Interview with Mr. Sicotte

Mr. Sicotte told us that “We can fit almost every class size in the rooms they are assigned. There are very few classes that we need to shift.” As students may have noticed, some classrooms have already been set up with a full number of desks. This is in order to identify any issues that may come up. As of right now there is only one class that needs to be moved, and it is being moved to a classroom next door. Individual students will not change classes due to spacing issues. In situations where the “layout and class are unique,” such as in computer labs or studios, they will likely rotate who’s in the actual classroom at any given moment, and possibly rotate several times a block so that everyone has direct contact with the teacher during a block.

Setting up rooms now allows “teachers and students to see the rooms before they’re actually going to be filled.” Our wonderful Hilltopper advisor Mr. Flaggert told us that it is Mr. Sicotte has been setting up these rooms in advance of April break in order to give students more time to adjust. He’s already worked his way through most of the 700s. Behind his reasoning for setting up the classes early, Mr. Sicotte says, “There’s a psychological shift that needs to happen, and from everybody that I’ve talked to, including students who have been in these rooms, it happens. People aren’t still freaking out two days later.” 

While student will hopefully soon acclimate to the number of desks in the room, Mr. Sicotte acknowledges that while “The number of desks in those rooms is the number of desks that you’ve had for your whole school career, and I’ve had for 25 years of being an educator,” the experience of walking into a full classroom for the first time this year is “still jarring because the last year has made us unlearn and relearn so much of what we’ve expected.” Furthermore, in previous years, our desks would be in groups, instead of in the straight rows that currently exist. As Mr. Sicotte explains, “the communal, collaborative basis that we’re so used to… isn’t reflected in the classroom setups,” therefore the rooms that we see are “not as visually welcoming” as what we are used to.

While plans about X-Block are still in flux, the start of X-Block has been pushed back so that it will occur when everyone is back in the school. So, rather than starting on Monday, April 5th, in-person X-Block will start on Monday, May 3rd. This gives students six X-Blocks total. While “Seniors will not be expected or required to stay,” the other three grades will be in homeroom from 1:15 to 1:40 on Mondays, where “There will be the opportunity for community building, some fun, some activities.” As opposed to last year, the goal of X-Block this spring is to create community amongst students, so students will have to stay in their homeroom, not move to other teachers’ rooms.“For the sophomores and juniors this is a chance to reestablish some relationships and some community. For the first-years it’s a chance to get started before three more years come.” 

After 1:40, students will have the option to stay and see a teacher or head home. This means that students will only be ‘forced’ to stay after an extra twenty-five minutes. For seniors who want to see teachers for help, they can hang around a bit or come back to the school at 1:40. As Mr. Sicotte says, “It’s hard to argue with it… We’re still letting you out pretty early.” He also would like to acknowledge that some senior homerooms may still decide to stay, such as clubs like The Hilltopper, or homerooms that are tightly bonded. “The X-Block in a typical year is a split between two different things. It’s those connections and those long term relationships, but it’s also academic and social-emotional support.” But, because of social distancing, the ‘homeroom’ and ‘help’ sections of X-Block need to be split in order to maintain social distancing.

Mr. Sicotte tells us “it’s very likely.” The administration is currently planning for a senior week, though a lot is in flux, and they are waiting for more information from both the governor and the Department of Secondary Education (DESE). For instance, new guidelines from DESE allow us to have a graduation with all seniors, even though that is larger than the outdoor gathering limits. But, this rule only applies to graduation, not other end of the year ceremonies like prom. 

As of right now, the likely plan for the senior week includes:

• Wednesday, June 2nd: Senior Award Video (replacing “Class Day” in the past)

• Thursday, June 3rd: Prom, which will occur on NHS grounds

• Friday, June 4th: Graduation rehearsal, and car decoration event in the lot

• Saturday, June 5th: Graduation parade

• Sunday, June 6th: Graduation

There is some potential for some sort of picnic or BBQ on Tuesday the 1st. However, “The earlier we’re doing mass gatherings, the more likely we are to spread [the virus], which means the more likely people are to miss big things like prom or graduation”. 

Sicotte stressed that “If things go south, all of these things are off the table” and that “So much of it [senior week activities] is going to be dependent on seniors making good choices, and staying really safe.”  As he put it, “I don’t care if you want to have a huge basement party on the 7th of June, hold off until then.” 

Mr. Sicotte mentioned that the administration is “looking at whether there’s any possibility for testing that would further increase our safety.” But, that he expects that “COVID is going to have a negative influence or impact on someone’s year-end events this year, and it will break all of our hearts.” 

Mr. Sicotte also outlined the very worst case scenario of in-school spread for senior-week activities. In this (bad) hypothetical, an imagined covid positive student spent two days in school while infected, had a packed 7-class schedule, and sat in the center of each of their classrooms. This is obviously an incredibly unlikely scenario. Sitting at the center of their classrooms, they would infect roughly eight other students, as a higher estimate. 8 x 7 would put 56 students into quarantine. If these close-contact students were to get negative tests on day 5 and remain symptom-free, they would only have to quarantine for eight days. Thus, if they were quarantined on the last two days of school for seniors (Thursday the 27th or Friday the 28th), they would be in quarantine until the 4th or 5th. In this incredibly unlikely scenario, these students would still be able to attend graduation, though they would miss prom and the other events. As Mr. Sicotte elaborated, this is only the worst case scenario of spread in school. 

“We’re talking worst case school scenario. Worst case scenario is kids getting together in someone's backyard or basement or wherever and you’re spreading. And we’ve got a lot more people who are getting it later and missing out earlier… We can do a lot to keep you safe here, and I think we’ve shown that all year...that you do what you need to here, and, I’m around town enough to know that when you’re not in the building….you’re not always making the best choices. Those choices have to be outstanding… From here through that day in June on a Sunday.”

The very likely solution to this is livestreaming. “In a well-done synchronous class, the teacher is trying to create one experience for kids in both settings. In live streaming, the focus is on the kids in front of us, and the kid at home is just passively taking part, so it’s not the same level of engagement or interaction, but you get to hear, you get to listen, you get to be part of class.” This will allow students who are contact-traced to remain current with the classwork, while teachers are still able to focus on students in the building with them.

“There’s not. After receiving some dms, The Hilltopper put up a poll on our Instagram asking seniors if they had finished their community service hours. 76 said yes, and 30 said no. We decided to also pose the issue to Mr. Sicotte, who explained that, while this past year has been “a different challenge” for getting hours, he knows many students who have gotten many hours, both virtual and in-person, during the pandemic. He “has yet to be convinced” that this is actually an issue. Last year, there were students who barely had any CSL hours at the beginning of the pandemic in March, and were still able to complete them before graduation. “I can’t help but wonder at the lack of investment in finding opportunities for those who are complaining about this,” says Mr. Sicotte, especially given the school’s many guidance counselors, who are aware of opportunities and can help set students up in these CSL positions. That being said, the Hilltopper has compiled a list of student-vetted volunteering opportunities, that anyone who is interested can take a look here!  

“Big picture, when we make this change, this is how learning is going to be for Needham High School, so students will be expected to be in the building.” He would encourage students to express any concerns with reopening to the Massachusetts Commissioner of Education  (Jeffrey Riley, (781) 338-3100). The plan Needham High School has created, Mr. Sicotte thinks, is “really thoughtful, deliberate, and slow.” Additionally, there are only two weeks in which all four grades will be in the building (as seniors finish up at the end of May). “I think many people who are concerned about the building being opened in full...will work through that and recognize it being safe pretty quickly,” a point he furthers by explaining that the same skepticism stood with the hybrid decision, but people in the town and school soon realized the school’s plan was safe and effective. The school will also be easing students back into full-time, with the fully-desked classrooms starting now, and the grades switching off having everyone in the building for two weeks. However, he encouraged students who still have concerns or anxiety about the switch to check in with their school counselors, who are prepared to deal with these concerns. “I can’t argue with anybody who’s nervous about any of this. I would say two things. One, let's first look at our track record. We believe we have two examples of internal transmission this whole year… And then I would ask people to just have a little faith looking forward.”

“I think the biggest worry has been the worry all year, and that’s just making sure that students make good choices when we don’t have any influence over it.” Mr Sicotte elucidated this concern, citing his own three teenagers making ~questionable~ decisions when parents are not around. However, in this situation, “Individual’s choices impact the community in ways that are not typically true for teenagers.”

And, on the other hand, he’s “fired up to have this building full,” and excited for the energy of the school to come back. “We don’t get into these jobs because we want to talk about the Pythagorean theorem, we get into this because we love working with people. So to have more people in front of us makes a huge difference.”