Florence Sawyer School Happenings
Monday, September 14, 2020
Principal's Message
Dear Families,
I look forward to sharing our presentation with you tonight at 6:30. I will do my best to incorporate your questions into the presentation. I ill also be recording the presentation and posting it on our website at the conclusion. I am also including several sections here to address some of the logistical areas that were asked in the question list.
I will emphasize the point tonight and with our students in the coming days, that school is a five day a week job, regardless of the model. I will spend some time tonight explaining the details of the Hybrid Model and the Remote Learning Academy at Florence Sawyer School.
Regarding our Related Arts/ Specials classes, we were tasked with the challenge to provide comprehensive related arts classes while minimizing the number of contacts students would have with other adults and that adults would have with students. We were also conscious of protecting as much of the in-person classroom time as we could while still allowing students to have breaks in the day. The sections below explain the model for elementary and middle level related arts classes.
Finally, thank you for your questions. I will post the questions and responses as well at the conclusion of our meeting.
Yours in partnership,
Joel Bates,
Principal
Virtual Welcome Back Parent Information Night - Monday September 14, 6:30pm
On Monday evening, September 14, a Welcome Back Information session will be held for families of students who have opted for our hybrid learning model. Registration information for this session has been provided to families via email.
Reopening Task Force
I'd like to publicly thank our Reopening Task Force members. Again, I am beyond grateful for their willingness to give up large chunks of their summer to build the processes, procedures, and structures that have brought us to this point. The Task Force developed working groups to address issues related to logistics, the social and emotional aspects of our return, as well as new procedures related to guidance from the DESE, DPH, and the NRSD Steering Committee. Please join me in thanking the following people for their work.
Mark Levine – Assistant Principal
Kaitlyn Angulo – Assistant Principal
Gary Kozloski – Dean of Students
Kevin Maier - Parent
Jocelyn Jastrab – FSS School Council Member
Stacey Dupuis – FSS School Council member / NRSD Steering Com. Rep.
Amy Cohen - NRSD School Committee
Michael Horesh - NRSD School Committee
Dr. Mary McCarthy - NRSD School Committee
Debra Helfgott - Secretary
Karin Frostholm - Nurse
Julie Hendley - Nurse
Susan Jones – K Teacher
Kirsten Dean - K Aide
Carolyn Pokorney – Grade 2 Teacher
Sandy Bowles – Grade 3 Teacher
Lori Troest – Grade 3 Teacher
Pam Carpenter – Grade 5 Teacher
Liz Miller – Grade 7 Teacher (Science)
Eileen Wilder – Grade 7 Teacher ( ELA)
Michele Kelly – Grade 7 Special Ed. Teacher
Karen Cavaioli – PE Teacher/ NREA Rep.
Jayne Richards – Health Teacher
Thea Tully, Grade 8Teacher (Social Studies)
Bus Information for FSS
Dee Bus is working with the District as students will have assigned seats based on their cohort. I expect to have this information soon and will pass it along as soon as I do.
Related Arts / Specials at the Elementary Level
Under our traditional model, students have one class of each of the related arts classes each week. With the Hybrid Model, the students will have one class for an entire quarter (9 weeks) for both days of their in-person cohort. In the following quarter, they would rotate to a different related arts class.
Students in grades K-5 will have classes in art, health, music, and physical education. Rather than offer Library as an additional special, Library Media Specialist, Mr. Caligiuri has developed a process for getting library books to students as well as online resources. The teachers have schedules that they will be sharing with students.
Students in our Remote Learning Academy in grades K-5 will have all four of their related arts classes every Wednesday afternoon, remotely.
Example:
Grade 1 Mrs. Foster Smith
Quarter 1 Art - Monday and Tuesday (Cohort A) Thursday and Friday (Cohort B)
Quarter 2 Music - Monday and Tuesday (Cohort A) Thursday and Friday (Cohort B)
Quarter 3 Health - Monday and Tuesday (Cohort A) Thursday and Friday (Cohort B)
Quarter 4 PE - Monday and Tuesday (Cohort A) Thursday and Friday (Cohort B)
Grade 1 Mrs. DiPrima (Remote Learning Academy)
12:30 - Health 1:00 - Phys. Ed. 1:30 - Art, 2:00 - Music
Related Arts / Specials at the Middle Level
In the Hybrid model, our middle school students will have one related arts class in a double block each of their in-person cohort days. The classes would then rotate to different related arts classes each trimester.
*Grade 6 - Trimester 1 Monday (Cohort A) Thursday (Cohort B) Day 1 - 6.1 I-Lab (Computers) 6.2 (Engineering) 6.3 (Art) 6.4 (PE)
Grade 6 - Trimester 1 Tuesday (Cohort A) Friday (Cohort B) Day 2 - 6.1 PE 6.2 (Art) 6.3 (Engineering) 6.4 (I-Lab)
* Classes will rotate in trimester 2, and rotate again in trimester 3
The Remote Learning Academy Middle School Related Arts classes will be taught every Wednesday in the following schedule.
12:00 Health Grade 8
12:30 Art Grade 6, Engineering Grade 8, Health Grade 7
1:00 Art Grade 8, Music Grade 6, PE Grade 7
1:30 Art Grade 7 Music Grade 8, PE Grade 6
2:00 Engineering Grade 6 Music Grade 7, PE Grade 8
2:30 Engineering Grade 7 Health Grade 6
Extracurriculars at FSS
We are working out a schedule to offer virtual extracurricular activities in the coming weeks. We will not be offering middle school intramurals or interscholastic athletics this fall.
