Superintendent
September 2, 2020
COVID-19 Safety Training Video
August 28, 2020
COVID-19 Safety Training Presentation
August 28, 2020
School Committee Presentation 8/25/20
August 28, 2020
PVMHS Reopening & Recovery Plan
August 14, 2020
Dear Students, Staff and Families,
We hope this letter finds you all safe and healthy. Thank you for your patience as we work to develop a comprehensive plan to return to learning this fall. At this time, we know there are still many questions about the return to school and we hope this plan begins to answer some of those questions. Today, August 14, 2020, we submitted our reopening plan to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. A copy of that plan can be found on our school website. We have included several updates to the plan from the feedback we received from students, staff and families. For example, all students preK-12 will be required to wear masks.
Peabody Public Schools has designed a model of Hybrid Learning that takes into account the varying and unique needs of students at each grade level. The Hybrid Learning model provides PreK-12 students and staff with a combination of in-person and remote teaching and learning experiences. An overview of the hybrid model is described below.
● PreK and Kindergarten: Attend school 4 half days per week (AM/PM) with Wednesday remote
● Grades 1-8: Attend at least 2 days in-person with A/B Cohort model (described below)
● Grades 9-12: Primarily engage with remote instruction – selected populations in-person
Families will be asked to select one option from an alternating in-person/remote schedule (Hybrid Option) or a remote only schedule (Remote Option). For the hybrid schedule, PreK and K attend in-person half days (Cohort A=AM, Cohort B=PM), students in grades 1-8 will participate in in-person instruction 2 days per week and connect virtually on the other days. Alternatively, students may opt to participate in a remote only schedule. We ask that families preliminarily choose one of the two options by Sunday, August 16th.
We are continuing to plan for a phased in approach to returning to school in the fall:
● Phase 1: August 31-September 11 – Professional Development and Training
● Phase 2: September 14-15 – Relationship Building and Establishing Routines
● Phase 3: September 16: Implementation of the Hybrid Schedule (first day for students)
● Phase 4: TBD: Full In-Person Learning
The school committee will be discussing the reopening plans on Tuesday 8/18 at 7pm. We are looking forward to reopening in the fall and seeing our students, staff and families again. Please reach out to your child’s school principal with any questions.
Sincerely,
Josh Vadala Ed.D
Revised Reentry & Reopening Plan 8/14/20
August 5, 2020
Dear Families,
We hope this letter finds you all safe and healthy. Please know that the health and well-being of our students and staff are our top priority. At this time, there are still many questions about the return to school; however, we want to provide you with the most updated information we have at this time.
Our goal for the fall continues to be the safe return of as many students and staff as possible to in-person school settings, to maximize learning and address our students’ holistic needs. The results of our feasibility study have revealed that 80% of staff prefer to return to in-person learning (full time or hybrid) and 75% of families prefer in-person learning. After analyzing the capacity of our buildings and reviewing other health and safety considerations, we have determined that we cannot safely bring all staff and students back to full-time in-person learning at this time.
As a result, I am recommending that the Peabody Public Schools begin the 2020-2021 school year with a Hybrid Learning Model that offers a Remote Learning Option for individuals who are unable or uncomfortable returning to an in-person learning environment. I am also recommending that we begin the year with a phased-in approach that will ensure our schools are ready to welcome students and our staff receives the proper training and resources to implement these new learning models.
- Phase 1: August 31-September 11 – Professional Development and Training
- Phase 1 will allow all staff to effectively plan for the implementation of our Hybrid Model described later in this document.
- Phase 2: September 14-15 – Relationship Building and Establishing Routines
- During Phase 2, we will begin to support the return to school by establishing routines for learning and distributing materials, including Chromebooks for K-5.
- Opportunities will be created for students to meet their teachers, see their school and classroom in a safe and appropriate way (by appointment only).
- Phase 3: September 16: Implementation of the Hybrid Schedule (first day for students)
- During Phase 3, we will begin implementation of the Hybrid Schedule (or in some cases full-time remote learning) for all students.
We will continue to focus on relationships, routines, resilience, building stamina, and community connections. - Phase 4: TBD: Full In-Person Learning
- During Phase 4, we will return back to full in-person instruction with increased health and safety measures in place or transition to full remote learning for all.
Please consider providing feedback on our Reentry and Recovery Plan. We are looking forward to reopening in the fall and seeing our students, staff and families again.
Sincerely,
Josh Vadala Ed.D.
Planning for Reentry & Recovery
Click here to leave feedback on the Reentry & Recovery Plan
Reentry & Recovery School Committee Presentation 8/4/20
July 24, 2020
Dear Families and Caregivers,
We hope this letter finds you safe and healthy during these uncertain times. As a district, the Peabody Public Schools is committed to providing students, staff and families with high quality educational opportunities. Our mantra of “Every Student, Every Day” drives our decision making. Although we do not have all the details around returning to school this fall, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide you with an update on the process we are using to make our reopening decisions.
On June 30th, I presented our initial reopening planning procedures to the school committee. That information can be found on our website at https://peabody.k12.ma.us/admin/superintendent/. In collaboration with the School Committee and the Mayor’s Office, we have created a reopening task force designed to address policy and communication surrounding the return to school this fall. A larger working group consisting of various sub committees will be working on logistics and details in the areas of Teaching and Learning Professional Development, Transportation, Facilities and Operations, Food Services and Alternative Childcare Options. Additionally, each school has developed a school-based implementation team consisting of administrators, teachers, parents and support staff.
Our goal for the fall is the safe return of as many students as possible to in-person school settings, to maximize learning and address our students’ holistic needs. Recently, we asked families and staff members to complete surveys in order to gain a better understanding of the feasibility of returning to school. In the coming weeks, we will continue to work with families, school personnel and community members to develop a comprehensive return to school plan. Please consider tuning into the August 4th School Committee meeting at 7pm on Peabody Access Television to learn more about our return to school plans.
If you are interested in joining a reopening team, please contact your child’s principal. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to my office.
Sincerely,
Josh Vadala, Ed.D.