year, there are a few opening week kinks that we need to work out and are in the process of making the necessary adjustments. I want to thank everyone for their support and patience. The 21-22 school year is off to a fantastic start and I am highly confident it will be a great year.

Communication

As all of us did last year we will continue to send out weekly newsletters to families. It is important for us to communicate with you what is happening in our schools. Principals will also be setting up a Zoom meeting with families over the next two weeks to update you on the start of school. We will also continue to use Twitter and Facebook as a way to share information with you. Feel free to follow me on Twitter at @douglassuper1 or on Facebook at Douglas Tigers.

District Calendar:

We have updated our district calendar on our website to feature information from all 4 schools. I hope this is helpful to families in order to know what is occurring in the district.

Close Contact and Quarantine Guidelines

The Douglas Public Schools have been accepted into the State’s testing program. This will provide us access to the test and stay program and pooled testing. We attended a webinar yesterday on the program and will send out information shortly on it. Until we have full access to it, we will use the following guidelines:

A COVID Positive Individual:

Close Contacts will need to do the following:

Attached is a link to the DESE flow chart to view.

Masked close contacts will be identified as closer than 3 feet for more than 15 minutes Unmasked close contacts will be identified as closer than 6 feet for more than 15 minutes.

COVID Dashboard:

Attached is a link to our COVID Dashboard that will be updated weekly. Unlike last year where I sent our letters every time we had a COVID positive case, I will not do that this year. This Dashboard will provide you with weekly numbers by building. We will continue to reach out to close contacts and also to families if they have been exposed to a presumptive positive student.

District Calendar:

We have updated our district calendar on our website to feature information from all 4 schools. I hope this is helpful to families in order to know what is occurring in the district.

Cafeteria Openings:

The Food Service Department is now hiring Substitute Cafeteria Workers! The Substitute Cafeteria Worker position is part-time, flexible, and perfect for balancing a work/life schedule. For more information, call the Director of Food Service, Raquel Hammond, at 508-476-3332 x 2253 (tambien hablo español) Use this link to apply today! https://www.schoolspring.com/job.cfm?jid=3632880

Breakfast Program

Welcome back to school! The Douglas Public Schools are now offering a “Grab & Go” breakfast for students as a way to support their nutritional needs without any added time or cost! Due to the pandemic, the USDA has waived meal fees for the 2021-2022 school year. The Grab & Go breakfast will be available at any time between the start of the school day and ending by 10am as the kitchen prepares for lunch service. The Grab & Go breakfasts can also be used as a morning snack, if the family chooses to do so. Principals will send out more information on how this will work in each building.

Enjoy the extra long weekend and see you Tuesday!

Paul Vieira, Ed.D

Superintendent


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