Good Afternoon, Reading Public School Staff and Community,

I hope that you are enjoying the long weekend.  Below is additional information regarding our Fall Reopening.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at john.doherty@reading.k12.ma.us.

• Phase In for The Next Two Weeks-We are so excited that more students will be phased in person to our schools over the next two weeks!  Here is the phase in plan:

1. October 13^th-Grades 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 (Cohort B).  Birch Meadow Grade 1 and 2 Cohort B will not begin hybrid this week due to the modular classroom project completion being moved to October 15^th.  Birch Meadow Grade 1 and 2 Cohort B will begin in person on October 26^th.
2. October 19^th-Grades 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 (Cohort A).  All schools, including Birch Meadow.

• Next Phase In-We are pleased to announce that Reading Memorial High School will begin their hybrid phase in on October 26^th with Cohort B (Grades 11 and 12).  Because we have several vacancies still at the High School, we will be slightly changing our hybrid model to the following:

1. We will continue with a one week on/one week remote model.  High needs students will continue to be in person both weeks.  The one week in person model is going to look a little different due to staffing vacancies.
2. For the week of October 26^th, approximately half of each class for Grades 11/12 will be in person for the entire school day on Monday and Tuesday.  The other half of the class will be live streamed into the class with a combination of synchronous and asynchronous lessons.  Each class will switch on Wednesday and Thursday with the students who were remote on Monday and Tuesday being in person and the students who were in person on Monday and Tuesday being remote.
3. Grade 9 and 10 will be remote during the week of October 26^th.
4. Friday will be a remote day for all students. 
5. Grade 9 and 10 will follow a similar schedule for in person during the week of November 2^nd.  Grade 11 and 12 will be remote that week.
6. Principal Boynton will send out more information regarding which students will be in the Monday/Tuesday group and which students will be in the Wednesday/Thursday group.

Essentially, with this change, we have moved the satellite classrooms from school to home, which requires us to have less satellite classrooms at the school.  The disadvantage with this model is that students are only in person 2 days out of 10 days instead of four days out of 10 days.  The biggest advantage is that students are coming to school in person.  We worked with the RTA on reviewing other models for RMHS, but collectively felt that this model was the best option of the least optimum options.

• Grade 3-5 Phase In-We are looking at a similar model as above for Grades 3-5.  What makes this a little more challenging for this grade span is the developmental age of using live streaming with these students.  We are working with teachers and administrators on a plan to phase in Grades 3-5.  We hope to have more information at the end of this week.

Our plan is to go to our original model once we are able to hire more staff.

• Reading Public School Job Openings-We currently have several long term substitute teacher, substitute teacher, paraeducator and tutor positions available in our school district.  All of our positions are posted on the Talent Ed website, which you can access here.  Please pass this information along to those who may be interested.

• Health and Safety Protocols-Now that more students and staff are returning to school, we want to remind you of our health and safety precautions for in person learning.  We have attached a Return to School Tip Sheet from Boston Children’s Hospital.  Please make sure that you do the following each morning prior to coming to school for your child:
  1. Use the self-check for symptoms of COVID-19 and keep your child home if they exhibit any of these symptoms.
  2. Pack extra masks.
  3. Educate your child on the importance of hand hygiene, wearing a mask, and physical distancing of 6 feet apart.
• Substitute Teacher Shortage and Shift to Remote Learning-Similar to other school districts, we are having a substitute teacher shortage in the Reading Public Schools.  It is possible that due to the physical distancing requirements combined with a lack of substitute teachers that we may need to shift to a remote model in a school, class, or grade level for a particular day or multiple days if we have several teachers out sick in person. 

We have developed a series of procedures to address this situation with going to a remote day of learning as a last resort.  Here are some of the steps we will take:

1. There will be no professional development workshops during student learning time this year.
2. Use substitute teachers (if available)
3. Use non-teaching staff (i.e. paraeducators, tutors, administrators)
4. Reassign teacher duties, if applicable
5. Combine classes into larger spaces or outdoors, if available
6. “Reverse Remote” teaching where classroom teacher is able to teach from home and broadcasts into the classroom with another adult in the classroom.
7. If all above options have been exhausted and adequate coverage still does not exist, then the Superintendent will call a remote learning day for either the entire school, a grade level, a teacher, or a team.  Calling school for a remote learning day is a final option.

• Back to School Nights-We will be having our Back to School Nights virtually, beginning this week.  The evenings will begin at 5:30 p.m.  Here are the breakdown by level:
  • Elementary-October 15
  • Middle-October 22
  • High School-October 29

Your child’s building principal and/or teachers will be sending out specific links to the presentations.

Enjoy the rest of the long weekend!

John F. Doherty

Superintendent

Reading Public Schools

82 Oakland Road

Reading, MA 01867

781-944-5800