Important Updates: School Start Times Forum and Pooled Testing

 Dear North Reading Public Schools Community,

I'm writing today to provide two important updates on our work related to school start times and pooled testing.

School Start Times

The School Start Times Committee, which has been actively exploring the research-based advantages for high school students starting school no early than 8:30 a.m., will be presenting a parent/guardian forum on April 6, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

This group, made up of representatives of parents from all grade spans, a North Reading School Committee member, administrators, and a teacher representative have spent many hours discussing schedules, impacts to afterschool programs, considerations for childcare etc. and will address many of these concerns at the forum. The group has a website that also contains helpful information as well as the history of our exploration of this concept for our schools.

In addition we are also collecting any additional questions or concerns so that we can share that information as a part of our presentation that evening. Please complete this brief survey prior to April 6th so that we can address as many concerns in our presentation as possible.

Pooled Testing

I’m hoping to have more information next week about the possibility of continuing our pooled testing program beyond the current end date of April 18, 2021. We have heard from both the parents and staff involved in the program that they are very pleased and would like to see this continue, if feasible. 

We did have our first pool return positive this week. Nurses and school administrators were made aware of this and followed our procedures so that none of the staff or students in that pool took the bus or arrived on campus today. Those students and staff in the pool arrived at a later time and the nurses followed the protocol for the BINAX Now test in order to identify the individual who was the true positive in the pool. That individual started in isolation immediately and we contact traced for that positive individual in the same way we have been all year.

As always, our nurses came together as a team and did an outstanding job this morning. This is evidence that the pooled testing is working and helped us to further prevent the spread of COVID-19 by identifying the asymptomatic individual and allowing us the head start on the contact tracing process.

Thank you to all of the parents and students involved in this process today and every day for helping to make our schools as safe as possible.

This also serves a good reminder for everyone to continue to follow all distancing requirements, continue wearing masks, and practice hand hygiene procedures. 

Have a great weekend,

Dr. Daly

Return to In-Person Learning Updates

 Good morning North Reading Public Schools Community,

I am writing this morning to provide a few important updates of our return to in-person learning plan as well as the 2021-22 school calendar that were approved last evening.

Dates for return to in-person learning

Thank you to everyone who completed the return to in-person learning survey last week. With 95% of all student selections reported we will be able to promptly make any changes to elementary assignments for those opting for Cohort D (full remote) and will hope to communicate this information out later this week or early next week. Our plan is to make the least disruptive decisions and to accommodate as many students as possible with these grade level placements.

Barring any unforeseen additional logistical challenges, Elementary Schools will return in-full for grades PreK-5 on March 31, 2021 and the Middle and High School will return to full in-person on April 14, 2021.

Additional details and communication will be forthcoming from each school along with updates and specific information about the processes for the return to in-person learning for that school. Updated school bus information will also be forthcoming for those students who currently ride the bus to school.

Updates to the Travel Order

On March 22, 2021 the Massachusetts Travel Order was updated to a Travel Advisory. However, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has confirmed that schools can continue to follow and enforce the advisory in order to maintain the safest possible environment for learning. Many parents have expressed their concerns about students and staff who travel, especially during the April vacation week.

Until further notice the North Reading Public Schools will continue to follow the same process we have been adhering to all year and continue asking students who travel to produce a negative PCR test before returning to school.

A notable difference is that this does not apply to anyone returning after being out of state for fewer than 24 hours.

Also exempt will be staff who are fully vaccinated (i.e. who have received two doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines OR who have received a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 14 or more days ago) and who do not have symptoms. Staff will work with their building nurses and administrators to confirm this information.

We understand that this is an additional request of many travelling families but we believe that at this time this allows more students to safely return to school in person safely and this is our main objective.

2021-22 School Year Calendar

Please see the attached 2021- 22 school year calendar or follow this link to review the calendars for both this year and next year.

The first day of school for students in 2021-22 is September 8, 2021.

Please note that the school hours and start times on the 2021-22 calendar are tentative until a final approval of the updated start times at the April 15, 2021 meeting of the North Reading School Committee.

The tentative last day of school for students this year is June 16, 2021. This is tentative until June 1^st, at which time we can finalize the end-of-year schedule.

As always, thank you for your continued support. We are excited to bring our students back to full in-person in the coming weeks and for the opportunities this provides our students this spring.

Sincerely yours,

Dr. Daly

Return to In-Person Learning Forum and Survey

 Good evening parents, guardians, and families,

This evening’s Return to In-Person Learning Forum was attended by many parents and guardians in the district and has been recorded for everyone to view. Please view this recording, review the FAQs, slides, and attachments here prior to completing the survey so that you have all of the relevant information as you make your choices for your student(s).

Also included is a photograph from NRMS of the minimum 3 feet seat edge to seat edge as described in the DESE guidance (the front four seats). We believe the 3 foot desk to desk, as pictured in the presentation, will be the minimum for NRPS.

As mentioned during the presentation I have linked recent DESE communications about the safety of returning to school at less than six feet of physical distance, including this recent study.

Please complete this survey as soon as possible but no later than March 19th. We will send reminders this week to encourage everyone to complete the survey. For anyone who does not respond by March 19th we will assume that the student(s) will be returning to full in-person learning for our planning purposes.

You will need to complete this survey once for every child enrolled in the North Reading Public Schools. Your answers will be binding for the April return dates and there will be another opportunity to revisit this decision prior to a May 10th return date.

Again, before completing this survey it is recommended that you review the FAQs and video/live forum to have the most up-to-date information about our plans.

Survey link: https://forms.gle/fgsKF8oMhr16si627

Thank you,

Dr. Daly

Parent Forums

Dear North Reading Parents, Guardians, and Families,

This email serves as a reminder of two upcoming parent forums scheduled for tomorrow evening on March 16th. Please note the time adjustment for the second event.

6:30pm-7:30pm: Parent Orientation to Tiered Focused Monitoring.  This orientation will provide an overview of the activities that will comprise the special education compliance "audit" that will be completed in the district on March 23rd and 24th.  This audit, officially known as "Tiered Focused Monitoring," occurs every three years and is conducted by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  This is an opportunity for parents to hear about the process and the activities that are completed as part of this audit.

          Google Meet joining info
          Video call link: https://meet.google.com/esh-pkrc-wbg
          Or dial: ‪(US) +1 415-604-0992‬ PIN: ‪520 469 989‬#
          More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/esh-pkrc-wbg?pin=2013104027122

7:30pm-8:30pm Parent Forum, Return to In-Person Learning

This forum will provide an opportunity to learn more details about our plans for a return to full in-person learning ahead of completing the parent/guardian survey that will be shared, along with a recording of this forum, by Wednesday morning. To join on Tuesday evening please click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTb2a2VgOuk

If you have questions that you would like to see addressed at the in-person learning forum please complete this brief form as soon as possible: https://forms.gle/N2yURKn2km3Wpn3a7

Return to Full In-Person Learning Survey

Dear North Reading Parents, Guardians, and Families,

As I shared last week, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is preparing guidance to assist us in developing a plan to return students to school for full in-person learning in April. As you can imagine there are many considerations as we prepare our buildings for a safe return for all students. 

The survey below includes very important questions about a return to school this spring as well as critical information about school buses and start times for our planning for the 2021-22 school year. The more information we have from our parents, guardians, and families the more informed our plan will become for returning students this spring and for preparing for the next school year.

We recognize that without specific details it is challenging to provide feedback and there will be additional surveys and input once we have shared a detailed plan. At this time your responses are obviously non-binding but will provide us with critical perception data that will enable us to make more informed decisions.

It is important to note that based upon the most up-to-date information we have currently from DESE our current hybrid model would not continue if we were to have a return to full in person. There would be a full remote option for the remainder of this school year for those students who select to continue in that mode, though it may look slightly different than what we have in place now depending upon a variety of factors.

Please complete this brief survey as soon as possible and no later than March 12, 2021. The more information we have from our parents, guardians, and families the more informed our plan will become for returning students this spring and for preparing for the next school year.

Thank you,

Dr. Daly