Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 4/20/2021
SOUTHWICK – The Southwick-Tolland-Granville School Committee met on April 13 in part to discuss school choice seats and discuss the superintendent’s goals for 2020-2021.
Superintendent Jennifer Willard said during the meeting that the district would not be offering any school choice seats for Kindergarten-third grade for the 2021-2022 school year. Three seats will be available for fourth grade, one seat for fifth grade, none for sixth grade, five for grades seventh-ninth grades, three for 10th and 11th grades, and none for 12th grade.
Willard said the reason the numbers are so low is because she believes it would be fiscally irresponsible for her to open seats when the school district is not sure exactly how many students plan to return to the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District (STGRSD) schools next year.
As of April 13, the district had lost 93 students to private schools, home-schooling, or other school districts. Willard said that if the enrollments numbers continue to look low, more school choice seats could be offered in the future. By law, a number of school choice seats must be submitted by May 1.
Committee member Pam Petschke said that any students who have already been accepted as school choice students will be allowed to remain in the district.
Willard also said during the meeting that Southwick Tolland Granville Regional School District (STGRSD) schools would be fully in-person for the 2021-2022 school year. While some school districts have opted to create entirely virtual schools in anticipation of some students not wanting to return to in-person learning, Willard said that route would be too costly for the STGRSD. She said that the state is also looking for a multi-year commitment for the virtual schools.
Willard also looked back on the goals she had set for the school district before the 2020-2021 school year and reflected on how many of them had been fully accomplished. One such goal was to improve the quality of remote learning after it had been hastily implemented at the end of the 2019-2020 school year at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Willard said this goal had been met, in no small part because of the use of half-days on Wednesdays, which were used to provide teachers with coaching for live streaming their classes and using Zoom effectively. The district also implemented a 1:1 student technology program that provided each student with a computer to be used for school.
Willard’s second goal was to “create a schedule to meet the needs of our most vulnerable and dependent learners.” She said this goal was met through the implementation of four Memorandums of Agreement (MOA) surrounding COVID-19 school closures to navigate the changing guidelines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her third goal was to keep up effective communication between the School Committee and the communities of Southwick, Tolland and Granville surrounding the reopening of schools and the phasing in of different grades. She said that this goal has and continues to be met thus far.
“I have worked closely with the School Committee, administration, and union to keep our community up to date with COVID-19 cases, changes in protocols, and current Department of Elementary and Secondary Education mandates,” said Willard, “We have been receptive to School Committee, family, community, and staff feedback on how to best communicate and have adjusted practice.”
The final goal of Willard’s was to maintain momentum towards the district’s improvement goals.
“By working with principals and other district leaders, continue our current work and ensure that meaningful progress is made on critical district and school goals even in the midst of COVID-19,” Willard’s presentation noted.
She said that this goal is still in progress. Because of COVID-19, her main objective is to communicate with all stakeholders and “ensuring a schedule that is flexible to meet the needs of our learners and pivoting from in-person to hybrid.”
Willard said that formative assessments were completed in late January, and that she will be making weekly visits to schools for learning walks and to check in with students and staff.