Schools to open with hybrid model

Superintendent: ‘The best path forward’

WINSTED — With a tremendous effort that kept the “mantra” of “safety first,” according to Superintendent of Schools Judy Palmer, the district is ready to welcome back students in just more than a week.

Regional 7 students will begin school Aug. 31 under a hybrid model, with students attending in person some days and remotely on others. A distance learning option for families who don’t want to send their children back to school also is being provided, Palmer said.

“Next week, starting Aug. 24, we’ll have a week of professional development for faculty and staff, and then the students will start the school year Aug. 31,” Palmer said.

Regional 7 conducted two sur

veys to all district families to learn their opinions on what type of return they wanted for their children. Northwestern Regional 7 High School Principal Gary Franklin, who started his job about a month ago, said 671 families responded to the surveys, or 91 percent of the district.

“In the surveys, 71 percent, or 460 families, said they wanted their kids to return to school, and 177 families, or 29 percent, said they didn’t want to send them back,” Franklin said, during a public online meeting held Aug. 19. “Many families have favored the hybrid model.”

Franklin was joined by Assistant Principal Daniel Carroll, middle school Principal Francis Amara, Assistant Principal Andy Bakulski, who is also the district’s health and safety compliance liaison, and Palmer.

The four administrators reviewed policies related to attendance, class size, distance learning days, and COVID-19 requirements including masks and handwashing. The district also held a number of parent meetings in August, discussing special education, health and safety requirements, survey results, health monitoring, the revised school calendar, learning from home expectations, how music, band and chorus classes would operate, transportation, and the schools’ cafeteria and lunch plans.

Cafeteria time will be supplemented, Franklin said, with outdoor tents for middle and high school students, to provide more space. “We are in the process of working with cafeteria staff . ... And looking at more of a ‘grab and go’ model,” Franklin said.

“We also did a thought exchange with students in June, where the students could put their thoughts down about reopening, and others could discuss them,” Palmer said. “The mantra, consistently through all these presentations, has been safety first. That’s the lens we’re using through all of this.”

Palmer said the district’s reopening team took time to develop the plans.

“Our Reopening Steering Committee has been working on this plan for the past 3 months. I am grateful for their many contributions in helping to determine the best path forward,” Palmer said.

The Region 7 plan, Palmer said, includes a description of three instructional models; all students in school every day with a temporary opt-out for remote learning; a hybrid model, with remote and in-person learning; and a full distance learning plan. It also includes a description of the district’s new schedule that maximizes instructional time while reducing transitions between classes, she said.

Under the district’s hybrid model, students with last names starting with A through K will attend school in person Mondays and Tuesdays, while students with last names starting with L through Z will attend in person on Thursdays and Fridays. All students will do distance learning on Wednesdays. Classes will be live and presented online. Masks are required for all students and teachers, and a full schedule of cleaning and sterilizing is in place.

Region 7 also is using a block schedule for classes, meaning students will attend school from 7:30 a.m. to just after 2 p.m., with four 80-minute class periods per day, instead of the usual seven-period schedule.

“The idea of block scheduling will be less transition during the day,” Palmer said. “We’re also doing staggered release times, so the hallways are not so crowded. It also gives teachers time to schedule mask breaks for the students.”

The block schedule also is being used by The Gilbert School in Winsted, where class sizes have been reduced in order to practice social distancing.

Students working from home are expected to follow the same schedule and engage in classes and coursework, Franklin and Amara said in their presentation Aug. 19.

According to the reopening plan, students will have access to all classroom learning through synchronous learning experiences through the integration of digital tools and resources. All learning models will follow the same schedule in order to allow for increased collaboration between teachers and peers. Region 7 is using Google Classrooms for its online platform.

Palmer is confident her students are returning to a safe school.

“On the good side, our (COVID-19) case numbers are low (in the district towns),” she said. “I feel we have a very good plan in place, for a safe return. We offer an exceptional education here at Region 7. Students do very well here, and our teaching staff does a great job. We look at everything from a safety standpoint, then work on the social and emotional piece for the student, and of course, their academics.”

During the last week, Palmer said students have come back into the building in small groups. “We held band camp in the morning this week; we had freshman orientation, and we had a senior activity,” she said. “The minute the students come back into the building, it just brings us all back to life. Seeing them again ... just makes all this hard work worth it. We’re all looking forward to being together again.”

Anyone with questions can email Principal Gary Franklin at gfranklin@nwr7.org or Fran Amara at famara@nwr7.org; school nurses Patty Severson at pseverson@nwr7.org and Dorothy Mitchell at dmitchell@nwr7.org; and Andy Bakulski, house assistant principal and health and safety compliance liaison, at abakulski@nwr7.org or by calling the school at 860379-8525, ext. 2200.