August 14, 2020 Community Update
Dear Medway families,
Thank you for your engagement, questions, conversations and support that you have provided to the district and to our school leaders in these recent weeks. Your partnership has allowed us to ensure that the development of an MPS Fall 2020 School Return Framework is measured, rooted in known data, and structured to mitigate risk for students, faculty, and staff.
During the August 13 special meeting of the School Committee, the Medway Public Schools Fall 2020 Reopening Recommendation was approved unanimously by the School Committee. We presented an overview of the plan through a slide presentation which can be found here. The full plan is an extensive, important document that we encourage you to read in full. We have created an Executive Summary to share the highlights and also included an important Frequently Asked Questions document in the Appendix. You can access the full plan here. Please note that we will continue to make adjustments as new information becomes available.
We have much more to do to be prepared to open schools to our learners on September 16. This work cannot be accomplished without your continued partnership and engagement. Most immediate is our need to understand which Student Learning Model your child(ren) will engage in and whether or not your child will require transportation for the Fall. We are asking ALL families to please complete the Final Student Commitment Survey and any families who are eligible for bus transportation to complete the Final School Transportation Commitment Survey, linked below, for each child in your household BY AUGUST 19, 2020. This timeline is important as we need this final data to assign students to their cohorts and build our class lists. These are time intensive tasks. Our goal is to communicate to families, your child(ren)’s cohort assignment by the end of August and then set up orientation meetings with families and students.
DUE AUGUST 19: Final Student Commitment Survey
DUE AUGUST 19: Final School Transportation Commitment Survey
Families of children who have been identified for participation in Cohort C (attend school Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday) will receive a notification of this recommendation from the building principal by Monday, August 17.
We understand that the decision whether or not to have your child return to school, even two days per week, is a difficult one. Please know that any decision that you make and for whatever reason is a personal decision and one that everyone throughout the district respects. We will do all that we can to ensure that your child(ren) is/are supported in each of the Student Learning Models.
If you would like an opportunity to hear the overall plans for the Virtual School Model, we invite you to join us for a webinar on August 17 at 3:00 p.m. Please register here.
Sincerely,
Armand Pires, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Amended 2020-2021 School Calendar
At the School Committee meeting on August 13, the School Committee voted to approve an amended 2020-2021 School Calendar to reflect an additional 10 days at the start of the year for faculty and staff trainings, preparation, and planning. The approved 2020-2021 school calendar can be found here.
Fall 2020 School Return Webinars and Questions and Answers
Thank you to the over 600 attendees who joined for a preview of the Fall 2020 School Return Recommendation Presentation. Documents associated with these webinars can be found below.
- Recording of August 11 Community Webinar for our Recommended Reopening Plan can be viewed here.
- We are working to answer all of the questions from the August 11 Community Webinar and will share those soon.
- Additional questions regarding the Medway Public Schools Fall 2020 Reopening should be sent to the appropriate building principal or reopening@medwayschools.org.
Medway Public Schools Website
In the next few weeks, our website will be updated with additional school reopening information and resources. You can access our website through the following link: https://www.medwayschools.org/home.
Medway in the News
Upcoming Events
August 17, 2020 | Community Webinar Virtual School Model, please register here, 3:00 p.m. |
August 20, 2020 | School Committee Meeting, Presentation Room, Medway Middle School, 5:00 p.m. |
August 26-27, 2020 | New Staff Orientation, Virtual TBA, 8:00 a.m. |
Early September, TBD | Student and Family Orientations |
August 31- September 15, 2020 (off on September 4 and 7) | Faculty and Staff return for orientations, trainings and planning; 8:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. |
September 16, 2020 | First day of school |
September 24, 2020 | School Committee Meeting, Presentation Room, Medway Middle School, 5:00 p.m. |
September 28, 2020 | No School:Yom Kippur |