Dear Stillwater Families, 

As you know, our Return-to-Learn Committee has been meeting over the past few months to work on a plan that would allow for safe a return to school. The safety and health of our students, faculty, and staff is paramount and has been at the forefront of our planning. As we plan for reopening school in the fall, we continue to focus on two main priorities: provide a safe place to work and learn and transport, educate, and feed our children.

As you may recall, our reopening plan must be submitted to the state this Friday, July 31. It will also be posted on our district website under the “Reopening Our Schools – Updates & Information” page. Additionally, we will email it to families.

Our plan is designed to bring the most students back to face-to-face education as possible, while providing additional opportunities and improving upon the distance learning systems that we adopted this past spring. To allow our school district to safely reopen, there are a number of features, contingencies, and safety protocols that we must plan for. In our plan, we have outlined what school will look like at each level. Over the past few months as we have worked on the plan, these scenarios have changed many times. We believe we have come up with a plan that will safely allow for students and staff to learn and teach at all levels. Here is the overview. Again, more detailed information will be included in the plan that will be released on Friday.

• UPK through Grade 1: Daily in-person instruction/learning
• Grade 2 through Grade 5: In-person instruction/learning on an A/B schedule by cohort while following the guidance as outlined by DOH and NYSED. This allows for five in-person instruction/learning days for grades 2-5 and five remote instruction/learning days in a two-week cycle.
• Elementary Students with Disabilities (SWD) and ELL Students: Daily in-person instruction/learning
• Grade 6 through 8 Regular Education/ SWD Consultant Teacher/ ELL Students: In-person instruction/learning two days per week. Grade 6 will follow a regular period by period schedule, including specials in the classroom by cohort. Grades 7 and 8 will attend in-person by cohort for core classes (English, math, social studies, science). Remote instruction/ learning three days per week, with allocated periods for foreign language and special area classes. 
• Grade 9 Regular Education/ SWD Consultant Teacher/ ELL Students: In-person instruction/learning every Monday in an 80-minute block schedule by cohort for each core class (English, math, social studies, science). Remote instruction/learning four days per week, with allocated periods for foreign language and special area classes.
• Grade 10 Regular Education/ SWD Consultant Teacher/ ELL Students: In-person instruction/learning every Tuesday in an 80-minute block schedule by cohort for each core class (English, math, social studies, science). Remote instruction/learning four days per week, with allocated periods for foreign language and special area classes. 
• Grade 11 Regular Education/ SWD Consultant Teacher/ ELL Students: In-person instruction/learning every Thursday in an 80-minute block schedule by cohort for each core class (English, math, social studies, science). Remote instruction/learning four days per week with allocated periods for foreign language and special area classes.
• Grade 12 Regular Education/ SWD Consultant Teacher/ ELL Students: In-person instruction/learning every Friday in an 80-minute block schedule by cohort for each core class (English, math, social studies, science). Remote instruction/learning four days per week with allocated periods for foreign language and special area classes.
• Grades 6 through 12 Special Education Special Class Students: Daily, in-person instruction four days per week. Remote instruction on Wednesdays.

More information regarding your child’s specific schedule and classes will be shared prior to the start of the school year.

Everyone will be required to maintain six feet of distancing in most scenarios, wear appropriate face coverings and PPE while in transit and when they cannot appropriately socially distance, maintain proper hand hygiene and adhere to the CDC’s and Department of Health’s guidance as they relate to the cleaning and disinfection of our classrooms. We will perform screening of all staff, students, and faculty members as they enter, or prior to their entry into the building.

I know many of you have questions and concerns and that is completely understandable. However, we simply do not have all of the answers right now. We are working on specifics and finding answers to your questions and we will continue to update our families as we learn more. 

Again, all of this is subject to change. We understand that the situation around COVID-19 is ever-evolving, and as a result, our plan will be forced to evolve with it. Our plan will be updated frequently throughout the year as we receive further guidance from the state and as we learn what works best for our students, staff and families.

As a reminder, Governor Cuomo will ultimately be the one who makes the decision on whether or not we will be returning in the fall. If we do, we will be prepared and ready to make changes as needed.

Once the plan is released, families will be provided with a survey early next week regarding intent to follow the hybrid continuity of learning plan as described above or if they would like to opt for a fully remote experience. Once we have the results, we will be able to continue to work on our plans for transportation, schedules, in-person/remote learning, etc.

Following the Governor’s announcement in early August, where we expect him to share where we stand on the reopening of schools, I will be holding a virtual meeting for families to learn more about our plan. More details will be announced prior to the meeting.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding throughout this planning process. We all want the best for our students and we will do whatever it takes to make sure they remain healthy and safe.

Sincerely,

Patricia Morris
Superintendent of Schools