Good Morning, Reading Public School Community,

I hope you are doing well and enjoying your long weekend.  We are now in the home stretch with just 15 school days to go!  I want to thank you for everything you have done to get us to this point.  Please take time to enjoy these remaining 15 days.  It is a year we will never forget.

Here is Spring Update 11.  Have a great weekend!

1. Health Data-This past week, we had the following positive cases:
   • One positive case at RMHS, no close contacts
   • One positive case at Coolidge, 6 students quarantined.
   • One positive case at Barrows, 18 students quarantined

In addition, we had no positive pools this week for the very first time since we started pool testing!

2. Vaccinations- In School Vaccinations
   • We had a very successful set of vaccination clinics this past week at Parker, Coolidge, and RMHS where a total of 184 students were vaccinated.  A special thanks goes out to our Director of Nurses Mary Giuliana and the Reading Fire Department for all of their assistance during these clinics.
   • In addition, we have over 600 RMHS students (exclusive of above numbers) who have now been vaccinated.  That is close to 60%.

3. New DESE Guidelines Released-On May 27^th, DESE released new health and safety guidelines for the remainder of this year and next year.  I have attached those guidelines and the updated guidelines for graduation.  The main points for the health and safety guidelines are as follows:

• Through the end of the 2020-21 school year: The core mitigation strategies that districts and schools have used all year will remain in place through the end of the school year, except for outdoor masking. Most other guidance also remains in place with a few exceptions.

• Summer school and other summer programs: DESE will not issue separate guidance for summer school programs. For summer programs, districts and schools are encouraged to follow the health and safety guidance from DESE currently in place for in-person learning this spring.

• Fall 2021 school reopening: For the fall, all districts and schools will be required to be in-person, full-time, five days a week, and all DESE health and safety requirements will be lifted. This includes all physical distancing requirements. We will collaborate with the Department of Public Health (DPH) to issue any additional health and safety recommendations over the summer (e.g., masks for elementary school students). We will provide any updates to districts and schools as we receive them.

• Districts will no longer be able to offer remote learning as a standard learning model-As noted above, districts and schools will be required to be in-person, full-time, five days a week this fall. Pathways that existed prior to the pandemic for offering virtual learning to individual students in limited cases will remain available to districts and schools. These include home/hospital tutoring programs due to a documented medical condition,3 single district virtual schools, and other narrow circumstances.

4. MIAA Update Guidelines (For High School Sports)- The MIAA Sports Medicine Committee (SMC) met Friday, May 28, 2021 to review and discuss the DESE updates and Governor Baker’s changes. The SMC voted in the affirmative to follow the DESE guidance, effective May 29, 2021, outdoor mask/facial covering requirements for educators: “fully vaccinated educators do not have to wear masks when outdoors and unvaccinated educators are encouraged to wear masks when outdoors, in alignment with the state masking advisory. To clarify, the SMC vote includes adult participants (i.e. coaches, officials, athletic trainers) in the same category as educators. You may view DESE guidance HERE.

5. Student Services Office Hours for the Remainder of the School Year-The Student Services Department is holding office hours at the following dates and times:

• Wednesday, 6/2/21 @ 9-10 am
• Thursday, 6/10/21 @ 11-12 pm
• Tuesday, 6/15/21 @12-1 pm

Please use the DOODLE Poll below to sign up for an Office Hours time:

https://doodle.com/poll/zzayw2kufrdv5xiq?utm_source=poll&utm_medium=link

6. SEPAC Meeting on Tuesday, June 8^th–There will be a meeting of the Reading Special Education Parent Advisory Council on Tuesday, June 8^th on Zoom.  You can access the meeting at the link below.  The meeting will include a meet and greet with all of the new administrators including Superintendent Tom Milaschewski, Assistant Superintendent Sarah Hardy, RMHS Principal Kevin Tracey, and Joshua Eaton Principal Caitlin Shelburne.

https://readingpsma.zoom.us/j/83007242726

7. SEPAC Workshop on June 15^th–Reading SEPAC and Reading Public Schools will host a workshop, Understanding the Process of Assessing for Reading Disabilities, on Tuesday, June 15^th at7:00 p.m. on Zoom.  You can access the link here:  https://readingpsma.zoom.us/j/87037078496.  This is the second in a series of community reading trainings.  As part of this training, participants will learn about:

• Understanding the Process of Assessing for Reading Disabilities
• Understanding the Referral Process
• Understanding Reading Assessments for Specific Constructs/Assessment Sensitivity
• Using Reading Assessment Data to Drive Instruction/Progress Monitoring (Aimlines)
• The Crafting Minds Special Education Graphic Organizer for Assessment Results

The presenters for the workshop will be:

• Shana Goldwyn, PhD – Team Chairperson: Killam Elementary/Joshua Eaton Elementary
• Renee Limauro, MS, CCC-SLP – Team Chairperson: Reading Memorial High School
• Auriana Musselman, M.Ed. – LEAD Teacher, Parker Middle School

8. SEPAC Survey-The Reading Public Schools Special Education Parent Advisory Council would like your feedback on future topics for SEPAC meetings and workshops.  Please complete this quick survey no later than Friday, June 4th.    https://forms.gle/VtqY7nditk1Nqsxg7