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COVID 19 Non-Emergency Update - June 1, 2020
REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 13 OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT 135A PICKETT LANE, P.O. BOX 190 DURHAM, CT 06422-0190 TELEPHONE (860)349-7200 FAX (860)349-7203 www.rsd13ct.org June 1, 2020 Dear parents and guardians: Good afternoon. I hope you and your family are doing well and staying healthy. Close to three months ago we significantly shifted how we live our lives and our educational design. I want to thank you for all you have done to support your child/children through this time. I also want to thank you for supporting the work of Regional School District 13 through your outreach and your honest feedback via emails, phone conversations and survey responses. Parade Specific Information on the bus routes for this Friday’s parade can be found in the announcement section on our homepage at www.rsd13ct.org . Please look at the various routes so that you can determine which is closest to your house or another location. Seven bus routes will be followed. Each route will be led by a bus and followed by several cars driven by RSD 13 staff members. Over 160 staff members will be divided amongst the seven routes and will represent the entire district as we wave to say thank you, we miss you, have a good summer, and we can’t wait to see you again! We are not able to give estimated times for the parade's arrival on various streets, and hope that your knowledge of the community will help you determine the approximate window of time the parade will pass your location. Buses are scheduled to leave the Pickett Lane area at 9:30 a.m. Surveys We anticipate receiving information this week from the State Department of Education regarding the expectations for school in the fall. While we understand that any plans could change between now and the end of August, we want to be prepared to re-enter our buildings if that is ultimately the educational design. Our planning efforts are well underway. In the next two weeks you will receive, as separate documents, information and brief surveys on the following areas: Transportation: your feedback will assist us in determining how many students intend to use bus transportation when we return to school Childcare needs: we continue to work with Dolphin Days to arrange before and after care programming and/or expanded childcare in our schools beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, and are discussing the possibility of expanded summer childcare if a need is identified in our community Projected attendance in school if/when we are cleared to return to our school buildings Summer School and Extended School Year Information on Summer school and Extended School Year (ESY) will be sent out on Thursday from Mrs. Cori DiMaggio, Director of Curriculum and Mrs. Jennifer Keane, Director of Special Education and Student Services. At this time, the delivery design for all forms of summer education (intervention services, K-8 Summer Learning for All, and ESY will follow a distance learning format. Parents will be contacted if in-person summer school becomes an option for some students. Materials and Supply Pick-Up Please adhere to social distancing guidelines and protocols shared by your child’s principal. At this time Pickett Lane is open to traffic and any changes will be communicated to you via ParentSquare. Summer Meals Students will be able to continue participation in the district’s meal program this summer. Meals can be picked up at one of the public schools in Middletown. More information will be shared next week. Sincerely, Kathryn Y. Serino, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools
Monday, Jun 01 2020
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2020-05-15 COVID-19 Non-Emergency Update
May 15, 2020 Dear Parents and Guardians, I hope you and your family are doing well and continuing to stay safe and healthy. This letter includes a link to the results of the survey question, “What is working well and what challenges are you facing while supporting your child/children at home?” The world cloud above symbolizes the thoughts that were shared with those that are biggest indicating the words and thoughts that were scored most frequently by those who answered the question and scored the responses of others. This note also includes a recorded message to you that was done yesterday and since that time, as I indicated might happen, some information has changed: All students can keep their Chromebook through the summer. We will not collect Chromebooks on June 15th and 16th. Rather than a reverse parade on June 5th (where parents and students would drive down Pickett Lane or a school) principals will work with their staff on a staff parade through the towns Key points mentioned in the recorded message include: The next 3 weeks will be 4 day weeks with no school on Friday, May 22nd for staff Professional Learning, no school on Monday May 25th for Memorial Day May 25th, and no school on Friday June 5th reserved for school parades June 8th -June 12th will be the last week of classes with fun activities and academic wrap-up Your feedback asked for more real time connection with staff members. Teachers and staff members in addition to classroom teachers will create more opportunities for live connections in the coming weeks. Principals will invite parents to two live drop-in sessions to share what’s on your mind Information on collecting your child’s belongings from school as well dropping off school property including textbooks and other materials Joanna Curry Sartori from CCSU’s Internal Family Systems department will be sharing a webinar just for RSD 13 parents next Thursday Information on graduation, senior recognition will be coming from Mr. Falcone and Mrs. Melillo Summer School and ESY guidance from the state is coming and we are ready with plans for in-person, virtual and hybrid We miss your children Contributing to the health, safety and well-being of our staff, students, families and the community is our number one priority. Thank you for joining us in this endeavor. Please reach out to me if you have questions,concerns or ideas. Know that we are thinking of you and your children. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement to our exceptional staff. Kathryn Y. Serino, Ed.D Superintendent of Schools
Friday, May 15 2020
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COVID-19 Non-Emergency Update - May 5, 2020
REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 13 OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT 135A PICKETT LANE, P.O. BOX 190 DURHAM, CT 06422-0190 TELEPHONE (860)349-7200 FAX (860)349-7203 www.rsd13ct.org May 5, 2020 Dear parents, guardians and staff: Governor Lamont has declared schools closed through the end of the school year . I know that many of you are aware of this information. We anticipated this message would be shared this afternoon during the 4:00 p.m. press conference, but the information was shared 30 minutes ago. We are all aware that this decision is based on maintaining and protecting the health and safety of the citizens in Connecticut. We are awaiting recovery and re-opening guidelines from the state and have begun our RSD 13 planning which I will share with you as soon as we have more direction to help structure our approach. Your recent feedback through the Thoughtexchange survey is very helpful as we move through the next several weeks. We want to support our students, staff and parents with a focus on everyone's health, safety and emotional well-being. As superintendents we were asked to share this survey link with all parents and staff in our districts. The response was overwhelming and caused the system to shut down with over 1 million responses. Additionally the window for response has been shortened. If you would like to participate in the survey, please do so by 5:00 p.m. The Commissioner of Education has enlisted the help of the six Regional Education Service Centers (RESCs) to form teams of Connecticut education stakeholders for the purpose of gathering, analyzing, and sharing the issues, concerns, and ideas related to the process of reopening schools. An online tool will be used to make the gathering of feedback more efficient and to reflect all the different regions and constituent groups across the state. The tool, "Thoughtexchange," is entirely confidential and anonymous to use. Your participation and feedback are essential to the process and necessary for our state leaders to consider as decisions are made about reopening our schools. I encourage everyone to use the link below to share your thoughts and help evaluate the critical issues. Thought Exchange Link: https://my.thoughtexchange.com/493894984 . Please look for an update from me later in the week. Sincerely, Kathryn Y. Serino, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools
Tuesday, May 05 2020
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Weekly Wednesday Update - April 22, 2020
REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 13 OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT 135A PICKETT LANE, P.O. BOX 190 DURHAM, CT 06422-0190 TELEPHONE (860)349-7200 FAX (860)349-7203 www.rsd13ct.org April 22, 2020 Dear Parents and Guardians: Good morning. I hope you and your family are doing well and navigating this challenging time together day by day. Please remember we are here to support your children and you. I want to remind you of the support that is available in our community through Durham Middlefield Youth & Family Services www.dmyfs.org . Also, I want to remind you that our food service is providing five days of Grab and Go meals for any student who wishes to participate. Meals are available for pick-up outside the CRHS cafeteria on Monday and Thursday between 11:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. As financial circumstances change for families, I want to remind you that the Free and Reduced Lunch Form can be filled out and submitted to rgolembieski@rsd13.org at any time to determine if your family qualifies. Applications may be scanned or a clear, readable picture of the application can be used. No new information is available on the length of our school closure. If the timeline extends beyond May 20th I will inform you right away. Due to the wide sharing of information through televised press conferences it is likely that if there are any changes you will hear about them when I do. We are all hopeful for a safe return to school regardless of the date. I want to assure you that each day we assess where we are now and continue to make and modify plans and create alternative approaches and solutions to address the myriad issues associated with running a school district including building maintenance, budget creation, and teaching and learning. It appears that the pace of new information and associated action has slowed somewhat and for this reason we will resume our previous communication schedule that includes a monthly update from your child’s school, a monthly update from me, a monthly article in the Town Times and any alerts or new information shared via ParentSquare. The principals will continue with their weekly Friday update until the end of the year and the weekly Thursday update regarding distance learning will continue into the foreseeable future as we continue to develop a process and protocol that engages students and offers the best possible educational experience. The feedback provided by teachers and parents in the recent survey is being used to make improvements in both the teaching and learning experience. You will receive more comprehensive information tomorrow from Mrs. DiMaggio. Finally, we will finalize our grading procedures for all grades by the end of the week. Given the extraordinary circumstances, decisions about grading reflect a focus on equity and access to learning for all students while remaining aware of the social and emotional well-being of all students. This consideration is a part of decision-making on grades across our state and country. Mr. Falcone and Mrs. Melillo have surveyed high school seniors and will be meeting with students this week (virtually of course) to discuss ideas and potential plans for prom and graduation. Similar to almost all other plans we are making for the future, including classroom moves, summer school, sports, there are multiple options given various scenarios. These plans include possible modified, but in-person, events later in the year if possible as well as virtual events. As plans are formalized they will be shared widely with students, parents and the community. Tonight there is a Board of Education meeting at 7:00 p.m. Community members can listen to the meeting by dialing toll free: 888 475 4499 OR 877 853 5257. (Meeting ID: 979 6529 7145. There is no participant ID.) Comments can be emailed to Chairman Robert Moore at rmoore@rsd13.org . The Board may be making a decision tonight to finalize the budget and send it to Public Hearing on May 13th at 6:00 p.m. Once the budget is finalized, information will be available on our homepage and under the Central Services/Business Office tab. Current budget information can be found there now. In closing, I know that many students, families and community members are enjoying walking on Pickett Lane, on the track, tennis court and fields on the Wally Camp Athletic Complex. In order for these facilities to remain open it is imperative that social distancing be practiced at all times. There have been reports of teams and groups of people practicing or playing various balls sports on our fields in close proximity to one another. The signs on the fields read: The track and field are open for use. Until further notice, please refrain from playing any ball sports and adhere to social distancing at all times. No balls or Frisbees allow ed . I appreciate your cooperation in adhering to the safety expectations and reminding others to do so. Being outside and exercising in a safe environment is critically important for all of us at this time. Be well and please reach out to me to let me know how you are doing kserino@rsd13.org . Sincerely, Kathryn Y. Serino, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools
Wednesday, Apr 22 2020
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COVID-19 Non-Emergency Update - April 9, 2020
REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 13 OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT 135A PICKETT LANE, P.O. BOX 190 DURHAM, CT 06422-0190 TELEPHONE (860)349-7200 FAX (860)349-7203 www.rsd13ct.org April 9, 2020 Good evening RSD 13 staff, parents and guardians. This afternoon Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona held a call with superintendents and board of education chairpersons. At that time, he indicated that Governor Lamont had made the decision to maintain the class cancellation period until May 20th. At the time of our call Commissioner Cardona requested that this information not be shared officially until our 5:00 p.m. conference call with Governor Lamont. I am aware that this information has already been widely shared through a number of sources. There were several questions during the 4:00 p.m. news conference related to school matters including grading, graduation, summer school, and when the decision would be made if and when to extend the May 20th target date. Commissioner Cardona remains committed to the safety of students with a focus on equity of access and experience for all students in Connecticut. Additionally, the Commissioner continually identifies the significant and personal impact of a potential loss of graduation and end-of-school year activities for our high school seniors. We share his concerns. Regional School District 13 is prepared for class cancellations through the end of the year and has maintained a consistent process for the identification of areas to be addressed and has begun action planning on matters including grading, graduation, summer school, and the overall transition back to school. With the rest of the community, we will welcome an earlier return to school. We have received general guidance from the State Department of Education on grading, graduation and summer school and have been assured that we will receive comprehensive guidelines for the transition back to school regardless of timing. During the 5:00 p.m. call it was communicated that the May 20th return date will be confirmed or changed by the beginning of May. A specific date was not identified. I hope you are able to enjoy the weekend and the week ahead. Please reach out to me if you have any questions. Sincerely, Kathryn Y. Serino, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools
Thursday, Apr 09 2020
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Weekly Wednesday Update - April 8, 2020
REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 13 OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT 135A PICKETT LANE, P.O. BOX 190 DURHAM, CT 06422-0190 TELEPHONE (860)349-7200 FAX (860)349-7203 www.rsd13ct.org April 8, 2020 Dear Parents and Guardians: I hope you and your family are doing well. The Board of Education and the entire RSD 13 faculty and staff send our very best to you during this time. This morning I have only a few updates for you. First, and most importantly, if your child needs a Chromebook, please complete this chromebook request form and submit by this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. to arrange for pick-up tomorrow. Our IT department has done an exceptional job supporting the over 1500 devices that have been deployed to students and staff throughout the district and continues to work to provide devices to those students who need one. Tomorrow, you will receive a survey from Mrs. DiMaggio, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, requesting information on your experience and your child’s/children’s experience with distance learning. We appreciate your feedback and will consider it as we make changes and improvements on behalf of the students in RSD 13. I anticipate having information by the end of the week regarding the length of the school closure. Officially, the closure has been set through April 20th, but as I mentioned in my previous update, this is unlikely given the current state of the health crisis. If a definitive decision is made on Thursday regarding the length of the closure extending beyond April 20th, I will notify you right away. Each week, as a leadership team, we review what needs attention for the following week and what needs to be considered long term. We are aware that students have items that they need to return to school and personal belongings they need to retrieve, there are questions about grading especially at the high school level, prom and graduation ideas, summer school, transition planning for grade 6 to Strong and grade 3 Brewster students to Memorial, and the general re-entry process to school. As decisions are made, they will be shared with you. We appreciate any questions or ideas you may have; please share them with your child’s building principal. Finally, this year’s budget, per executive order from Governor Lamont, will be approved by the Board of Education rather than through the referendum process. Information on our budget is online and any questions you may have can be directed to me, any board member (email addresses can be found on the district website) or directed to Chairman Bob Moore at rmoore@rsd13.org . The board will likely finalize the budget on April 22nd or April 29th. Community members can listen to the board meetings live. Information on accessing these meetings can be found on the district homepage the day of the meeting. Your feedback is important. At Monday’s meeting, the board agreed to maintain the funding for playground equipment, a playscape and the pickle ball, tennis, four-square and basketball court at Memorial Middle School. The proposed budget includes provisions for advancing our strategic goals and includes proposals for these positions which would result in a net change of 2.0 FTEs: Grade 2 teacher at Brewster, Enrichment teacher to provide targeted instruction to students who have been identified as Gifted and/or Talented as well as enrichment for other students Literacy Specialist to work directly district-wide with students identified as having dyslexia Special Education teacher at CRHS for an alternative special education program to support students who might otherwise have received their education at an out-of-district placement Board Certified Behavioral Analyst (BCBA) to work with students with identified special needs Coordinator of Student Affairs at Strong Middle School to support the transition of sixth graders and the overall social emotional development of students at Strong IT Technician to support the work of the IT department and allow for greater efficiency in addressing daily technology needs and allow other members of the department to address cyber security needs Please reach out to me with any questions you have about the budget or the budget process. Be well, Kathryn Y. Serino, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools
Wednesday, Apr 08 2020
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At-Home Distance Learning Connections - April 2, 2020
April 2, 2020 Dear Parents and Families: I want to start by saying how proud I am of the teachers and staff who are working tirelessly on distance learning to “get this right.” I have the privilege to view teachers’ lessons and videos that they are creating to educate and connect with our students. I have never been as impressed as I am now with the level of professionalism and dedication from everyone in RSD13. As you know, on our first day we experienced some issues with technology. Although we were expecting to encounter some problems, we just never know what the issues will be. It’s even more difficult to predict when most of the nation is educating students online and so many people are working from home on their devices as well. I say this because it is more than likely that the programs may temporarily crash again. With that, I ask that you continue to have patience with this process. If we are experiencing technology difficulties with any of our programs, we will communicate with you by posting the issues on our “At-Home Learning” webpage as I do not want to inundate you with multiple emails during a day. This is now the fourth day of distance learning in RSD13 and we have received a number of emails from parents. We certainly want your feedback and we will provide a survey to parents before April vacation asking for you to share your suggestions and concerns related to technology programs, the ease or difficulty in navigating technology, the quality and time spent on instruction, and parents’ availability to support student learning. It is important for us to know what works well and what needs to be adjusted in order to provide the best education for our students through distance learning. One issue that I would like to address is live learning. Currently we are using Google Hangout for students who receive special services and/or intervention services. This option enables students to receive one-on-one or small group instruction as appropriate. As of right now, we have directed our general education teachers to not engage in live instruction. As we move forward, this may change. We have taken a careful and thoughtful approach when considering live learning and the concerns and challenges of student and staff privacy. In the meantime, many teachers are sending videos to students to stay connected to them. We realize how isolating this is for all of us, especially for our students who are used to seeing their peers, teachers, staff members, and administrators on a daily basis. However, this is a time like no other in education. Please know that we are here for you and your children. We will do our best to be responsive to your concerns and suggestions and we thank you for your continued support as we navigate these uncharted waters together. Respectfully, Cori DiMaggio, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Thursday, Apr 02 2020
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Weekly Wednesday Update - April 1, 2020
REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 13 OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT 135A PICKETT LANE, P.O. BOX 190 DURHAM, CT 06422-0190 TELEPHONE (860)349-7200 FAX (860)349-7203 www.rsd13ct.org April 1, 2020 Good morning, April has arrived and the sun is shining this morning. Today we are one day closer to a healthier environment. We are being advised that during the next two weeks the number of confirmed cases in Connecticut will reach its peak. We are doing our part to contribute to our healthy communities in Durham and Middlefield through our school closure. In partnership with our First Selectmen Laura Francis and Ed Bailey, we will be temporarily closing our basketball court, playscapes on school property and at Peckham Park and Allyn Brook Park beginning this Friday. Signs will be posted and we ask that you follow the posted guidelines until further notice. This morning I am reaching out to you to ask for your support in our distance learning process. Today marks day three in the implementation of a herculean process. Those people involved in the creation have worked tirelessly to get to this point. They are people who, just as they do each day they walk into school, are doing the very best they can. As this process continues, collectively we will refine what we do and how we do it. Tomorrow, Mrs. DiMaggio will outline the process we will use to gather feedback from parents and students. We very much want and value your feedback and ask that for now you share with us concerns relative to your child having difficulty with the academic content or accessing the online learning. Otherwise, please wait to share your suggestions until the reporting format has been established. I can’t emphasize enough how much your kind words and expressions of encouragement mean to our staff. Any urgent matters can be directed to your child’s principal. Our primary goal is to work with you to provide a connection to your child/children and the best possible education. In the past week’s conference calls, there have been several references to the fact that we will not safely pass this by the end of April. I remain steadfast in my commitment to lead this process as if the school closure will remain in effect until June 16th. We will also follow our school calendar as will most districts around the state with no remote learning occurring April 10th through April 17th. Many of you have shared the challenges you are facing during this time. I want to share this resource with you from the Child Mind Institute that addresses topics such as addressing anxiety related to the virus, supporting teenagers and young adults, and changing negative thinking patterns. Be well and know that a brighter day is coming. Sincerely, Kathryn Y. Serino, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools
Wednesday, Apr 01 2020
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At-Home Distance Learning Connections - Seesaw - Mar...
March 30, 2020 Dear Parents and Families: Seesaw is currently functioning. Thank you, Cori DiMaggio, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Monday, Mar 30 2020
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At-Home Distance Learning Connections Follow-Up - Ma...
March 30, 2020 Dear Parents and Families: Teachers are currently updating their YouTube links and many have been fixed by now. We will continue to work on this as we move forward. However, if your child is in grades K-6 , you may be experiencing issues using Seesaw. The complications with Seesaw are nationwide at this time. We will continue to update you regarding this issue. Thank you for your patience. Sincerely, Cori DiMaggio, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Monday, Mar 30 2020