Published March 3, 2021
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The School Department will continue expanding in-person learning in the coming weeks.
Students in alternating cohorts began coming into school buildings on Wednesday mornings on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Superintendent Kristen Vogel noted during a Feb. 23 School Committee meeting that the students who are home on Wednesday mornings are still required to log into Zoom teleconference.
Kindergartners also began coming into both elementary schools for four-and-a-half days of in-person learning on Monday, March 1. Wednesdays will be a half day for kindergartners.
“We are so excited to welcome all of our youngest learners to the classroom for four-and-a-half days of in-person education,” Vogel wrote in an email sent to parents. “The teachers have been excitedly reorganizing their rooms, making new name tags, math boxes, handouts, bulletin boards and creating schedules for handwashing. A big thank you to all of our kindergarten teachers and assistants who have been working so hard to create this plan to bring our kindergarten students back safely.”
Vogel noted during the School Committee’s meeting that CARES ACT funds were used to hire a remote learning teacher for the kindergartners learning at home.
School officials had hoped to bring kindergartners back sooner, but Vogel said the spike in COVID-19 cases prevented that from occurring last November and December. She also said it was important for kindergartners to learn the district’s safety protocols before in-person learning could be increased.
“Our kindergartners have learned them so amazingly well,” said Vogel.
School Committee Chairman Jamie Hayman said the district also used CARES Act money to purchase smaller desks for kindergartners to make sure social distancing guidelines are being followed.
In response to a question from School Committee member Tim Doyle, Vogel said kindergartners will be sitting at individual desks instead of the tables that were used previously.
“It looks very different than in the past,” said Vogel.
The superintendent said three kindergarten classes will be allowed to eat in the all-purpose rooms at once while the fourth class will be eating in their respective rooms during lunch. She said students will continue eating six-feet apart. She said both elementary schools will be using a rotating lunch schedule.
Vogel stated that first and second grade students will be coming into school for in-person learning at some point in March. She noted that the schedule will mirror the kindergarten plan, with first and second graders coming to school four-and-a-half days a week.
“With the community’s health metrics trending in a very positive direction, we are excited to move forward with this next phase,” Vogel stated in the letter. “As continuously mentioned, the health metrics have always been our guide post with respect to transitioning to more in-person learning. We are now at a point that these metrics support more in-person instruction that includes combining cohorts. And with our careful planning throughout the school year for this moment, we are happy to report that now is the time to execute this next phase of our reentry plan.”
Vogel said the School Department was awarded additional CARES Act funding that will be used to bring first and second graders back.
“That allowed us to execute several components of our reentry plan, which included hiring a remote only teacher for each of these grade levels and purchasing smaller classroom desks,” Vogel stated. “As we prepare for the return of our first and second grade students, we are now able to execute additional components of our plan, such as removing excess furniture from classrooms that was required for livestreaming, reconfiguring all classrooms in order to meet health and safety protocols, and restructuring lunches.”
Vogel said Huckleberry Hill School Principal Melissa Wyland and Summer Street School Principal Dr. Karen Dwyer will be emailing the parents and guardians of first and second graders asking them to “commit to full in-person or full remote for the remainder of the school year.”
“This decision is crucial to our final planning for the return of our first and second grade students,” Vogel wrote.
Vogel thanked families for their “continued support and patience.”
“We couldn’t be happier to move forward with this next phase,” Vogel stated.
Doyle urged parents to be “patient” as in-person learning begins to increase.
“We are headed there,” said Doyle. “It might be at a snail’s pace at one point and a sprint at another. The parents of older children need to understand the middle school and high school have a different set of issues presented to us because their children are moving throughout the buildings.”
Vogel also noted that grades 4-12 have larger class sizes than the younger ones.
“That makes it more challenging,” said Vogel.
Vogel also noted in the letter sent to parents that the school system’s Travel Policy will be changing on Friday, March 5.
“Families and staff will no longer need to test on day five after traveling to a restricted state,” Vogel wrote. “However, families and staff must comply with the Massachusetts Travel Order and provide a negative test before returning to school or work.”
Vogel stated that “families in grades 3-12 will no longer need to stay remote for 30 days” if they switch from the hybrid model to remote learning beginning on Friday, March 19.
“However, moving your child to remote should not be for family vacations,” stated Vogel. “We do not encourage families to take vacations outside of school vacation weeks and our teachers are under no obligation to provide work to your child if you choose to take a vacation outside of vacation weeks.”
In the wake of the nationwide substitute teacher shortage, Vogel stated that the School Department is “looking for volunteers to cover teachers’ classes for either a day or part of the day so that they can go to vaccination appointments when they become eligible.”
“Volunteers would need to complete a CORI and be fingerprinted before being eligible to volunteer,” Vogel stated. “Information about CORI and fingerprinting is available on our website under human resources. If you are interested, please email Annmarie McCormick at mccormickan@lynnfield.k12.ma.us.”
Vogel also recalled that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently updated its transportation guidelines.
“With this new guidance, I have asked the School Committee to revert their bussing policy back to last year’s policy in order to allow for more students to ride the busses to school,” stated Vogel. “The committee will vote at the March 9 meeting in hopes to start that week. I will let you know if it is approved so that you can plan accordingly.”
