Superintendent's Newsletter
November 18, 2020
Thanksgiving Message
Dear Families,
As we approach the Thanksgiving Holiday Break, I want to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving. During pre-COVID times, the Thanksgiving Holiday would be filled with traveling and spending time with extended family and friends. However, as we are becoming increasingly accustomed to, we must consider the well-being of our entire community and follow the guidelines established by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Department of Health, and the CDC in order to stop the spread of COVID-19 and maintain a healthy community.
I’d like to remind you that Massachusetts has a COVID-19 Travel Order in place which requires residents to quarantine for 14 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72-hours prior to your arrival/return to Massachusetts. The complete Travel Order can be found here. We must all remain vigilant in stopping the spread of this virus.
As an educator, my primary goal is to keep our schools open and I request that you and your family adhere to these guidelines if you are planning out-of-state travel. If you have any questions, please contact the Health Office at your child’s school and they would be happy to guide you through the process. I have also included a link in this newsletter to Mass.gov, Thanksgiving During COVID-19, which provides many other resources.
These are trying times for all of us. This health crisis requires all of us to adapt our long-standing traditions and customs so that we can maintain a healthy community. We all have a responsibility to our neighbors and on behalf of the faculty and staff at Mansfield Public Schools, we appreciate your adherence to these guidelines.
Sincerely,
Superintendent Teresa Murphy
Snow Days
It is the time of year when I begin to think ahead to the wintry weather that results in my calling a “snow day”. Our school calendar was designed with 5 additional days for inclement weather.
Recently the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education informed districts that under certain conditions, a school district can use remote learning when a “Snow Day” has been called and it will be counted as a school day. I want you to understand how I plan to manage this situation.
Mansfield Public Schools will not make any changes to our current inclement weather plan. A "snow day" will continue to be a "snow day" for our students and staff. There are several factors involved in my decision. First, I have heard from some teachers and students that it is not easy to pivot from hybrid lessons and schedules to remote (or vice versa). Second, a remote day of learning will never replace a day of in-person learning. Third, inclement weather oftentimes results in power outages in communities outside of Mansfield where many of our faculty live and a remote day of learning depends on electricity and the internet. Finally, our children have missed out on many fun activities during the pandemic; I’m not taking the joy of snow days away from them.
If needed, as the school year progresses and perhaps the number of days we need to make-up in June increases, I may re-evaluate this plan. As a reminder, the last day of school without any snow days is June 17. With 5 snow days, the last day of school would be June 24.
Contact Information
Email: school.notifications@mansfieldschools.com
Website: www.mansfieldschools.com
Location: 2 Park Row, Mansfield, MA, USA
Phone: 508-261-7500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mansfield-Public-Schools-508839202499633/
Twitter: @MansfieldSchool