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Dear North Smithfield Families,
Friday, March 12th will be a Distance Learning Day as our district employees, bus drivers and monitors, kitchen workers, coaches, and everyone that works with our children, has the opportunity to receive vaccinations at the joint North Smithfield/Woonsocket vaccination clinic this Friday. Friday will be a synchronous day of instruction, meaning classes will still take place online. Teachers receiving their vaccination on Friday will arrange alternate assignments during the period their vaccination appointment is scheduled. Ending Hybrid Instruction starting with Grade 7: We will be returning our remaining hybrid grade levels (7, 8, 10, 11) to four days a week in-person instruction beginning with Grade 7 which will return to four days a week instruction starting Tuesday March 16th. We will shortly announce a schedule for grades 8, 10, and 11 to end Hybrid scheduling. In order to do this, we will need everyone’s help and cooperation. For the remainder of this school year, we have to carefully manage our spacing and transportation. Buses are currently limited to 50% capacity, up to 36 students. At NSES, with so many students returning from at-home instruction, several of our buses have reached the 36 student limit. We will continue to monitor and may have to adjust a few routes. For the MS/HS buses, we have some space on the buses to begin phasing out the hybrid schedule. We can’t do it all at once, but can ease into it and monitor our counts and make adjustments as needed. There is also a strong possibility that in the coming weeks the CDC and RIDOH will be issuing new bus guidance and raise the limits allowable on the bus. What expanding in-person learning will mean (as of this writing)
Here’s to looking at the light at the end of the tunnel and finishing this year strong and together. Michael St. Jean, Superintendent
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Dear North Smithfield Families and Staff,
I want to start off by wishing everyone a safe February Vacation and share a few updates. Facilities: Last Friday, we had to switch our middle school and high school to Distance Learning due to an exterior leak in the underground propane system that fed the middle school ovens and science labs. Despite the dramatic flames, people may have seen in the bus loop overnight and early in the morning, this was a controlled burn to empty the propane tank to begin repairs. I need to emphasize that at no point were our schools, students, or staff in danger. Not only did we have the leak repaired, but we also used this opportunity to implement other modifications and safety upgrades. The new systems have been fully inspected and will be back online shortly. February Vacation and Travel: In previous years, our nurses always welcomed the February vacation as a firewall against the spread of the seasonal flu. We hope everyone will continue to practice caution during this week. We need to remind people that if you are traveling during this time, travel warnings and quarantine restrictions still apply: https://covid.ri.gov/covid-19-prevention/travel-tofrom-ri Student Returns: Up until Thanksgiving, we opened grades PK-6, grade 9, and any student with an IEP and/or a 504 Plan to four days a week in-person. We were on a roll. The period of spikes between Thanksgiving and the New Year greatly slowed our progress, especially where entire grade levels were concerned. During this “pause” we did, however, prioritize additional students who were either on full-time Distance Learning, or in one of the hybrid grades, and offered families four days a week in-person instruction. Thirty students either switched from full Distance Learning to in-person learning or opted to increase their in-person days. Grade 12 is next. We are currently surveying seniors and their parents about their choice to expand instruction to four days a week or remain on full-time distance learning. This survey will help us to better assess capacity. Depending on the family and students’ responses, we may need to reschedule some students into alternate classes or sections to balance class sizes, find alternative locations for classes with larger enrollments in order to create more space for social distancing, and/or make adjustments to transportation, cafeteria assignments, and movement within the school. Going Forward: November and December were difficult months with contact tracing and the sheer numbers of staff and students who had to quarantine. Staffing classrooms on a daily basis was and is an on-going challenge. Thank you to all our teachers, instructional assistants, and administrators for your hard work and flexibility in keeping our schools open. The Distance Learning week after the Winter Vacation was a welcome health break. We had comparatively few positive cases when we returned. Unfortunately, it has not stayed this way. At the end of last week, for example, we had 7 students and 3 staff who had tested positive with an additional 53 students and 19 staff under quarantine. Despite this mini-outbreak, we hold that our protocols and procedures are effective as to date, transmissions of the virus appear to have all occurred outside of school and not from within our walls. Our goal remains to have all students returning to full in-person instruction. We will be expanding our in-school BinaxNOW asymptomatic screenings. As the weather gets warmer, as more staff and people in the community receive vaccinations, and as guidance from the CDC and RI Department of Health is updated (with hopefully more relaxed restrictions), we will continue to evaluate the remaining Hybrid grades along with eliminating the Monday Distance Learning day. For the time being, we are still under restrictions that guide social distancing, classroom, and school layout and limit bus ridership capacity, cafeteria seating, and gathering sizes and locations. Community Support We need everyone’s help maintaining a consistent schedule with the students. This is particularly true with the older students. Originally we required a quarter by a quarter commitment to full Distance Learning. After school reopened and based on numerous family requests, we relaxed this commitment and allowed students to move in and out of Distance Learning. Unfortunately, we are now seeing Distance Learning being used by some as a convenience and not as a health or medical necessity. For example, on days students are supposed to be in school, we have seen some instead attend classes online because they overslept. We have some student-athletes who have switched to Distance Learning and later learned that they did so because they did not want to increase their chances of being quarantined and missing a portion of the season. With this in mind, and based on phone calls, emails, and conversations with parents, students, and staff, I’d like to make the following observation: The changes and cancellations brought by COVID are difficult on our students. As adults, no matter the pressures we feel, the weight of our responsibilities, or how tired we are, we need to remember to remain positive and consistent and not unintentionally contribute to their disappointment, anxiety, or uncertainty. For our children and students, we need to project positivity, engage their interests, and continue to nurture their natural curiosity and creativity. During a pandemic, in the cold and grey of winter, it is easy to forget to just let go and play and laugh with the kids. Everyone, please have a happy and safe February Vacation. Play, laugh, and anticipate the warmer and better days ahead. Michael St. Jean, Superintendent 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 Dear North Smithfield Families and Staff,
I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving and summarize my report at the 11/17/2020 School Committee Meeting. COVID, Quarantines, and Remaining Open Thank you to our teachers and students for maintaining the protocols and procedures we put in place to mitigate the risk of COVID spread. As cases continue to climb across the country and state, we will continuously monitor the conditions in North Smithfield and our schools. To date, what all of you are doing is working. Our numbers of positive cases are lower than most other school districts and so far all of our positive cases have been traced to exposure occurring outside of school.
Even though our positivity rates are very low compared to other districts, the number of students and staff the DOH is sending into quarantine is increasing dramatically. While this is a necessary precaution it does place a strain on our ability to adequately staff our classrooms and continue uninterrupted instruction to our students. With the COVID spike statewide, family members are testing positive, meaning that our staff members must quarantine by association. With the COVID spike statewide, schools and daycares have been switching between in-person and Distance Learning, meaning that some of our staff members, especially those with small children, must take FFCRA leave (federally available to all employees). Also when a staff member feels ill with probable COVID symptoms, they must isolate and get tested, and wait at least 48 hours for a negative PCR test during which time we must try and cover classes. Unfortunately with the current spike in cases across the state, the K-12 testing system is overburdened resulting in delays in testing appointments and results. The original 48 hour period is no longer in effect and is extended. We have established a system where we can pivot from in-person to at-home teaching and learning to ride out the various quarantines, and so far, with a tremendous effort from our teachers, we are making it work. At a statewide superintendent’s meeting this week, I heard from districts that are considering switching to full Distance Learning due to the high numbers of staff who are in quarantine. I heard from districts that suggested they may need to switch to full Distance Learning because of their increased COVID-related expenses and uncertainty in State Aid to Education which has them facing budget deficits. The coming weeks between Thanksgiving and the period after New Years will be a challenge for all of us. While we have protocols in place during the school day, we are affected by what happens after hours, during the weekends, and across the region and state. We have brought back students in PK-6, 9, as well as students with IEP’s and 504 Plans. While we do want all of our students to return, we must still operate under a number of restrictions and precautions. I have stated at several School Committee meetings that I want to bring back our 12th graders, but I cannot commit to a date, or even if it is a possibility, until we have data regarding the return of the 9th graders to NSHS. At the 11/17/2020 School Committee Meeting, Chair James Lombardi expressed concern for those students who are struggling. I was able to reply that I have already asked for a list of students in the Hybrid grade levels 7-8 and 10-12 who are struggling the most academically, emotionally, and psychologically to determine if we can offer their parents to bring them in additional days. Governor’s Press Conference on 11/19/2020 At her press conference on 11/19/2020, Governor Raimondo announced that as of November 30 until the Winter break, all high schools will shift to their limited in-person plans that were developed earlier this year. PreK-8 students will remain in-person with the exception of students currently enrolled in virtual learning. Our Limited Reopening Plan for the High School is the Hybrid plan we began the school year with. We have since expanded the plan to include four days a week in-person instruction for all students with IEP’s, 504 plans, 9th graders, whom we prioritized because 9th grade is an important transition year. Based on the effectiveness of our protocols, the very low positivity rate in our schools, and the need to have students in school, we intend to keep the high school status quo for the time being. We will continue to closely monitor for any changes at the High School, and all schools, and dial back accordingly if it becomes necessary. Enrollment Update I have posted the enrollment report I presented to the School Committee at their 11/17 meeting. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AXvJuMvj-7X8KGe4ebox_pEEzax2xQiQ/view?usp=sharing Enrollment Summary:
Student and Family Supports During the 11/17/20 School Committee Meeting, Committee Member Paul Jones asked about supports that were available to parents. While our school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers are here for our students and families, we also recommend: Mental Health/Suicide: KidsLinkRI- 1-855-543-5465 Available 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week. Call if your child is feeling:
BH Link (for 18 yrs old and over)-401-414-5465 Mental Health and Substance Abuse Samaritans of RI hotline-1-800-365-4044 24 hour crisis hotline/listening line National Suicide Prevention Lifeline- 1-800-273-8255. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones. Community Care Alliance-401-235-7120 Mental Health/Addiction/Child & Family services. Alanon/Alateen-401-781-0044 Substance abuse meetings, information, and resources. www.riafg.org Food/Housing/Utility Support: Community Care Alliance - 401-235-7000. Housing support and Basic needs support (including heat and utilities) Basic Needs Assistance > Programs & Services Tri-Town Community Action Agency- 401-351-1913 11 Emanuel Street, North Providence, RI. Housing and food assistance Neighborhood Works- 401-762-0993 Housing assistance St. John’s Food Bank - 401-762-0946 63 Church Street, Slatersville, RI. Call to schedule a pantry appointment Manville Food Share Program- 401-757-0605 11 Winter Street, Manville, RI 02838 Open 9-11 on the 2nd & 4th Saturday of the month Clothes to Kids RI- 401-941-8050. https://clothestokidsri.org/ Clothes to Kids is a nonprofit providing school aged children in K through GED a full wardrobe of clothing - FREE OF CHARGE! Students can receive clothing twice a year. COVID Resources: TALKING TO CHILDREN ABOUT COVID-19 North Smithfield Schools Support Staff: Available during school hours: In the event of an emergency, please call 911 or utilize an emergency number listed above if you or your child are at risk. Michelle Halloran- School Social Worker, North Smithfield Middle & High School 401-597-6100. mhalloran@nsps.us Maria Corsini- School Psychologist, North Smithfield Middle & High School 401-766-2500. mcorsini@nsps.us Kim Cote-School Social Worker, North Smithfield Elementary School 401-356-4881. kcote@nsps.us Maggy Bell-School Psychologist, North Smithfield Elementary School 401-597-0363. mbell@nsps.us - Michael St. Jean, Superintendent Dear North Smithfield Families and Staff,
It is hard to believe that we have only been back to school for only seven weeks. I am sure it seems longer than that for most of us. I have to express my sincere thanks to everyone. Thank you to our teachers and support staff who have been giving 1000% to their students and colleagues. Thank you to our many students who have been amazingly resilient working under the constraints that COVID has imposed on them. We are very aware of the social-emotional burden, depression, and weariness felt by many of our students, which is driving so many of our efforts. And thank you to parents who have been patient, who are working with our teachers and encouraging their children to engage and succeed, despite the challenges. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions. It was with all this in mind that we addressed the North Smithfield School Committee at a special meeting Thursday, November 5th. The video from the meeting can be viewed at https://youtu.be/Hcj2e-v_GKQ. An outline is included below. Progress
Cautions
Other Updates
Dear North Smithfield Families and Staff,
At Tuesday’s School Committee Meeting, I recommended the next phase of student returns. We are looking forward to seeing our students with 504 plans and our 4th graders next week. The following week is a big week with the scheduled return of Grades 2 and 3. Returns to date:
NSES Grades 2 and 3 have been a challenge with their return as they are both large classes and we are trying to maintain as much classroom spacing between students as possible. Our ELA and Math Specialists have come to the rescue and volunteered to switch their roles and become classroom teachers. This will enable us to open an additional classroom in Grades 2 and 3 as well as help permit greater social distancing in the classroom and better balance to meet the needs of both our in-person and at-home learners. More information will be coming from NSES as we coordinate the return. This is truly a wonderful solution for NSES. I thank our teachers and administrators at every school as they continue to brainstorm solutions. We are in the process of hiring more substitute teachers to provide additional coverage and supports at all schools, with a focus on NSES. Our admin team (including myself) has been taking turns to provide extra classroom coverage and supports at NSES. Working with the NSES students has been among the highlights of our week. We have a new drop-off procedure at NSES which appears to be very effective. Our transportation company is re-analyzing the bus routes with the return of new grade levels in mind. We will certainly notify everyone of any changes. Quarantine, Contact Tracing and Precautions As we move forward with our phased-in reopening plan, COVID cases across the state are increasing, and yes, we are seeing positive cases in our schools. By HIPAA law, we are limited in the amount and types of information we can share in order to assure privacy protections for families, students, and staff. When a positive case is made known to us, we are obligated to follow the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) procedures and directives around quarantining. We are aware of many of your concerns and frustrations around contact tracing timelines and notifications. Improving the speed of testing and tracing has been been a continued topic of discussion at state-level meetings between schools, RIDOH, the Department of Education, and the Governor’s office as we emphasize the need to improve speed, efficiency, and communication because of the confusion, stresses, and anxiety it creates within our communities. While we are doing what we can within our schools to mitigate risks and follow the guidelines and procedures defined by RIDOH, we are increasingly concerned about what is happening outside of school which may negatively impact our ability to remain open. To date, we are not aware of any positive cases connected to being in school and any spread seems to be coming from outside activities and interactions. When in school we want our kids to be with their friends and learn. During the evenings and weekends, we want our kids to be kids, to have birthday parties and sleepovers, and to play and have fun. We want to be able to travel again, but unfortunately, many locations are still considered “hotspots” and carry mandatory restrictions upon return. We all want to support one another and keep each other healthy. My hope is that we can collectively keep everyone well, both inside and outside school, by following all the recommended health and safety guidelines, precautions, and restrictions no matter how inconvenient. As a reminder please use the health screening forms (NSES Admit One Ticket and MS and HS students and district employees on the district website https://www.nsps.us/) every morning. Parents, if your child is exhibiting any of the symptoms as listed, he or she should remain home. If symptoms persist, or by recommendation of the school nurse or RIDOH, please use the free COVID testing services for K-12 provided by the State. Thank you everyone and have a healthy and safe weekend. - Michael St. Jean, Superintendent Testing Children and K-12 Testing Sites: https://health.ri.gov/covid/testing/children/ Back to School RI: https://www.back2schoolri.com/what-you-need-to-know/ RIDOH Outbreak Response Protocols https://reopeningri.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020-09-14_K-12-Playbook_edited_v2.pdf Alignment to the NSPS District Strategic Plan
The NSPS District Strategic Plan outlines the following Annual Assessment Process: “In September of each school year, the Superintendent will present the year’s upcoming focus areas, goals, priorities, and initiatives. All school and district focus areas and initiatives will directly connect to the Strategic Plan’s overarching Strategies, Priorities, and Goals.” 20-21 Superintendent Priorities and Goals 1. High Standards, Quality Instruction, Curricula, and Student Success: All students will achieve high standards, annual growth, and graduate college- and career-ready as independent, creative, and contributing members of society.
2. Safe and Supportive Schools All students will learn in environments that embody a culture and climate of excellence, mutual respect, and safety.
Dear North Smithfield Families,
I want to commend the kids for the way they have committed to keeping their classmates and teachers safe by wearing their masks and adjusting to new routines. I also want to thank our teachers for juggling the diverse learning needs of students both at-home and in-person simultaneously. Finally, thank you parents for all of your patience as we get used to this new reality and make adjustments and improvements. I know extending our reopening beyond the Hybrid model is on everyone’s mind. Towards that goal we are assessing instruction, transportation, classroom space, movement of students, and general operations and protocols. In order to do this, we have some COVID-related capacity reductions and bottlenecks that we need to address, such as:
Transportation Survey As per the Rhode Island Department of Health regulations, school bus capacity will be restricted to 50% capacity or a maximum of 36 students. We need to know if we will exceed this limit and on which routes. Below is a transportation survey form for those who absolutely require AM and/or PM bus transportation and have no other means to get to or from school. If you are able to individually, or by carpool, drop-off and/or pick-up students every day, both morning and afternoon, we thank you, and you do not need to fill out this form. We understand there are some days when bus transportation is not used such as when students remain after school for seasonal athletics and activities. We still need you to indicate that PM transportation is required as athletic seasons change and there will be days when afterschool activities are be canceled, yet we still need to be sure that we do not exceed the new bus capacity limits. NSPS Transportation Survey Form link: https://forms.gle/7Ee3MVurGNDRxNBz5 We will close the survey Sunday night on Sept. 27th. Thank you, Michael St. Jean, Superintendent Dear North Smithfield Families,
I wanted to take a moment to welcome everyone back to a most unusual and challenging of new school years and give you a few updates. Transportation
Instruction
Facilities
Concerns These are potential issues I have shared with the School Committee during the past few meetings. Our goal is a Full Return, but in order to realize this we will have to address and weigh the following concerns:
The Hybrid start will allow us to assess conditions and further organize based on the new reality and not on conjecture. It will allow students and teachers time to acclimate to the new processes and procedures. As I mentioned at the beginning of this email, while I am confident that North Smithfield is up to any challenge, this one will take a whole community effort. Michael St. Jean, Superintendent Dear North Smithfield Families and Staff,
During the Tuesday, August 18th, School Committee Meeting (https://youtu.be/xDKkf7xOc3Y), I made a number of recommendations regarding school reopening. I want to take this opportunity to reiterate and expand upon my recommendations. School Reopening Recommendations Districts in the state have begun to announce a return to school under full Distance Learning as well as a variety of other models. At this time, we firmly believe that some in-person learning is preferable to none. At Tuesday’s School Committee Meeting, I recommended to the North Smithfield Schools that we conduct a “soft” reopening under the Hybrid Model for all students in PK-12.
With an anticipated 20% of our students choosing a full Distance Learning option and with 40% of our students in person between Tuesday - Friday we can:
Under a full reopening model, at this time, we cannot guarantee that everyone who needs a seat on the bus will have a seat. Under a full reopening model, we cannot maintain 6 feet of social distancing in classrooms, students will sit in rows with masks on, facing forward, with limited movement and conversation. We want the schools to be open and social, less restrictive and prison-like which will be difficult to achieve under a full reopening model. We will need the first few weeks to get everyone used to new processes and routines and to tune and refine. After a few weeks, we will assess the conditions in the schools, community, and the state, and ideally move towards a fuller opening, remain on hybrid, or shift towards Distance Learning. I understand the need to reopen fully and, virus permitting, that is definitely our goal, especially for our elementary students and students with special needs. Staffing Concerns and Early Student Dismissal At the School Committee Meeting, I expressed concerns about staffing due to the Department of Health requirements for all employers in all industries to permit employees to stay home if they are sick. Across the state, superintendents are anticipating that with general illnesses, staff going in and out of quarantine, and the general lack of substitute teachers, we will have difficulty keeping our classrooms fully staffed. North Smithfield has an option that many schools do not have. We have one of the longest school days among public schools in the state. Our school day is closer in length to private, parochial, and some charter schools. The school day will be reduced for students by 45 minutes. This move will allow our teachers to provide class coverage during the day to offset the anticipated lack of substitute teacher availability and create time at the end of the day to better support the mix of student in-person and Distance Learning needs. I do understand the disruption in family schedules that reducing the student school day by 45 minutes will create for some. We have not committed to this solution but are strongly considering it. We will know more when the Governor makes her school reopening announcement on August 31st. Distance Learning Whether families choose full Distance Learning, or Distance Learning as part of the Hybrid Model, or Distance Learning is necessitated due to quarantine, it will look different than it did last year. Our Distance Learning delivery will be:
A separate email/form will be going out allowing parents who indicated they were interested in a Distance Learning option to reconsider as well as families who did not sign up for Distance Learning to add their student’s names. Facilities Update In addition to general summer cleaning and maintenance, our Facilities Department is preparing for school reopening. Of note, the Rhode Island Departments of Education and Department of Health recommended at the beginning of the summer that schools install plexiglass student partitions in classrooms. Our focus instead was to tune, service, and upgrade our HVAC system controls and unit ventilators. Last week, new guidance to districts and schools advised not to spend money on plexiglas partitions and instead improve school and classroom ventilation. North Smithfield again was ahead of the game. Here is a brief list of some of our projects and purchases:
Our teachers and staff desperately want to reopen and welcome all students back, but given budgetary constraints, restrictions in busing and gatherings, taking extra health and safety precautions, accommodating the mix of in-person and Distance Learning needs, everything this year will be a balancing act like we have never seen before. Michael St. Jean, Superintendent |
AuthorMichael St. Jean, Archives
January 2022
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