Manhasset-area school districts unveil opening plans

Rose Weldon
Manhasset Secondary School will be operating remotely for the next week. (Photo courtesy of Manhasset school district)

Numerous school districts surrounding the Manhasset area have announced that they have developed models for reopening their schools in the fall which address the effects and potential spread of the coronavirus.

The districts now await the decision of Gov. Andrew Cuomo on whether schools will follow an in-person model, a remote model or a hybrid of the two, meaning that students will spend half of their time in the school building and the other half remotely.

In all instances, students will be asked to wear a face mask and have parents check their temperature each day, with students who test over 100 degrees F asked to stay home.

MANHASSET SCHOOL DISTRICT 

A district-run task force, made of more than 200 students, parents, teachers, administrators, staff and community members, worked to create the model, according to district Superintendent Vincent Butera.

“We are indebted to the work of these individuals who gave up so much of their time over the summer to really come up with a product that reflects the very best thinking that we could do,” Butera told the district’s school board meeting July 30.

To accommodate hybrid learning, students will spend half of their time in the school building and the other half remotely on their district-issued Chromebooks. In classrooms, a camera and laptop will broadcast the class to those at home.

Separate plans have been developed for students in the area’s elementary and secondary schools.

For students at Munsey Park Elementary School and Shelter Rock Elementary School, those in grades kindergarten to second grade will receive full-time classroom instruction in both prospective options.

The district’s first option then allows for a hybrid model of instruction,  for students in Grades 3 through 6. Option two allows for full-time in person instruction for Grades 3 and 4 and hybrid learning for Grades 5 and 6.

Most special elementary classes, which include art, music, science, computers and librarians, will provide instruction in classrooms rather than out of their own rooms in order to reduce “in-school movement,” the district says.

Physical education will occur in the school’s gymnasiums or, weather permitting, outside with 12 feet between each student and an emphasis on individual activities rather than working in teams in order to avoid physical contact.

Students at Manhasset Secondary School will be instructed in a hybrid fashion and will physically attend class every other day.

On the days that students are not in their classrooms, they will participate in classroom instruction through Zoom video conferencing from their home.

Beginning on the first day of school Sept. 8, students with last names beginning with A through L will attend on “A” days, with students with last names beginning with M through Z learning remotely. On following “B” days, the students who stayed home on “A” days will attend school in-person.

To ensure academic integrity during tests, each day will have a testing schedule by subject for teachers to administer exams to multiple sections at the same time to avoid chances of answers falling into different students’ hands. Students will then be informed by their teacher if they are utilizing the testing period that day.

In both elementary and secondary models, grading will remain the same. Regarding transportation, students will continue to be required to wear masks.

PORT WASHINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT

In the hybrid model, all of the district’s elementary schools, including Guggenheim Elementary School, John J. Daly Elementary School, John Philip Sousa Elementary School, Manorhaven Elementary School and South Salem Elementary School, will allow students to return in-person every day in September.

“Students will be provided with five full days of live instruction provided by certified teachers, ancillary services, special education services, English as a new language instruction and some specials,” the district’s plan said.

In the classroom, students will be divided into small groups and remain socially distanced during instruction. Kindergarten students and first-graders will receive an iPad for home and school use, and students in Grades 2 through 5 will receive Chromebooks for the same reason.  Students will also receive regular mask and recess breaks.

Students at Carrie Palmer Weber Middle School will spend half of their time receiving in-person instruction and half receiving remote instruction over four days a week, with all students being given Chromebooks for use at home and in school. The district says the days that students will come in will be designated by grade level on an A/B day basis.

The fifth day of the week will be reserved for additional contact time for teachers and mental health staff to address the instructional, social/emotional and academic support needs of students “without interfering with their scheduled in-person and virtual classes,” according to the district.

At Paul D. Schreiber High School, staff will attend in-person every day, while students will follow a six-day, A-F cycle in two groups, designated blue and white and running from 8:05 a.m. to 3:05 p.m. Students will attend in-person classes half the time, and on remote days will log on to Google Classroom, where attendance will be taken.

In the remote model, elementary school students will have one daily scheduling meeting, two 45-minute live lessons per day, a 10-20 minute asynchronous lesson from outlets like Khan Academy or Brain Pop, a pair of 10-minute live check-ins for each student every week, daily feedback and a 30-to-45-minute special class per day.

Middle-school students will remotely follow a nine-period schedule, 30 minutes per period, and meet four days a week, with the fifth day reserved for additional contact time for teachers and mental health staff to “address the instructional, social/emotional, and academic support needs of students without interfering with their scheduled virtual classes,” the district says.

For high school students, a remote day will follow a student’s regular nine-period schedule, with a balance of live and recorded sessions.

HERRICKS SCHOOL DISTRICT 
A district-run task force, made of over 50 parents, teachers, administrators and Board of Education trustees, worked to create the models, according to a statement issued with the plans.

“As we have said many times, the health and safety of all members of the Herricks school community is our highest priority,” the statement said. “Our plan includes numerous safety protocols that have been put into place. Because of the ongoing pandemic, we will not be able to operate as we normally do, and many activities we have traditionally enjoyed will have to change.”

For the hybrid model, the district says it “anticipates” that students in kindergarten through fifth grade, which encompass the entirety of Center Street Elementary School, Center Street Elementary School and Searingtown Elementary School, will return to in-school classes every day in September.

Students at Herricks Middle School and Herricks High School will attend in-person school every other day and take part in so-called “eLearning” on the other day, which the district says is “necessary to ensure social distancing.” Grades will be split into four groups – Blue A, Blue B, Silver A and Silver B – on an alphabetical basis, which will allow students to be in the same cohort.

In the remote model, the elementary schools’ daily schedules will remain the same, with daily attendance taken through Google Meet or Infinite Campus. Instruction will be a mix of synchronous and asynchronous opportunities with classroom teachers, including special area classes.

For the middle school and high school students, the remote model will involve a truncated bell schedule, with periods alternating between live instruction and recorded lessons.

The districts will announce their official plans once the state decides if schools will follow a hybrid or remote model.

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