Reopening Updates

Dear parents, guardians, and caregivers of new or incoming students,

Welcome to our District! While we are still rolling over our systems to the upcoming school year I will communicate to you via gmail and forward important Blackboard Connect messages to you this way. You should also follow us on our website, Twitter, and my blog and feel free to email me at any time with questions at pdaly@nrpsk12.org.

 These last few days without rain have made for some wonderful weather and I hope that you are enjoying your summer with family and friends. As we enter into August I am sure that there are many questions emerging about our plans for returning to school in the fall and so I wanted to briefly address this topic and share some information with you this afternoon.

This week I met with the Director of Public Health, Public Health Nurse, Police Chief, Fire Chief, and the Town Administrator to review the local numbers as well as the latest recommendations from the Department of Public Health (DPH) and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). We have also had preliminary discussions with the School Committee prior to the release of the guidance and some initial conversations with our Teachers’ Association.

At this time the North Reading Public Schools will be following this guidance that has been prepared jointly by Massachusetts DPH and DESE. I have also participated in conference calls with the Commissioner of Education who explained why Massachusetts, with it’s higher vaccination numbers and lower case counts, was able to arrive at this guidance as opposed to some of the more restrictive language coming from the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics, who must also address the needs of the entire country.

We will continue to review the numbers both in Massachusetts and North Reading as we consider whether there is any need to make changes to our approach. As communicated by the Town of North Reading earlier today there has been a recent uptick in cases and we are continuing to watch this information very closely and I will be participating in the August 12, 2021 meeting of the Board of Health as well as the August 16, 2021 School Committee meeting to review the very latest details. I have also continued to update our dashboard to share any recent cases of staff and students in the North Reading public schools. 

In addition, we will continue to offer vaccination opportunities periodically for our eligible students who would like to receive the vaccine. Our next clinic is August 13, 2021 at the Batchelder School at 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. No appointment is necessary but please complete the attached form prior to arrival.

As the school year approaches you will be hearing from both me and the school principals on several topics and we will address additional questions that may arise. Our first day with students is September 8, 2021 and we are excited to prepare our schools to welcome our students and staff back soon. Enjoy the remaining weeks of summer and stay safe.

Dr. Daly

File attachments:
Covid Vaccine Consent Form fillable web download (1).pdf