Back to School

Throughout the summer, educators, parents/guardians, students and members of the Newburyport community have come together to support our students' transition back to school. As always, we are guided by a mission of creating engaging educational opportunities for all. We pride ourselves in being “the port where tradition and innovation converge.” Thus we have approached the daunting task of educating in the Covid-19 environment with a common purpose: to welcome our students back to a school program that supports their academic and social growth.

The pandemic has forced us to look differently at education. We have reimagined schedules, redesigned operations, and rethought how we build student-teacher relationships. Our teaching staff has spent the summer in classes and planning groups, advancing the craft of their teaching and rewriting standards-based curricula to be viable in a remote environment. Our administrative team has walked buildings with medical and public health professionals, facilitated meetings with students, staff and parents, and tirelessly created scheduling scenarios. And our support staff have set up model classrooms, measured air quality, problem-solved operations, and collaborated with people across the district.

Although the plan that follows reflects hours of work by our whole district, it is really just the place where we start. The Covid-19 environment is fluid and will require our planning to be agile. Our decisions throughout the year will be:

• Tied to local, state and national health data

• Dynamic

• Focused on prioritizing in-person learning (when safe to do so)

• Communicated with clear and consistent messaging

Reflecting on the Spring Closure

Like other districts across the State, NPS went through three phases of closure in the Spring of 2020. As DESE guidance emerged, our plans were modified. As we heard from students and staff in our July 2020 survey, some of our students and families thrived: “I have no issues with continued remote learning if it is determined that it is the best, safest option. My child was able to access the curriculum. And we as parents have learned how to incorporate and better foster the social-emotional components.” While others struggled: “remote learning did not work at all for our family,” and “both parents and kids became disengaged and frustrated with the constant changes and shifts with schedule, frequency of zoom calls, multiple emails.”

Through three surveys sent in June and July, parents and students identified some areas that will support success of any future remote learning:

Family Friendly Schedules. “If days are split, I’m hoping all my children are on the same schedule so I can return to work”

Instruction that moves students forward. “Focus on grade level standards through online instruction” |“specific curricular plans and assignments not just online programs” | “live, direct instruction”

Clear structure with live teacher interaction. “More direct teacher to child learning opportunities. More check-ins from teachers to child and parent versus having them watch generic online videos/teaching.”

Simple communication of student expectations. “Centralized email communication” | “Detailed syllabus from each teacher with due dates” | “A daily schedule that is consistent, higher expectations for student participation and achievement”

In order to inform us as we moved forward, we also surveyed PreK-8 families on how the closure experience influenced their child’s social-emotional presentation. Although many parents reported that their children had shown increased struggles, many (42%) reported being able to fond the help they needed. Some parents (9%), however, reported that they were unable to access supports. The survey also highlighted the areas of concern parents have for students upon return in the fall:

• Health and safety (53.1%)

• Academics (51%)

• Social-emotional health (46.1%)

• Adjusting to school routines and schedules (41.1%)

• Re-establishing social connections (39.3%)

Process for Fall 2020 Planning

As DESE guidance emerged over the summer, the District established a Reopening Task Force. The Task Force, a group of 70 educators, parents, public health experts, medical personnel and community representatives, met weekly through July. Because the work is complex and spans areas from operations to curriculum, we divided the task force into six sub-committees: District Planning, Curriculum and Technology, Buildings and Operations, Health and Safety, Special Education, and Social-Emotional Health.

We discussed district preliminary plans and examined DESE requirements. Conversations within the sub committees and amongst the larger group provided us with a deeper understanding of the needs of our students, parents, and staff and allowed us to explore many options. Recommendations and feedback from the Task Force, staff and parents/guardians are included in these reopening plans.

In addition to the Task Force, building-based teams of administrators and teacher leaders have met to review plans, develop new schedules and problem-solve around operations.

Although the start of school will be different than other years, our commitment to providing students with a comprehensive and thoughtful education (no matter the model) remains steadfast.

School Specific Plans

Hybrid and Remote plans for each school will be posted on the School Pages.