August 7, 2020 Reopening Update

Dear North Reading Public Schools Community,

This morning in a 5-0 vote the North Reading School Committee accepted the final reopening plan for the North Reading Public Schools, incorporating any recommendations form the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), with the understanding that the situation is fluid and changes to the plan may be necessary.

As soon as all feedback is received from DESE on our previously submitted proposal by Monday evening I will be sending the final version of our reopening plan to the North Reading School Community on Tuesday, August 11th, as planned. In addition to the plan I will also be sharing a link to the reopening website that will contain the plans, videos from the forums, presentations, answers to frequently asked questions, and links to a variety of resources.

We will also be hosting forums specifically for the families of incoming Kindergarten students as well as families of students receiving Special Education services. Details on those forums will be shared next week.

Of note, this morning I shared that we will be able to have all Kindergarten students return in-person five days a week. More information on this model, as well as an overview of the full- and half-day models, will be shared in the forum mentioned above.

I also shared that the district will be supporting all of our students K-12 with 1:1 Chromebook devices that we hope to have in place as we begin the school year. More information will be forthcoming on this process as well.

If you have not yet had the opportunity to complete the July 31st survey for reopening, or if you wish to change your response to indicate that your child(ren) will be participating in the full remote Cohort D, please complete this survey as soon as possible: https://forms.gle/k9Akbc8JZmicaB5dA 

Information about which cohort your child will be in (A or B) as well as those students who will be a part of cohort C will be shared as soon as possible so that families will be able to adjust their schedules as needed. Our Principals have been hard at work balancing the cohorts and trying to accommodate the many needs of all students into these placement decisions.

We are also continuing to explore options for working parents who may want to take advantage of programs by community partners for remote learning assistance on the days the students are scheduled to be remote. Other details, such as the school day schedule and busing information will be shared as soon as it is available. 

For those who would also like to review the preliminary plan it is available here.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!

Be well,

Dr. Daly