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Date: 9/2/2020
SOUTHWICK – As the first day of school is just weeks away, each principal from the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District discussed their specific return plans at the School Committee’s Aug. 25 meeting.
The committee spent the bulk of the meeting listening to educational presentations from each of the district’s principals discuss the reopening plans for their respective schools.
At Woodland School, Principal Kimberly Saso said that students in first and second grade would attend class on day one, while pre-K and kindergarten students will be screened the first week and then be assigned a class for the second week of school.
“We will do screening on the 15th, 16th, and 17th [of September]. We will put a schedule out to families with a time period to meet us on those days. We will bring children inside the building for the screening component and have parents fill out some survey information for us while waiting outside,” she said.
From there she added Woodland staff will work to assign the students on Sept. 18 and inform parents of their assignment before Sept. 23.
Saso added that the district would be supplying some materials to students learning remotely.
“We are planning materials for our families whose students are staying home for remote. There are somethings we think will be helpful to have on hand. This will not include everything as far as family supplies which will come once we get placement done,” she said.
Along with supplying remote learners, Saso said they are also preparing materials to send home if the entire district has to go fully remote.
After the Woodland presentation, Powder Mill Principal Erin Fahey Carrier discussed how the school was preparing for the return to classes.
Carrier said that students in the same grades would be taught the same curriculum, regardless of if they are learning in person or remotely.
“Whether they are hybrid or remote, all classrooms will be working on grade level standards at the same time. Our teachers will be working together to plan so that regardless of where students are, they are part of at school and they are learning the grade level standards of their peers whether they are at home or at school,” she said.
Along with the same curriculum, teachers will also touch on topics students may not have fully been able learn last year before jumping into new topics.
“As you approach a topic, you are looking at the standards immediately preceding that topic and you’re taking the temperature of the class on those topics and then addressing the learning gap immediately in progression with the new learning,” Carrier said.
After Superintendent Jennifer Willard explained that the district would be using permanent substitute teachers in each building at the last School Committee meeting, Carrier elaborated on what the substitutes would be doing on their off days at Powder Mill.
“We have two long term subs, who when they are not subbing will be supporting classrooms. The plan is for the days they are not subbing to be remote teaching grades five and six and supporting the teachers by acting as another adult,” she said.
For the evening’s final presentation, Superintendent Willard and Southwick Regional School Principal Joseph Turmel discussed some of the strategies they would be using at the high school.
“A lot of the stuff in the first couple days of school is going to be making sure students feel comfortable and acclimated with the tools that we will be using for our synchronous learning. As a staff we are going to be identifying the best tools, so we are consistent with the resources throughout the school,” he said.
Willard added that the school will be using formative assessments to keep track of students’ progress with the new model.
“A formative assessment is along the way, you kind of check in with the kids, give them feedback, and clear up any misunderstandings so that at the end it’s not a big surprise and they’ve received feedback that helped support their learning,” she said.
After the principals discussed the plans for their schools, the Instructional Technology Coach Ben Taglieri jumped into the call to discuss some of the technological challenges the district is facing and some of their solutions.
One of the bigger technological concerns for the district is for students in Tolland and Granville that may not have access to higher speed internet for remote work.
“For our families in Granville and Tolland where they might not have access to broadband internet, we are purchasing Verizon Hotspots, this converts cell phone data into wireless connectivity. We did spend a little bit more on these devices so if the signal isn’t awesome, this is the best way can improve it,” he said.
He added that the district is also facing device shortages and will be prioritizing getting devices to the fully remote students quickly.
“The backordered devices and remote learning being higher than anticipated are going to create some shortages at the start of the year. Priority number one is anyone who is fully remote, and students in grades 5-12 in the hybrid program,” Taglieri said.
Once the final order comes in, Taglieri said the district will be one to one with devices, which originally was supposed to take four years.
“We’ll essentially be one-to-one in grades 3-12 once that order gets here and much more easily be able to pivot between remote and in person learning. Hopefully that will happen in October as we enter the more dangerous time of year with flu season we’ll be prepared for that,” he said.
Residents can find the full PowerPoint for each school on the district’s website for more detailed information.