Are you sending your kids to school next month?

[MrsBooch]

Just received the latest update from my son's school - this is a private school and their at the moment - approach. School is scheduled to begin after labor day in September and this only applies to the Lower School (Prek to 5):

Classes and Cohorts
• classes are divided into two smaller cohorts (small groups of 8-10 students) in two separate (but nearby) spaces, shared by a Lead Teacher and an Assistant Teacher.
• Homerooms will remain in small, consistent cohorts in one to two spaces most of the day when in the buildings, and teachers will travel among the rooms to teach.
• If students move classrooms, spaces will be sanitized before and after use. Students will sanitize their hands when entering or leaving spaces.
• Specialist instruction will be delivered in student homeroom classes, eliminating the need for students to travel throughout the building regularly.
• All PreK-5th grade students will be issued an iPad, protective case and charging unit for use at school and home (for school-related activity only). Parents should purchase headphones that they are comfortable having their child use with the iPad.
• All students will eat snacks and lunch in their homerooms.
• Students should pack a lunch and snack. Boxed lunches from a limited menu will also be offered for purchase and delivered to the classroom.
Outdoor Time

• Outdoor time will reflect the most current state guidelines for gathering in outdoor spaces. Our priority will be for students in a common grade level to have outdoor play time together.
• We will teach and support a variety of outdoor activities and games which incorporate minimal physical contact.
• Students will sanitize hands before going outside and before returning into the building.
Face Coverings
• Students will be required to wear a face mask throughout the day unless they are eating, drinking, or socially distanced.
Cleaning and Disinfecting
• Lower School is adding Non-Teaching Assistant positions to assist with cleaning protocols during lunch and outdoor times, as well as with student supervision and support for non-instructional activities.
• Each Lower School student will be provided with an individual toolkit of everyday materials to minimize sharing of these items and will be provided a school-issued iPad for use at school and home. All materials that are shared will be disinfected regularly.
• tripled daytime cleaning staff across campus to ensure there is regular disinfection of all bathrooms, common areas, and other spaces as needed
• invested in numerous electrostatic sprayers and a larger peroxide fogger disinfection system in order to thoroughly disinfect all spaces regularly

We will find out on the 30th what the rest of the school is planning on doing but it looks like lower school will be attending in person - they fitted each classroom with the capability to livestream if needed where teachers can work from home and kids continue to exist in a classroom setting or if a child or cohort group needs to quarantine or be home they are able to continue school.

we do not live in a hotspot area. I have NO idea how public schools in our area will be able to function there is no way they are supported to be able to do so.

 

[longboard55]

They tried to open baseball and it has not been a week and already major issues.

 

[Searc]

Broward County, FL is prohibiting teachers from talking about their own COVID status on their own social media.

Oh, hell no. If that's a condition of the job, no freaking way.

 

[trmiv]

Well Orange County schools here in Florida just up and decided today that schools will start on the 10th with all students virtual until the 21st, at which time the kids that elected for face-to-face will go back to physical school and the others do the new ConnectED thing( we elected that). This was after saying previously the school year would start August 24th. So now everyone is rushing around trying to figure this out in less than two weeks. We got an email from our daughters school principal basically saying “we’re shocked too and have no idea what’s going on. We’ll let you know.”

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

As a teacher, what is most upsetting to me is that the people who need/want their kids to go back to in-person child care because they need to work, are the very same people who absolutely refuse to give up traveling, socializing, etc. Yes, social media has become a great tattle-tale. These people want and want and want, but refuse to make any sacrifices for the betterment of their community.

I wonder if you might be painting with too broad of a brush here. Of all the parents that need/want their kids to return to school, I’m willing to bet there are some (many?) who are choosing to not, as you say, “travel and socialize, etc.”

 

[texaslover]

Broward County, FL is prohibiting teachers from talking about their own COVID status on their own social media.

We have been told not to post anything on social media (our classroom pics, concerns, requests for Clorox wipes, etc.). We were also told not to contact our superintendant or school board through calls or emails bc we aren't following the chain of command and they are busy.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

We have been told not to post anything on social media (our classroom pics, concerns, requests for Clorox wipes, etc.). We were also told not to contact our superintendant or school board through calls or emails bc we aren't following the chain of command and they are busy.

Keep 'em quiet, keep 'em isolated. Sounds like an unehealthy relationship

 

[spiders]

There is absolutely zero reason to post anything on social media that criticizes your employer. Every now and then I see someone post something negative on my employer’s actual social media page too.

Hey, I’ll repeat what I remember was one of the first things I was told....do whatever your career can stand.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Well Orange County schools here in Florida just up and decided today that schools will start on the 10th with all students virtual until the 21st, at which time the kids that elected for face-to-face will go back to physical school and the others do the new ConnectED thing( we elected that). This was after saying previously the school year would start August 24th. So now everyone is rushing around trying to figure this out in less than two weeks. We got an email from our daughters school principal basically saying “we’re shocked too and have no idea what’s going on. We’ll let you know.”

As long as it's not a repeat of March... emergency measures when no one is ready.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Was just updated on my grandsons' elementary, 5th grade, and middle school, 8th grade, start.

School will start about 2 weeks later than normal, Sept 1st. It will start remote, hoping at some point to become hybrid.

Remote instruction will include a 5-hour instructional day for students in 1st through 8th grades with a goal of 2 ½ hours of each day being live interaction between teachers and students. Early Childhood and Kindergarten students will have schedules similar to their typical instructional days of 2 ½ hours with approximately half of that being live interaction between teachers and students.

Remote instruction will be robust and aligned to our grade level learning standards. Staff will be responsible for taking attendance and providing feedback on assignments as well as assigning grades for each subject area. Students will be responsible for participating in classwork and turning in assignments.

Students with special needs (Early Childhood, IEP, 504, EL programming) will receive teletherapy and some students may be brought on-site for some direct instruction and support services.

Extracurricular programs will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but with no extracurriculars during the month of September.

 

[HeatherC]

Update on MA schools.

https://www.wcvb.com/article/massac...21-academic-year-teachers-union-says/33437643

 

[Skippy918]

Just signed up for the virtual option. We can switch between grading periods. We’ll see how this goes.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

We have been told not to post anything on social media (our classroom pics, concerns, requests for Clorox wipes, etc.). We were also told not to contact our superintendant or school board through calls or emails bc we aren't following the chain of command and they are busy.

I'm so sorry.

 

[DisneyOma]

There is absolutely zero reason to post anything on social media that criticizes your employer. Every now and then I see someone post something negative on my employer’s actual social media page too.

Hey, I’ll repeat what I remember was one of the first things I was told....do whatever your career can stand.

That's gives all the power to the employer, which is wrong.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

There is absolutely zero reason to post anything on social media that criticizes your employer. Every now and then I see someone post something negative on my employer’s actual social media page too.

Hey, I’ll repeat what I remember was one of the first things I was told....do whatever your career can stand.

I mean, I don't see how posting "we are in need of Clorox wipes" is negative though.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I mean, I don't see how posting "we are in need of Clorox wipes" is negative though.

I can only assume it means the school isn't or can't provide the adequate supplies which may be completely true but I can see why the that could be seen as a negative. Does it excuse the requirement from the school to not post about that? No but I can see why that could be perceived as a negative especially if a reason in one's area for not opening schools up is lack of supplies.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I can only assume it means the school isn't or can't provide the adequate supplies which may be completely true but I can see why the that could be seen as a negative. Does it excuse the requirement from the school to not post about that? No but I can see why that could be perceived as a negative especially if a reason in one's area for not opening schools up is lack of supplies.

I understand that, too, but that doesn't change the need if you need them.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I understand that, too, but that doesn't change the need if you need them.

Sure but your post I quoted specifically said "I don't see how posting "we are in need of Clorox wipes" is negative though." I responded why I could see how that could be viewed as negative that's all

 

[barkley]

w/regard to teachers/staff and social media postings-despite my personal opinion on school's doing face to face i find it VERY difficult to side with some local teachers/staff who are being very vocal against it on their facebook pages citing fears of being personally endangered when all i have to do is scroll down through their page to see very recent posts and photos from all summer long of them engaging in group gatherings, parties, outings and the like-no one in attendance masked, no one maintaining any social distancing, in many cases openly mocking covid protection restrictions. i'm not talking private pages that only friends/family see-public facebook pages.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Just saw this on Pinterest. It about sums up the new school year:



For any who knows the original song, it's just the saddest thing.

For kids who never heard the original, it will just seem normal. (And I can't decide whether that speaks highly about the resilience of kids, or is even sadder. )