Old Rochester Regional Junior High and High students, the caboose on the train back to full-time school attendance, will have played catch-up by the end of April, according to Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson during his March 24 update to the Old Rochester Regional School Committee.
While grades 3-6 in the Tri-Town are scheduled join K-2 students in a full, in-person return to school starting Monday, April 5, grades 7-12 are looking at Tuesday, April 27, as their target date.
“Throughout this whole process, I’ve always wanted to be nimble and able to adapt quickly,” said ORR Junior High School Principal Silas Coellner. “Even last summer when we were preparing to open in the fall … whether we moved from one model to another … to try and be as least disruptive as possible.”
Keeping some of the core rhythms with building operations, said Coellner, “hopefully would keep some consistency and fluidity for the students.”
According to Nelson, when schools pivot to full, in-person learning, families will have the option of going fully remote. The hybrid learning model currently in practice since the opening of the academic year will be retired for duration of the 2020-21 school year.
Based on updated state guidelines, social distancing will keep students 3 to 6 feet apart in the classroom, all staff 6 feet from students and one another, and facemasks will remain a standard practice for students and staff regardless of whether or not they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Students will maintain 6 feet social distancing for lunch, including in classrooms that will be set up accordingly for those assigned to dine in their classrooms.
Reporting to the Mattapoisett School Committee on Monday night, Tavares said families were to meet for orientation with staff on Tuesday night via Zoom; 280 families have requested transportation, while 257 already have children riding on buses, an average of 37 students per bus.
The Center School drop-off and dismissal times will remain the same (8:15 am and 3:00 pm), and Tavares called dismissal the school’s greatest challenge as cars are often backed up on Shaw Street close to Route 6. In response to the resumption of full attendance, drivers will be given new directives upon arrival for pick-up, which will be monitored by Mattapoisett Police.
Old Hammondtown School will continue dismissing from the gymnasium but will now add the grade 6 wing as the second point of dismissal depending on grade levels. Tavares told the committee he had scheduled practice sessions for this week in cohorts.
The Old Rochester School Committee met on March 24 and voted to accept the Memorandum of Agreement that the high school return to full, in-person learning, and, in a separate vote, that the junior high be included in that vote.
Currently, the high school has 628 students in the hybrid model, and 87 in full remote. “We did do our survey, and we have less than a handful of students who will be switching learning plans. We’re ready should more seek to change learning plans,” said ORR High School Principal Mike Devoll.
The high school class schedule will no longer rotate but will toggle between two schedules for the rest of the academic year. Classes will begin at 7:30 am and end at 2:00 pm. High school classes will be 85 minutes long and followed by eight or nine-minute outdoor mask breaks. Seniors have been allowed to eat lunches outdoors in the courtyard under a tent. That option will be expanded to include the junior class.
High school students on full remote will remain on Gradpoint software, their teachers continuing in the supervisory role.
Families will be invited to participate in an informational Zoom meeting on Wednesday, April 7, at 6:30 pm. Devoll said remote students participated in a Zoom meeting on March 23. Committee member Heather Burke asked how students will be able to access extra help. Devoll said students have used after-school appointments. Devoll added that, in order to avoid testing in the final weeks of school, MCAS testing for three grade levels and Advanced Placement testing for 17 courses will all be conducted in May.
Committee member Francis Kearns also asked for public communication regarding the future of the lunch program. Nelson said he would work to meet the request.
Prior to the reopening vote, Nelson told the ORR School Committee that 24 of the 100 School Choice students attending in the ORR School District will exit; therefore, he recommended that the ORR School Committee approve 27 new openings for students to attend ORR schools on School Choice for the 2021-22 academic year. Nelson recommended that no more than 15 be enrolled into grade 7, and no more than three in grade 8. The committee voted in favor.
By March 24, ORR had received 30 School Choice applications, according to Nelson’s report. He said the School Choice lottery would most likely be held the week before April vacation.
An initial discussion suggested Mattapoisett School Committee members are in favor of maintaining the district’s stance as a School Choice district. There will be a public hearing on the matter in May.
After Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howie Barber presented the Mattapoisett School Committee a $7,511,872 budget for FY22, members voted unanimously to accept. The committee also voted unanimously in favor of a $70,000 allocation for School Choice.
The eight students attending Center School on School Choice are all expected to return in 2021-22. Nelson told the committee that Principal Rose Bowman, prior to going on medical leave, anticipated class sizes of 19, 18, and 18 for grades K-2. Tavares said 54 invitations were sent out based on a survey. Nelson said it was not the result of any strategy that Old Hammondtown has no School Choice students and all are attending Center School.
The ORR School Committee also voted to approve Devoll’s Early Childhood Pathway Program.
Dr. Colin Everett of the Health and Safety Committee with Dan McAvoy publicly thanked the Town of Marion and Representative Bill Straus for their unsuccessful efforts to host a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for educators. Everett noted that, since many faculty members await their second dose, reactions increase the possibility of absences.
In his Principal’s Report, Devoll reported that 285 ORR students are participating in Fall II season interscholastic sports. Spectators are allowed at outdoor sports up to 150.
In his Principal’s Report, Tavares paid public respects to the late Gail Stetson, who had worked 24 years at Old Hammondtown, saying, “She is missed.”
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett School Committee is scheduled for Monday, May 3. The next meeting of the ORR School Committee is set for Wednesday, May 12, and the Joint School Committee’s next meeting is set for Thursday, April 29. All meeting will be held at 6:30 pm.
School Committees
By Mick Colageo