JACKSON – The Township School District has been placed on full remote learning through December 16.
Superintendent Nicole Pormilli told parents and guardians in a letter that updated them on their child’s status that “this move is necessary because the newest positive cases and mandated quarantines reported today have brought us to the point where we cannot properly operate our buildings and departments.”
“We are incredibly disappointed to have to make this decision. The health and safety of our students and staff is and has always been our first priority. We are acutely aware of the hardship this presents to our families and we hope you can appreciate that we would not have made this change if it weren’t absolutely necessary,” Pormilli added.
She said that during the current time, based on quarantine timelines that dictate when various staff members can return, the district expects to be able to resume its hybrid in-person schedule on December 17.
“We will provide updates if anything impacts this timeline. This means all students will remain home and work remotely through Wednesday, December 16. Any student that needs to retrieve something from school should call the school to make arrangements to pick up items,” the superintendent said.
Pormilli added that breakfast and lunch meals will be available for pickup at each of the district schools between 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. on Friday, December 4. “We will update meal pickup schedules for next week as soon as possible.”
District staff received a separate district communication with instructions about virtual parent-teacher conferences which will continue as scheduled.
There will be no child care program for those students who are enrolled in the in-person hybrid model students’ groups one and two. They will stay home and learn remotely through December 16.
Pormilli said all students (Group 1 and Group 2) should log in to their teacher’s Google Classroom at the beginning of the school day to receive directions for work and lessons. Students will be contacted about their assignments and how to log in to virtual meetings.
Those students who are already receiving full remote instruction will continue to learn as they have been doing through their current full remote schedule. “There are no changes to classes, teachers or meeting times,” Pormilli said.
For high school and vo-tech students Pormilli said, “we will be offering district transportation from our high schools to/from vo-tech locations. Families will be responsible for getting students to their home high school in the morning, and for driving students’ home from their home high school at the end of the day.”
“During this period, we still need to track anyone who is positive for and who has symptoms related to COVID. Anyone who is ill or suspects they are impacted is encouraged to contact the school nurse,” Pormilli added.
During the School Board’s last meeting, Pormilli addressed Board members and residents about the status of the school district and outlined a plan to move to a synchronous learning model for its hybrid learning students.
She said that while in person learning was preferred than remote learning or a mix of remote and in-person learning that as that would not be possible at the current time, adding a synchronous program to the district’s plan would be beneficial.
Synchronous learning allows for real time instruction by teachers for students during remote instruction periods. Plans for this are being made for the new year. Pormilli said that this type of learning will allow for more engagement between students and their peers and teachers and students.
Pormilli stressed that safety of students and district staff remain the top priority regarding all decisions being made regarding instruction and the coronavirus health crisis.
