Vermonters craft school reopening plans
The entryway to Woodstock Union High School & Middle School in Woodstock, Vermont. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
The wheels continue to turn on the various school reopening plans in districts throughout New England and beyond, as administrators, teachers and students eye an upcoming year like no other.
At the same time, it's being viewed by some as a chance to innovate and welcome broad, community ideas into the wider educational umbrella, during this all-hands-on-deck moment in history.
In Vermont, districts released plans last week for reopening, in accordance with state guidelines aiming to move education forward this fall during the pandemic. This week, Gov. Phil Scott signed an executive order making Sept. 8 the official start date for all schools in Vermont, thereby giving districts more time to prepare. Masks will be required in accordance with a statewide mandate. Also, everyone entering school buildings will need a temperature check, as will all students getting on buses. Schools have also gauged how to accommodate the required social distancing.
As for the reopening plans, most Vermont districts are offering hybrid models of on-campus and distance learning, while providing options for those parents preferring to keep their children off-campus during the ongoing health crisis. A major reason education officials are moving forward is because of Vermont's very low caseload for COVID-19, though there still are concerns about controlling the coronavirus amid an increase in visitor traffic this fall.
The Windsor Central Supervisory Union recently presented its tentative plan for the school year in its district serving Woodstock, Barnard, Pomfret, Reading, Bridgwater and Killington. The WCSU is now hashing out the details of that framework, according to Superintendent Sherry Sousa. That proposed framework is based on the work of a local collaboration team, including representatives from Mount Ascutney Hospital, parents, students and Windsor Central Unified Union School District board members. The framework aims to be "as nimble as possible" given the pandemic, and the plan will evolve over time, Sousa explained.
"We'll continue to build it; we have 11 different work groups" figuring out the details, she said. The details range from adapting the academic programming to implementing required state health measures. As for student numbers, Sousa estimated the district has a total of 75 new students enrolled this year.
“Many are the result of people moving to Vermont for a healthier environment for their children,” she said.
Sousa said the district’s hybrid plan aims to provide the best educational opportunities possible (on-campus and off-campus), while providing some flexibility for parents and also complying with state regulations.
“We’re going to focus on literacy and math when students are in school,” Sousa said. “Off campus, we’ll be reinforcing those ideas using projects and other ideas.”
The plan has full remote-learning options for students whose parents who expressed in a district-wide survey they didn’t want them going back to in-person learning. As of Wednesday, with surveys collected from 75 percent of the district’s parents, Sousa said 8 to 9 percent chose full remote learning.
In the words of the proposed plan, it recommends:
An alternating day model where most students will have two days of in-person instruction in our schools and three days of remote learning. The in-school days will attend to that learning that is best provided with a teacher and student present, prepare for individual/remote work, and support the child/student emotionally. The three days of remote learning will encourage independent work, review of in-class materials, provide opportunities that are age appropriate, and reinforce in class concepts and ideas.
Teachers will have students four days a week, as each class will be divided in half. This will allow half of the group to receive in-class instruction on one day, and the other half will attend the following day allowing for social distancing and best health/safety practices.
Students in the primary grades, K - 2, require intensive literacy and mathematics instruction to provide the critical foundations for later learning. For those reasons, all elementary schools will provide in-school instruction for four days per week for grades kindergarten through second. At Barnard Academy and Reading Elementary, grades 2 and 3 are combined and will therefore offer in-school instruction for grades kindergarten through third grade.
Elementary students who participate in music, art and Spanish will be able to participate in these classes during remote learning days. Physical education will occur through activity-based scheduled recess breaks.
Amid the district’s ongoing communications efforts, Sousa said there will be more opportunities for parents and community members to offer feedback. Outdoor learning opportunities are being considered, as well as ways to use different spaces. To cite one idea: The high school gymnasium — which will not be in use — may become a space for one-on-one learning.
Sousa noted district leaders have also been gathering a number of ideas from the community to help the schools, and the board plans to formalize a group to field and consider those ideas. Sousa said that group will be one of the items discussed at the board’s next meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday via Zoom.
— Gareth Henderson
