Superintendent Update 12/9/2020

Calendar update for the week of December 21st

During the week leading up to the Winter Recess, Tuesday and Wednesday will become  Distance Learning Days. 

Monday, 12/21 - Distance Learning Day (standard)
Tuesday, 12/22 - Distance Learning Day (new)
Wednesday, 12/23 - Distance Learning Day (new)
Thursday, 12/24 - Winter Recess begins

We did this during the week leading up to Thanksgiving in order to give everyone time to isolate prior to the holiday and it makes sense to do the same leading up to the Winter Recess.  

Can we remain open?

After Thanksgiving, many high schools, and even entire school districts, switched to full Distance Learning. This week some of our neighboring districts, along with many districts across the state, have begun announcing their transitions to Distance Learning starting this week with more to follow next week. 

We currently have five employees and five students who have tested positive for the coronavirus and we all wish them a speedy recovery back to full health. We have significantly more staff and students who are home ill, who are ill and waiting for test results, who are in isolation because they were in contact with someone who tested positive, including immediate family members, or….and this number is growing among our own staff...because their own children’s schools have switched to Distance Learning or their daycares have closed. 

Many of our teachers are persevering as they continue to provide remote instruction from home while under quarantine even when that quarantine means that they are caring for their own family members with the coronavirus. As more schools around us switch to Distance Learning, the strain on our staff to remain open becomes greater, but we all agree that students need to be in school.  

As of today, we have 6 days of in-person instruction remaining before the Winter Recess. During these days, North Smithfield fully intends to keep our schools open for in-person instruction. We will continue to closely monitor for situations beyond our control and respond accordingly. 

As always, I thank everyone for your hard work, dedication, patience, and continued support of our students. 

Michael St. Jean, Superintendent