Good Afternoon, Reading Public School Families

I hope that you are having a great weekend.  Here are some updates on the Fall Reopening:

1. Fall Reopening Family Survey-This is just a reminder that the Fall Reopening Family Survey #3 is now open.  It is important that every family fill out this survey so that we know some critical information about your child(ren) to start the school year.  You can access the survey link here.  Please complete one survey per child in your family.  We have already received close to 1700 responses!

2. Fall Reopening Plan-On Thursday evening, the Reading School Committee voted 6-0 to support the recommendation of a phased in hybrid model.  You can access the version 1 plan here.  We are currently making some edits to the plan based on feedback we have received.  Once the revisions are complete, we will send out Version 2.0.

3. Questions that have come up during the survey-We have received a few questions so far in the survey that we would like to answer here.
   1. Extended Day-It is our intent to have extended day before and after school programming for students who are in person.  More information will be sent out shortly.
   2. Pods-We applaud the creativity of parents in creating pods of students that will learn together during remote weeks.  Unfortunately, because of all of our scheduling challenges, we cannot guarantee that we can accommodate pods of children and try to assign them to the same cohort.  We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause, but there are certain students that need to be assigned to certain cohorts based on learning needs, specific course selections, IEP’s, etc.
   3. 504 Services-We will be delivering 504 services as described in the child’s 504 plan.  Some of this may be in person, while other services may be remote.  If you have specific questions, please contact your 504 liaison or building principal.
   4. RMHS Seniors and College Process-The Senior college application process will be occurring during the Flex block time in the RMHS schedule by the RMHS guidance counselors.  Each guidance counselor will be reaching out at the beginning of the school year to schedule appointments with their students.
   5. Kindergarten-We are in the process of investigating if we are able to have half day and full day kindergarten in school both weeks similar to RISE preschool.  This is both a space and staffing issue and the building principals are identifying options.  We cannot guarantee that this can happen, but we will be able to report out to the community in the near future.  Any full in person options would be with the same health and safety parameters as all other in person schooling.
   6. Tech support-As we get closer to the start of the school year, we will give you information regarding tech support options and contact information during remote learning.

Thank you for your continued feedback.  Have a great day and be safe.

John F. Doherty, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Reading Public Schools

781-944-5800

John.doherty@reading.k12.ma.us