School leaders unveil ‘all-in’ plan beginning with K-2

Buoyed by improving COVID metrics and coming on the heels of state Education Commissioner Jeff Riley’s stated goal of having all elementary students return to school by April, Canton school administrators enthusiastically presented its plans for a fully in-person learning model at last week’s School Committee meeting.

The “phased-in” approach will start with the earliest grades later this month with plans to have all levels transition to fully in-person learning by the end of the school year. The transition is being guided by an All-In Steering Committee, consisting of teachers, administrators, parents/guardians, and students.

In accordance with the proposed timeline outlined at the February 25 School Committee meeting, students in grades K-2 would move to the all-in model beginning Tuesday, March 23. Those students would then have a regular remote early release day on March 24 and then continue with the all-in schedule on March 25 and moving forward.

A similar schedule will follow for grades 3-5 two weeks later, with an initial all-in day on April 6 and a remote early release day on April 7.

Wednesday, April 14, would be the first non-remote early release for all elementary students (K-5). Wednesdays will remain early release days from that point forward to allow for enhanced cleaning and educator collaboration time.

Under the proposed plan, there would also be staff prep days scheduled for March 19 and 22 (no school for K-2 students) and April 1 and 5 (no school for 3-5 students).

The hope is to have middle school students return to the all-in model sometime in April while the plan for CHS is still to be determined.

As part of the move to an all-in model, additional safety measures will be implemented, including pooled COVID testing, encouraging double masking, expanding the daily screener and adding a parent/guardian self-attestation form, and using outdoor spaces as the weather permits.

Students will be seated three to six feet apart based on classroom size and enrollment, which is consistent with state and federal guidance given the use of other mitigation strategies (mask wearing, hand hygiene, etc.).

During meal times, the goal will be to maintain at least six feet of distance between students, and meals will be consumed in all available spaces, including in outdoor tents as weather permits. Lunch will continue to be served in containers, making it easy to move to an assigned space. Elementary school lunch distribution will follow the current GMS model, in which students pass through the lunch line in the cafeteria and eat in an assigned location after picking up their meals.

Regarding transportation, new guidance from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) lifted capacity limitations and physical distancing requirements on school buses. All staff and students, regardless of age, are required to wear masks at all times, and windows will be kept open …

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Posted by Mike Berger on Mar 5 2021. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.