Weekly Update
August 13, 2020
Dear Members of the J. Turner Hood School Community:
Dr. Daly has shared the following important information.
Kindergarten Forum: Save the Date
For those parents and families with children entering Kindergarten there will be a virtual forum on Wednesday, August 19th at 10am. This forum will be recorded for those unable to attend. District and School Leaders will present information about our Kindergarten program and there will be an opportunity for questions
Join by phone
(US) +1 484-420-7370 PIN: 963 462 566#
Pre-K Forum: Save the Date
Parents and Families with a child entering Pre-K will be contacted by Ms. Conant and Ms. Sacco with more information about the forums scheduled on Tuesday, August 17th specifically the address Pre-K students.
Cohort Updates:
Those students in Cohort C in Special Education programs will receive notification in the mail and via email this week.
All other students will be notified via email of their cohort placement via email next Tuesday.
Parents and families may select to enroll students in Cohort D (full remote) at any time. There is a place on the August 11th survey to include this information.
However, only those who have indicated that they hope to enroll their children in Cohort D on either the July 31st or August 11th survey by Friday, August 14th at 5pm, will be placed in cohort D when we send out the information on Tuesday. Parents and families who choose full remote after that time will still be able to do so but it will not likely be reflected in what is shared on Tuesday.
For additional information about the cohorts I have copied three of our FAQs below.
Be Well,
Dr. Daly.
- Are cohort placements final?
The district will determine those students eligible for Cohort C and notify those families. At any time parents and families may decide to send their student(s) remotely in Cohort D (full remote) and need only notify the district at any time. For the purposes of inclusion, students assigned to Cohort C will also be sub-assigned to Cohort A or B.
Those parents who have indicated an interest in Cohort D (full remote) will have the option of changing their decision at any time. A reasonable period of transition will be established to welcome the student back into the hybrid or full in-person model. To ease in this transition, students in Cohort D will also be sub-assigned to Cohort A or B.
Students assigned to either Cohort A or B will not be able to switch between Cohorts.
Assignments will be made on a variety of factors, including busing, scheduling, and access to specialized programs to meet student needs.
Unless parents and families notified the district otherwise in the July 31st survey, siblings will be assigned to the same cohort (A or B).
DUE TO THE COMPLEXITIES OF THIS PROCESS it is very difficult to make adjustments across all five schools. Any further requests due to hardship or extenuating circumstances should be directed to the school Principal and we will take them under consideration but changes cannot be guaranteed.
- How am I able to select cohort D (full remote) if I do not know exactly what the academic program will look like this year?
It is important to think about the decision to choose cohort D as a safety decision. We are offering a full remote option as this, "must be available for individual students who cannot yet return in-person, and for all students in the event of future classroom or school closures due to COVID-19."
At this time students in Cohort D will be considered to be a part of their regular classes and will receive the same support daily that students in Cohorts A and B will receive on the days when they are not in person.
If the plans for this academic program change we will communicate this to parents and families immediately.
- Are there any options for working parents?
At this time we are in conversations with community partners (YMCA, Recreation) about a fee-based option for working parents where students could attend in-person on the days of remote learning and receive assistance accessing their assignments. More details will be available soon and a question in the August 11th survey will address this specifically to gauge interest in the community.