Port district announces prospective plans for reopening

Rose Weldon
The Port Washington School District has announced a plan for reopening in the fall. (Image courtesy of the Port Washington School District)

The Port Washington school district announced that it has developed several models for reopening its schools in the fall, which address the effects and potential spread of the coronavirus.

The district now awaits 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 bring two face masks, wearing one, and have parents check their temperature each day, with students who test over 100 degrees Fahrenheit asked to stay home.

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.

The district will announce its official plan once the state decides if schools will follow a hybrid or remote model.

 

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