It is important to acknowledge "COVID-19 policies are intended to mitigate, not eliminate, risk....No single action or set of actions will completely eliminate the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but implementation of several coordinated interventions can greatly reduce that risk.” (American Academy of Pediatrics)
Conversations about re-opening began almost as soon as we closed last March 2020. When would it happen? Is this just for two weeks? Will we re-open? What will September look like? As each week went by, Superintendents throughout all of Gloucester County, along with the Executive County Superintendent, met each week to discuss planning, revisions to previous planning, lessons learned, developing synchronous and asynchronous instruction, and then of course - labor laws, contract laws, district policies, education law/code, etc. - all the while planning for the unknown this fall.
In May 2020, SWSD asked for staff volunteers to join the District Re-Opening Committee. We were very fortunate to receive volunteers from a wide range of expertise and focus areas. This team began meeting in May to plan for this September.
Even though we met twice a week through June, once a week through July, and plan to continue meeting in August, the Re-Opening Committee served as SWSD staff liaisons and gathered feedback from their colleagues throughout the process. Representatives from the committee held building virtual meetings; staff surveys were disseminated, too.
Prior to ending the school year, the School Counselors and the Child Study Team formed a committee to create our Mental Health and Wellness School Year Plan. The School Nurses also collaborated to establish District procedures as well as individual plans for their buildings.
Finally, the four Regional Superintendents from Kingsway, South Harrison, East Greenwich, and Logan met weekly to work toward aligning our Districts to the best of our abilities - keeping in mind what labor agreements and district structures would allow.
Mail:
Office of Governor PO Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625
Phone:
609-292-6000
Electronic Form:
https://nj.gov/governor/contact/
Since March 2020, students, families, school staff, district administrators, and communities throughout New Jersey watched, worried, and waited throughout the most unprecedented time in recent day history while planning for our eventual return to normalcy. Day by day the information we received would sometimes seem to change by the hour.
Like you, school staff across the state listened to Governor Murphy's daily press conferences to remain up-to-date on the most current information. On June 26, 2020, the Governor announced the phase -in reopening plan for New Jersey Public Schools.
Since June 26, 2020, Districts worked tirelessly to establish a plan, identify building health and safety needs, and create policies.
School districts throughout the state are expecting to receive clarification and answers to our many questions regarding the Road Back: Restart and Recovery Plan for Education shortly.
To assist our parents with receiving the necessary information to plan for September, the District created one comprehensive website to post our most up-to-date information about our re-opening. We will continue to update this site as we work through all of the critical details over the summer months.
Please feel free to use our new email address for any questions you may have: