NES WEEKLY UPDATE
MONDAY, November 30, 2020
Latest Information
Dear Families,
I hope you all had a wonderful, safe and healthy Thanksgiving and break. My Thanksgiving was very different than any from years before. Two moms and our daughters (I was missing my eldest daughter) had a lovely time filled with a wonderful meal and lots of laughs. Prior to eating, we all shared something we are grateful for. Beyond the health and safety of our friends and family, I reflected on how grateful I am for the incredibly dedicated staff at NES, our wonderful students, and you, the supportive family members.
The teachers are working so hard to meet the needs of the students. They have reinvented themselves regularly. The safety and the well-being of everyone is our priority. The students have been such a joy for us to be with, and they are so fantastic with understanding and following all of the safety protocols. They are doing an amazing an amazing job. To you the family members, we are so grateful for your increased efforts in supporting your children with our safety protocols and all of your efforts to be so invested in working through academics more than ever this year. We need you and we are beyond thankful!!
I wanted to share some attendance updates, hopefully offering more clarity on previous comments. These are the definitions that have been shared in the other schools, and I want to be sure you know of them as well. This information below pertains to student attendance.
ABSENT: If a student is absent on the day that they are supposed to be present in-person, they cannot remote in on that day. They are marked absent since they are not physically present for their in-person class. This is too last minute and disruptive to class rosters changing on a daily basis.
VACATION/LONG WEEKEND: If a student is going away for a vacation or weekend event early on a Friday, we do not provide remote links. They are also considered absent and must make-up any missed work as has always been the district policy.
QUARANTINE ORDER: If a student is asked to quarantine due to a state travel order or local contact tracing protocol, we must share links for the student to remote-in to their current schedule for their required number of days (10, 14, 24).
MOVING to COHORT D for LONG TERM: If a family feels that in-person is unsafe, they may request to move their student to Cohort D for all remote. Know that moving back to an in-person Cohort A, B, or C schedule is not a simple switch and the MA DESE is now giving schools up to 6 weeks to make the return transition.
A reminder that if a student is going to be traveling for more than 15 days, they will be withdrawn from school and re-enrolled upon return. No guarantees that they would be returned to their original cohort. This is past practice to deter families from traveling for extended periods of time that would cause their student to miss school. NPS administration recognizes that families are going to travel, we just can't provide remote options and students are going to have to make up work upon return. Students can take work packets and they may access asynchronous work, but there will be no remote logging in.
I am grateful for the questions I have received and welcome more questions from you. Please do not hesitate to reach out.
Best,
Kimberly Kubisch, Principal NES
ABOUT NES
Principal
Kimberly F. Albertson
Assistant Principal
Email: kubischk@npsk.org
Website: www.npsk.org
Location: 30 Surfside Road, Nantucket, MA, USA
Phone: 508 228 7290
School Pictures for NES will happen in the spring of 2021
At NES, we use Everett Hayward for our school photos. We have a three year contract with him. We made a decision, this past summer, to have our NES School Pictures for 20-21 taken in the spring. We will give you plenty of notice.
Calendar Updates
- December 9, 2020 - Whole District Professional Development (no school for students on this day)
- December 11, 2020 - Trimester 1 Ends
- December 14, 2020 - New Specials start
- December 18, 2020 - Report Cards will be published in Aspen and sent home.
- December 23, 2020 - January 3, 2021 (Wednesday - Sunday) Holiday Break
- January 4, 2021 - School Re-opens
Holiday Travel
Please be thoughtful and careful when planning holiday travel. It will be necessary for students to quarantine or test negatively if you travel to one of the red states. With the exception of Hawaii, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, all other states in America are red. This means you must test negative when you return from the other states. The testing negative is important for the safety of all of our students, their families, staff, and their families. Thank you in advance for your attention to this.
Children with any illness symptoms
Know that we understand and appreciate when you choose to keep your child at home because they have one of the symptoms or don't feel well, not necessarily COVID-19 positive but run down as happens to us all. With a bit of notice and clear communication to your child's teacher, they can work with you to determine the child's participation in synchronous and/or asynchronous work.