O'Maley Family Focus
Updates from Principal Lynne Beattie - September 13, 2020
Happy Sunday, O'Maley Families!
Placement letters were mailed early Friday, supply lists posted on the website yesterday, and staff is working diligently to complete final preparations for students' return beginning with building orientations tomorrow and Tuesday.
If you did not yet receive the placement letter in the mail, don't worry! Students will be directed to their homeroom assignments.
Below you will find:
- Important information you should read before accepting a GPS Chromebook
- Information about student logins - test them at home.
- Supply lists for all grades (link available at omaley.gloucesterschools.com
- A review of safety expectations, including face masks
- Reminders for hybrid orientation and Chromebook distribution for both hybrid and remote.
Remote families, please look for an additional email with information from each grade specific to starting school remotely on Wednesday.
As always, please reach out with questions or concerns!
Best,
Lynne
Test Your SchoolBrains and Google Logins!
Student Logins: All students will be using their gloucesterschools.com Google accounts AND their Schoolbrains Community Portal accounts. To get ready for school, logging in now to be sure everyone remembers their passwords will be very helpful.
GPS Google Accounts: Students login to all Google apps with their school credentials:
Username, All Grades: firstnamelastname
Passwords, Grade 6: Combine 0s and Student Lunch ID to reach 8 characters (Example: 4567 = 00004567, or 34567 = 00034567)
Passwords, Grades 7 & 8: Students created their own passwords last year.
If students have forgotten their passwords, please complete this form: O’Maley Password Request Form
Schoolbrains Community Portal (May not be open until Tuesday or Wednesday): For login information for the community portal, please go to omaley.gloucesterschools.com and pull down the Schoolbrains tab for information on how to login and for access to the portal.
Username, All grades: GPS email address
Password, All Grades: Student ID#
Building & Safety Orientation Reminders
Reminder for Hybrid Learners: Building & Safety Orientations are scheduled for each grade.
- Monday, September 14 - Grade 8, 8:00-9:30 a.m.
- Monday, September 14, Grade 7, 12:30-2:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, September 15, Grade 6, 8:00-9:30 a.m.
Student drop-off and pick-up will be at the same location as it is on school days: Parents should park in the parking lot between the hockey rink and the skate park both for drop off and pick up. Students should walk up the path to the front entry courtyard. Teachers will be out front holding signs with homeroom numbers. Guidance and office staff will be available to direct students.
Chromebooks will be distributed at building orientation; those who are unable to attend orientation will receive them in school on Wednesday.
Drop off and pick up at O'Maley is in the rink parking lot ONLY. DO not drive up to the front of the building.
The First Day of School, September 16th
School begins at 7:40 a.m.. Students should arrive no earlier than 7:30 a.m.
For hybrid learners, the first day of school will be held in-person instead of remote. From that point on, all Wednesdays will be remote. The in-person school day ends at 12:15 p.m.
For remote learners there is no change. Remote learners' school days area always fully remote.
Bus transportation is available for hybrid learners on September 16th according to the same schedule and locations as on other school days. See the GPS Transportation letter sent previously for information.
All Students Must Wear Masks to School.
Remote Learners Chromebook Exchange and/or Pickup
All students at O'Maley will be provided a new school-owned Chromebook as part of our 1:1 program. Any family who borrowed a Chromebook for remote learning in the spring needs to return it and exchange it for a new device as part of our transition to an official 1:1 program at all grades 6-8.
For remote students, loaner Chromebooks should be returned at Chromebook pickup, Tuesday, September 15, All Grades 10:00-11:30. Students do not need to attend this pickup. It is fine for an adults to simply come and pickup/exchange devices. Please drive up to the front of the school. A staff member will greet you at the curb.
Remote families may choose NOT to use a school-owned device. All students who attend school in person must use a school-owned device.
Health and Safety at O'Maley
S.A.I.L.S. AND SAFETY:
Maintaining a safe and sanitary learning environment is a community responsibility and we will all work together to ensure that our school remains healthy. Our S.A.I.L.S. principles guide us to respect and take part in our community through Service, Acceptance, Integrity, Leadership, and Success. Actively following our safety guidance individually and supporting and encouraging others to do the same are great examples of Leadership and Integrity that will ensure our Success.
6' DISTANCES
We have worked diligently to design a model in which we will sustain 6' of distance among all of our community members, both staff and students. Classroom seating is arranged to provide this spacing and hallways will be marked for traffic flow. Students will be assigned a seat in each class the first day of school and will retain that assignment unless directed differently by the teacher.
Students should not stop, remain stationary, and/or congregate less than 6' apart when moving about the building. While they may at times pass by one another at a slightly lesser distance, they must maintain the maximum distance possible in hallways and when entering and exiting classrooms, staying as close to 6' apart as possible. Traffic flow and expectations for transitions between classes will be reviewed with students by teachers within each House team.
FACE COVERINGS
All individuals are required to wear face coverings or masks when in school, on school grounds, and on school transportation.
Please follow these guidelines from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health when selecting a mask or face covering:
Cover your nose and mouth,
Fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face,
Be secured with ties or ear loops,
Include multiple layers of fabric,
Allow for breathing without restriction, and
Be able to be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to shape.
Masks with valves should not be worn as they do not effectively filter breath a person exhales.
When putting on and taking off a mask, do not touch the front of it, only handle the ties or ear straps, and make sure you wash the cloth mask regularly. Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer after touching the mask.
Gloucester School Committee Policy allows for exceptions to this policy in certain circumstances such as students with medical, behavioral or other challenges. All exceptions must be approved by the building principal in consultation with the school nurse or the Gloucester Board of Health, and the superintendent.
SANITIZING
Hand sanitizer stations will be located at all entrances, stairwells, bathrooms, water fountains, and inside each classroom. Students are expected to sanitize their hands upon entering the building or any of the spaces noted above.
Bathrooms will be cleaned hourly.
Surfaces in the building will be cleaned each day following students' departure.
During the school day, classroom surfaces will be cleaned between classes. Teachers will spray student desks/tables with a sanitizing solution. Students will then be responsible for wiping down their own desk/table surface before leaving the classroom.
Supplies will not be shared interactively among students and will be wiped down between uses if they are not allocated to individual students. Items like textbooks and literature will be distributed to individual students and quarantined for at least three days when returned.
ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL
Students should arrive to school at or after 7:30 a.m. and will enter the building directly upon arrival at that time. They will head straight to homeroom which officially begins at 7:40 a.m. Students should not arrive prior to 7:30 a.m.. In the event of an urgent and temporary situation where arrival before 7:30 a.m. cannot be avoided, students will be required to separate, standing on the dots on the courtyard, by at least 6' of distance. Please assist us in ensuring that unless there is a rare, temporary, and urgent situation, students do not arrive prior to 7:30 a.m.
Students will be dismissed at the end of the day in groups of walkers, pick-ups, and bus riders. Practices for social distancing while exiting will be instructed, reviewed, and monitored.
STUDENT GROUPINGS IN THE HYBRID MODEL
Students will remain in a grouping we call a "bubble" throughout the day. Each bubble is a House team and consists of about 80 students. There are 7 adults who oversee the 8 class blocks that occur over the course of two days, Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday. There are no circumstances in which students are scheduled with other students outside of their bubble.
Our class size is 12 or fewer students. Students travel with various members of their House "bubble" during the day and remain in that bubble.
TRAVELING WITHIN THE BUILDING
Students will be assigned one or more designated bathrooms to use during the day. We will be implementing an electronic pass system called SmartPass which requires students to sign out through their Chromebook before leaving a class, and alerts them if the location is not available. For example, if the bathroom is full or if the guidance counselor is not available, the student will be alerted and unable to sign out of class until there is availability. This will reduce hallway traffic and prevent students from congregating while waiting to go into a room.
PRPTOCOLS FOR ILLNESS
COVID-19 Protocols developed by DESE will be followed. Development of a shorter, easier to use version for GPS is underway and will be published soon. Our nurses, Kim Cameron and Alycia Gossum are able to answer questions at any time. To read the DESE Protocols in multiple languages, link here.
Schedules and Classes
The schedule for both hybrid and remote learners is essentially the same (see below). The difference is that the whole schedule is remote for remote learning. Individual houses may make adjustments at times, in either remote or hybrid models.
Schedules will be available in the Schoolbrains Community Portal once complete. The only changes made to student schedules will be those required to meet the needs of specialized instruction.
Please note that the schedule below is just a sample. The sequence of classes may be different and the specialist class will rotate. Students will be assigned specialist classes each half term, having one specialist class at a time for 4-5 weeks. Specialist classes included in our program this year:
- Art
- Health/Physical Education
- Investigations in Science (Replaces Coding - Combines technology with lab science.)
- Library Media
- Music (General music replaces band and chorus, will include some instrumentation)
- Performing Arts
- Spanish Language and Culture
Students will rotate through the courses as assigned.
Lockers and Supplies
LOCKERS
Students will not be using lockers this year and should bring backpacks.
SUPPLY LISTS
Supply lists are being generated by teachers and will be available toward the end of next week.
WATER BOTTLES
Students should be sure to bring a water bottle to school. Bottle fillers will be available for use. Bubblers will not be available.
Any family who needs assistance with purchasing backpacks, water bottles, or general supplies should contact should contact guidance counselors:
- Grade 6 - Mary White - marywhite@gloucesterschools.com
- Grade 7 - Rebecca Matheson - rmatheson@gloucesterschools.com
- Grade 8 - Allison Alves - aalves@gloucesterschools.com
O'Maley Academy
Just recently, O'Maley was awarded a new three-year Exemplary Programs Grant by the 21st Century Community Learning Center of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Thank you and congratulations to Ms. Alves, the Director of the O'Maley Academy and all of the staff, for all of the work they have done and continue to do to ensure that this amazing programming is available at O'Maley.
Information will be out soon about available options for O'Maley Virtual Academy for the fall. Stay tuned for messages from Ms. Alves.
Contact Information
Email: lbeattie@gloucesterschools.com
Website: http://omaley.gloucesterschools.com
Location: 32 Cherry Street, Gloucester, MA, USA
Phone: 978-281-9850
Twitter: @omaleyprincipal