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Date: 1/21/2021
EAST LONGMEADOW – Jan. 19 marked the East Longmeadow Public Schools’ first day in the hybrid instructional model. Students who opted to come into the schools for in-person learning have been placed into a cohort A or B. Each cohort will have a full week where they come each day for in-person learning while the cohort in the off-week will be at home connecting to their classes remotely through live streaming. Students in cohort A were the first group to come into the schools.
On the evening of Jan. 19, the School Committee hosted their regular meeting where committee member Elizabeth Marsian-Boucher said that her daughter was in cohort A and she able to go into the high school that day.
“We are very positive about her going in,” Marsian-Boucher stated. “She had a really wonderful day. I think she thought it was going to be an awful horrible experience, but she had a great day and I give that credit to all the teachers at the high school. They made it a wonderful experience. I saw a smile on her face I have not seen. She thought she’d liked being home, but I think she liked going to school today so I wanted to say thank you to everybody for that.
In response Superintendent Gordon Smith said, “It was great to see students in our buildings. We want to make sure we’re doing all that we can to give the students this year the best possible educational program.”
As a father, Chair Gregory Thompson said he is excited for his two daughters to go back the week after, as they’ll be in Cohort B. “As we continue to move forward, I know the staff is going to continue to work hard and make sure it’s successful for our students because first and foremost we’re here for them,” Thompson replied.
He went on to say, “I know we’re all focused on safety protocols and hopefully the staff, students and families we’re all focused on getting through the next six months and then by next fall, latest next winter we’re all back to some semblance of normalcy.”
The meeting continued with the discussion of winter athletic fees. Winter sports started on Jan. 11 and will end on Feb. 28. The committee explained they wanted to look at the athletic fee for the winter season.
Principal Frank Paige pointed out that they have a short season and he’s trying to come up an appropriate number to acknowledge that shortened season, but at the same time they do have increased fees from what the school had in the fall. The number Paige is recommending right now is $125 versus the $149 of a normal year – versus the reduced rate of $100 in the fall. The committee made a motion to approve the recommended $125 athletic fee for winter sports as presented. In addition, they made a motion to amend the 2021 school year calendar including June 18 in celebration of Juneteenth, which will be a day off from school.