During the five weeks of our school closure, we have had many people who have kept our school district going with remote learning.  This includes our support staff, teachers, building administrators, directors, and central office administrators.

During this time, we have also had many unsung heroes.  These are the staff who are still coming into work each and every day to make sure that our school district continues to run during this pandemic.  Others are working with our town to make sure that our community is safe and healthy.  This includes our custodians, maintenance and facilities staff, food service staff, school nurses and technology staff.  They are cleaning and maintaining our schools, providing food for those students in need,  assisting the town in monitoring COVID-19 cases and preparing and distributing technology devices for those students who do not have access to computers at home.

We salute these unsung heroes and thank you for what you do, especially during this pandemic health crisis.

Food Service

Our Director of School Nutrition, Danielle Collins and her staff, have been preparing weekly grab and go meals for any student who needs this service.   These meals include breakfast and lunch items.  Currently over 40 students are accessing meals on a weekly basis.  This service is open to any student who is in need of meals.  If you need meals, please contact Director of School Nutrition Danielle Collins at Danielle.Collins@reading.k12.ma.us.

Recently, due to the efforts of Chief Financial Officer Gail Dowd and the Town Incident Command Team, we received a generous donation from the Boston Bean Company for additional commodities for our families such as yogurt, hummus, hard boiled eggs and pretzels.  Thank you, Boston Bean for your donation!

Technology

Our technology staff has been preparing and imaging computers for our students who do not have access to a computer at home during this remote learning situation.  Our thanks goes to Network Manager Julian Carr and his entire technology staff who have prepared and distributed over 75 computers at this point of remote learning.  If you are in need of a computer, please contact your building principal.

Custodian and Facilities Staff

Our custodian and facilities staff continue make sure that our buildings are cleaned, maintained and ready for when this school closure is over.  Our custodians continue to come in during the work week to make sure that all systems are working properly.  Our facilities staff is planning for the future when the buildings will be opened during this new age of pandemic planning.  Thank you to Director of Facilities Joe Huggins, Assistant Director Kevin Cabuzzi, and Facilities Manager Kevin Gerstner for your leadership and working to ensure the Town and Schools have access to Personal Protective Equipment.

School Nurses

As we began to see cases of COVID-19 in Reading, Director of Nurses Mary Giuliana and other school nurses found themselves working closely with our board of health, doing contract tracing, speaking to families about possible exposures, tracking symptoms and providing guidance about isolation and quarantine. When schools closed due to the pandemic, we were asked to continue with this work, and are happy to contribute during this crisis in any way we can.  This has led to a collaboration with the town public health department, including health agent Laura Vlasuk and public health nurse Kristine Harris, which will benefit our entire community, especially as we look towards reopening schools and businesses. Reading nurses come to school nursing with a variety of experience which has helped us respond to the pandemic. Kate Shmulsky is continuing her per diem position at Newton Wellesley Hospital, caring for mothers and newborns. Sharon Grottkau has a master’s degree in information systems, which helped her train quickly on the MAVEN system used by the state to track new COVID-19 cases. Elmy Trevejo has a master’s in public health, which she is using in outreach for the town. Christine Rose is also assisting in contact tracing. Peg Costello has a degree in social work, and has helped us to consider the holistic needs of our students and staff during the time we are out of school. When school buildings closed in March, nurses were able to coordinate delivering needed medications to families, and donating PPE from the schools to our first responders. In addition to continuing to connect with students, families and staff, our nurses are preparing for next steps. Cindy Ventura and Maryellen Kirwan are coordinating professional development opportunities related to public health and crisis management, and Lisa Suglia and Kate Shmulsky are documenting guidelines for our response to the pandemic. As a team we are staying up to date with the latest information from the CDC and working with our board of health so that we keep our students healthy, safe and ready to learn when we return to school. We can’t wait to see you all again!