Dear North Reading Parents and Families,
As scheduled, parents will be receivng emails today with information regarding the cohort assignment for their child(ren) in the hybrid model that will be in when school reopens on September 17th (Cohorts B and C in person, cohorts A and D remote for that first Thursday and Friday).
Please note that we are running all of the assignments from a central database and so it may take the rest of the afternoon for all of the emails to be sent for all the schools.
Thank you to our parents, families, and community for being supportive and understanding of the changes that need to occur across the district in order to bring everyone back for as many days and hours as we are proposing in North Reading and still meet the safety guidelines in place for a safe reopening.
As I have mentioned, we are also in the process of negotiating with our unions and associations in order to meet all requirements of collective bargaining under the law. Our teams have been hard at work making adjustments to the schedule and making sure that there is a balance across the district to support our students who are in person and in remote each day. This modified schedule will allow students to access more electives and participate in the classes with their specialist teachers and allow our teachers to provide the best remote learning experience for those students who are at home.
The North Reading Public School District has been able to come to a tentative agreement on a modified daily schedule for students that includes the following:
Schools are open for in-person learning opportunities five days per week
Cohorts A and B will attend (2-3 days per week)
Cohort C will attend five days per week (including PreK and Kindergarten)
We will continue to explore additional days for other grades, beginning with grade 1
Modified hours at the MS/HS five days per week
Modified hours at the elementary school (half day) on Wednesdays and earlier start times to accommodate busing and extracurriculars at the high school
For the 2020-21 school year the daily schedule for students will be as follows (subject to School Committee vote):
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, Friday
Wednesdays
The student day meets the revised 2020-21 time and learning requirements (850 hours elementary and middle/ 935 high school).
Shifts in starting times allow for all buses to arrive at each school on time and for all interested students to take the bus.
Bus pick up times for elementary school, although earlier, will be no earlier than 7 a.m.
Before and after school care will be available for elementary students. Times and days of the week will be adjusted to match the hybrid schedule.
Later start times are preserved for high school and middle school students. Survey data and research supports later start times for secondary students.
The schedule will remain the same whether in remote or in person. (Exception: The Batchelder School may adapt its hours and follow the same schedule as the Hood and Little if the district moves to full remote instruction.)
Daily/weekly collaboration opportunities are embedded for teachers in order to provide the best possible instruction.
Pre-K schedules for both full and half day will be shared in a separate email to those families
I know that these schedule changes may present some challenges to families and we do appreciate your understanding that these changes are necessary to be able to offer our hybrid model to students five days per week.
Thank you for your continued support, patience, and understanding.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Daly
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