June 23, 2020 Community Update

Dear Medway families,

Over this past weekend I had some time to reflect on the school year and the extended school closure period. As you know, last Friday we officially ended the 2019-2020 school year - and what a year it was. The move from a traditional educational experience to the remote world was fraught with challenges that we have never faced before. I am so appreciative of the work of the faculty and staff of the Medway Public Schools for doing their very best to support our students during this closure. Their commitment during this time, while they were all dealing with their own personal challenges, should be a point of pride within our community.

I would be remiss if I did not also share my appreciation for our community. Your support of our faculty and staff during this time was very much appreciated. Your words of support, and acts of appreciation and kindness, were able to buoy our spirits as we worked to maintain connection, wellness, and continued learning for our students. On Thursday and Friday, I was able to participate in the rolling rallies at McGovern, Burke-Memorial, and Medway Middle School in celebration of the final days of the school year. It was wonderful to see our students return and to witness, firsthand, the impact that they had on our faculty and staff and the impact that our faculty and staff had on them. It was a wonderful ending to the 2019-2020 school year.

Be well,

Armand Pires, Ph.D.

Superintendent

School Reopening

As we transition to summer, and hopefully more normalcy, we are facing our next challenge: school reopening. Governor Baker was expected to release DRAFT guidance for school reopening earlier today and we are told that this announcement is now expected to take place during a press conference on Thursday, June 25. Like many of you, I would like to know now what the fall will look like for our students. We expect that the guidance will be complex and comprehensive, and also incomplete. Developing plans for the fall will be no easy task, and will be further challenged by the ever-shifting guidance we anticipate receiving from the state in response to the COVID-19 incidences across the Commonwealth.

In order to put together the most comprehensive and clear plans for the fall, we need to take time to do this work. We will spend much of July developing comprehensive plans for reopening. We anticipate that during the week of July 22, each school will host a “School Reopening Town Hall,” virtually, where the plans for reopening will be discussed and attendees will be able to ask questions and offer feedback. We will then take that feedback, and the final guidance we are expecting from DESE in later July and finalize our plans for reopening. We expect to share final plans for the fall by the beginning of August. Prior to July 22, please anticipate a survey about school reopening that we will ask ALL families to complete. This information gathered from the survey will play a critical role in developing reopening plans.

Please expect more information about school reopening soon.

District Closure

As you know, we made the determination to continue remote learning through the planned April vacation. As a result, many staff were unable to take planned time off. Given the intense pace of the past few months, and a summer of deep planning about school reopening ahead, we have decided to close the Medway Public Schools from June 26, 2020 - July 5, 2020. Please anticipate responses to any emails or calls upon our return on July 6, 2020. We are hopeful that you will also enjoy some down time with family and friends this summer.

Free Summer Food Services in Medway

Free summer meals will be offered to Medway families this summer through programs offered by the Medway Public Schools, the Medway Village Church Food Pantry, the Medway Public Library, and the Medway Community Farm. For more information and to register please click here.

Technology Update

The Medway Public Schools do not intend to have families return the loaned chromebook devices at this time. This decision has been made to ensure we are best prepared for any scenario as we await guidance from the DESE regarding the return to school. If you intend to move out of town or your child will attend a school outside of Medway, please email support@medwayscchools.org to schedule a drop off of the device to the middle school, door 8, IT Office, any day between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. We encourage families to take the best care of these loaned devices over the summer, in accordance with the Responsible Use Policy and 1:1 consent forms. Information on these policies can be found here.

If you need any technical support, please contact us at support@medwayschools.org. Have a great summer!

A Community Conversation About Race with Our Families and Our Middle and High School Students

On June 11, 2020, we held a community conversation about race to support parents and caregivers as they speak with their children about the events that are happening in their home community and the greater world. We also met with students and staff from our middle and high schools last week in conjunction with members of our 5-12 UNITY, TADA, World of Difference, Peer Counselor, Student Council, and 40% Clubs.

Medway Public Schools welcomed IDEAS’ (Initiatives for Developing Equality and Achievement for Students) staff to help facilitate the learning and conversation. Aligned with our core values and the commitment of our district and school leaders, the district has partnered with IDEAS for the last 4 years, and many of our teachers and staff have engaged in professional development through this group. During the webinars, two videos were shared that we pass along to you in case you were not able to attend. We are also attaching the webinar slides for you to review here.

The 2 videos shown were:

Javon Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Wf8y_5Yn4

Anderson Cooper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFbvBJULVnc

Medway Underclass Awards

The 2020 Underclass Awards were held June 16, 2020 at 6:30. A video of the awards ceremony can be found here.

Letter of Cancellation Middle School and High School Performing and Theater Arts

The letter indicating the process to request a refund on tickets purchased for the cancelled spring shows Anything Goes and Willy Wonka Jr. can be found here.

Epinephrine Auto-injector Defect Warning

The Medway nursing staff would like to alert parents, guardians, and caregivers to immediately inspect certain lots of Amneal and Impax epinephrine auto-injector 0.3 mg to ensure the yellow “stop collar” in the device is present. More information may be found here

Medway Athletics: Mustang Nation Newsletter

The end of year edition of the Medway Athletics’ Mustang Nation Newsletter can be found here.

Medway Public Schools In the News

Medway High School Top Graduates Recognized by Milford Area Chamber of Commerce

Upcoming Events

August 2, 2020

Graduation Ceremony for the Class 2020, Medway High School, TBA, Rain Date August 3, 2020

Medway Public Schools

SUPERINTENDENT'S UPDATE DATED 6/23/2020