Superintendent Update 11/6/2020

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

• School Return Timetable to Date
  • Week of 09/21: School Begins Hybrid K-12. PK and Life Skills students 4 days a week.
  • Week of 10/05: Return Kindergarten
  • Week of 10/12: Return Grade 1
  • Week of 10/19: Return Grade 5 and all students with IEP's 
  • Week of 10/28: Return Grade 4 and all students with 504 Plans
  • Week of 11/02: Return Grades 2 and 3. 
  • Week of 11/17: Return Grades 6 and 9
• With the return of students in Grades PK-5, North Smithfield Schools have met the Department of Education and State’s requirements to prioritize the return of students in grades PK-5. Adding Grades 6 and 9 means we are now exceeding the Department of Education and State priorities as we continue to find means to bring students back under current restrictions.  
• Mr. McGee led a very frank discussion of the challenges of bringing back the 9th grade as well as the overwhelming need to make this happen. https://youtu.be/Hcj2e-v_GKQ?t=2377

Cautions

• Positive cases so far: 4 students and 3 adults. 
• Systems Working: Coming out of the summer and beginning the school year, many of us (Including myself) anticipated we may have had to shut down by now due to community spread within our walls.  That has not happened.  This shows to me that we made the right preparations of our facilities, including early investments in our heating and ventilation systems, and that our COVID-mitigation processes and procedures have been effective.
• Staff Coverage: Maintaining consistent staff coverage due to the Department of Health's mandatory quarantines plus general illnesses (which require testing, and 48-hour return) have been an ongoing challenge. We need to keep schools open and instruction continuous. We have designed our instructional delivery to be able to rapidly move between at-home and in-person instruction whether it is a student or students, teacher or teachers, an entire classroom, grade level, or an entire school.   
• Contact Tracing: The slow pace of the Department of Health contact tracing and notifications has been a challenge. We have raised our concerns directly in state-level meetings and are pushing for greater efficiency and speed with student/parent notifications. 
• We are closely monitoring statewide increases in cases and the effect on the community and our schools

Other Updates

• Curriculum: Our Assistant Superintendent, Mrs. Arnold shared information around our review of the frequency and types of student assignments, our grading policies and procedures, and further honing our focus on critical standards. https://youtu.be/Hcj2e-v_GKQ?t=1898
• Communications:  Please keep checking our district and school websites, along with Facebook for information. Our district Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/northsmithfieldschools has 1900 followers. It is amazing to see the community helping to get the word out by sending out Shares like watch beacons.  
  • If you are not receiving School Messenger notifications, please check the Parent Portal (https://nspsri.infinitecampus.org/campus/portal/nsmithfield.jsp) or contact your school (https://www.nsps.us/schools.html) to verify or update your telephone number or email.
  • We will be scheduling regular “Town Hall” type forums with each of our schools where we welcome staff, parents, and students to ask questions and exchange ideas.  
• Calendar Update: Tuesday, November 24th is changed from an in-person school day to a Distance Learning day ((Mon -Tues = DL. Wed - Fri = Vacation).