Welcome to the end of February. I have not published a Barclay Bulletin since the middle of January because it has been pretty quiet on the news front from the building. We continue to move forward with our current model of hybrid or fully remote learning. The only students in Barclay School who are attending school 4 days a week are those who qualify as a student with a disability through the Committee of Special Education, or who have qualified as ENL (English as a New Language) learners through our registration process. I truly wish we could offer an in person experience for all students 5 days a week, but we continue to follow the recommendations from New York State and the Monroe County Department of Health. It has allowed us to continue in person learning without having to shut down classrooms or school buildings due to COVID-19 exposures.

With only four months left in the school year, I want to stress the importance of keeping students engaged on the remote learning days. Barclay students should be able to access their assignments in teams, and while they might not be able to complete everything, keeping them on track for their assignments everyday is highly encouraged. New lessons are presented everyday whether students are in person or remote. Participating in the assignments and reviewing the lessons prepared by the classroom teachers is critical for student understanding the following day.

You may want to assist your students with work - that is absolutely encouraged. Please don't complete the assignments for students. It is equally important that classroom teachers review student work regularly. It will be difficult for teachers to assess student growth, or determine necessary next steps in teaching if they cannot access the student's own efforts on assignments. We will also be looking at student performance when we make decisions regarding summer school recommendations. If students are performing at grade level, there is a good chance they will not be our first recommendations to the limited space of our summer programs.

None of this is ideal.

Some of you have reached out to me, sharing the struggles that hybrid learning has caused for your individual families. I'm sure there are many more who share the same frustrations and have not reached out to me. If you have information that you would like me to be aware of, please call me at school, or email me directly at scott.morrison@bcs1.org

Remember that students who are fully remote can select a return to school in their appropriate cohort. We have an "open enrollment" happening where families can ask about a possible return to in person learning if there is space available. If students have siblings in other buildings, we try to coordinate our cohorts so that family members will attend school the same cohort days. To inquire about a return to school option, email the building principal.