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Date: 4/14/2021
EAST LONGMEADOW– As students return to the classroom through the end of the school year, the East Longmeadow School Committee meeting reviewed a proposed new normal for high school athletic events attendance and how a new grant being given to Birchland Middle School will aid in a new normal for innovative teaching science as inquiry.
The morning of the scheduled meeting on April 5 saw the return of elementary school students to their classrooms. As noted by Superintendent Gordon Smith, “The best way to describe the day as a whole is that it was high energy and high excitement…A day for making sure that students understood how we were going to continue to operate and routines were reviewed, things such as lunch, arrival, dismissal and a big item I’m sure was on student’s minds – recess.” Recess was monitored by staff to ensure social distancing was followed as students were encouraged to stay with their cohorts.
Eighteen tents will be set up across the five schools for outside classes or activities that do not require Wi-Fi as part of the program, as the building construction does not allow the Wi-Fi to travel outside the school’s walls. All tents are expected to be in place when children return from school vacation week.
Athletic Director Kevin Magee presented proposed revised guidelines for the expansion of spectators allowed at athletic events. “The cap of two adults and two siblings per participant attending has been lifted, however, capacity guidelines must be followed. The expectation of six feet social distance and wearing masks remains.” After meeting to discuss the revised guidelines, the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference (PVIAC) athletic directors decided to leave it up to each school district to determine policies for home and visiting fans.
Magee went on to outline guidelines for football and track events:
• The home team will have four total spectator passes distributed to each home participant.
• The passes should be used by family members or close family friends.
• The home team would utilize the home side bleachers and fence posts.
• The visiting team would receive two spectator passes to be used by the participant’s family members.
• The visiting team’s athletic director will provide a list of the family members that will be attending.
• The visiting team fans would utilize the visiting side bleachers and fence posts.
Magee said that the stadium could hold approximately 300 spectators at an event. There would be signs up about COVID-19 guidelines for attendance and announcements would remind attendees about those guidelines throughout the game.
East Longmeadow Community Access Television (ELCAT) is still planning to do live streaming from within the stadium. There will be two police officers at home football games to make sure there is no lingering in the parking lots before and after each home game.
Placement for seating for spectators in the stadium is determined by the type of entrance pass being used and is designated by red tape for each “pod.” As the spring sports start up Magee said a section for student fans will be established.
“I think every sport will be a little bit different, and one of the main reasons why I would look at the spring sports differently is [for example] a lacrosse roster would be limited to about 20 participants compared to a football roster where there is 45,” said Magee. “I can propose a certain guideline for inside the stadium and a different guideline for if we are out at the baseball field or the side grass field, depending upon that space. I do anticipate having a new proposal to send out in about a month for spring sports.”
Athletic directors from other districts are in touch with each other to share their plans for allowing family members to attend away games. Once the information is shared with coaches, students and parents are notified and a list of participants is created and shared with the hosting district.
Magee also put out a call to parents looking for more participation for two teams currently being built: softball and boys’ volleyball. Boys’ volleyball currently has six members, and Magee is hoping for 12-15 or they may have to forfeit the season. The softball team has 21 players, enough for a varsity team, but they are looking for over 30 players so there would be a junior varsity team created.
The next presentation made to the committee was given by Dr. Tim Allen, principal of Birchland Middle School, along with science teachers Amie Singh and Kathy Morsch, regarding the receipt of a Foundation Grant for Open Science Education in Massachusetts from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The three-year grant with a total of $34,800 allotted in increments over the life of the grant provides training and materials for the incorporation of open science learning into the curriculum inclusive of grades six through eight.
According to Dr. Allen, Birchland has been chosen as one of the pilot schools for a new innovative science assessment taking place this spring along with Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) standardized testing.
Before applying for the grant, Singh and Morsch served on two separate subcommittees related to the new science teaching method. Said Morsch, "As teachers, we were there to nit-pick this concept apart to ensure the language used is understandable to students, the science is accurate and the pictures go along with whatever they are supposed to be modeling and refining the questions.”
Singh worked with a committee that looked at equity and access to the testing. She noted this ties in with what DESE is looking at across the board to make sure there is access and equitable questions offered to all students.
Singh explained, “One of the shifts we see happening by being on these boards is the shift from knowledge just regurgitating knowledge, which is what MCAS has been about before, to a focus on science as inquiry, and that is what the open sci-ed curriculum does. It makes sure that students see science as something that is real in their lives, so making it more meaningful."
She continued to state that this type of curriculum will allow students into a life of inquiry and lifelong learning. She noted that science focuses on inquiry, creativity and questioning. Singh said the grant gives teachers the help and instruction “that we as teachers need to be able to match that inquiry with knowledge.”
Allen said that the next steps upon acceptance of the grant are for teachers to attend a four-day foundational professional development session to learn the building blocks of the curriculum and how to teach the first of four units taking place over three years. It is not a replacement of the entire science program but the introduction of this type of instruction and learning.
The committee also reviewed the current status of COVID-19 exposures in the town that have stayed steady over the past month. It was noted that parents have been proactive in reaching out to the schools regarding possible exposures and have been instructed on how to take appropriate action.