Archives for May 2020
CHS Virtual Graduation Ceremony
The District will celebrate the Class of 2020 with a virtual ceremony on Wednesday, June 24. At 6 pm that evening, families can tune into the broadcast of a professionally-produced virtual ceremony that will feature speakers, video vignettes, messages from dignitaries and celebrities and end with a finale montage that incorporates photos and statements from the Class of 2020. Each graduate’s name and image will appear on screen over the course of the broadcast.
Seniors should keep an eye out for requests to upload videos and images that will be included in the virtual ceremony. While the program will be broadcast at 6 pm on the 24th, graduates and their families can view it at any time after that.
Following the broadcast, we invite everyone in our two towns to step outside their homes at 8:20 pm (20:20) to make some noise for our graduates using whatever means available. We’ll be distributing a free, branded cowbell to every senior at the personalized sign and t-shirt pick up to help them Make Some Noise and hope that everyone uses #CHSNoise2020 to post videos and photos of the moment for all to see.
This is the latest from the HSA and Midnight Madness. Be sure to stay up to date at the Midnight Madness website and follow our Midnight Madness Facebook group, Instagram and Twitter
District-Wide Virtual Pre-K Moving Up Ceremony – Friday, June 12 @ 10am
NJDOE: SOMSD School Health-Related Closure Plan
SOMSD Weekly Newsletter Wrap-Up: As a Matter of Fact, May 22
Superintendent Taylor: Memorial Day Message to the Community & Distance Learning Update
Hello SOMSD Family,
We hope this correspondence finds you and your families healthy and well. As we enter into our Memorial Day Holiday weekend, allow me to be among the first to wish you a restful and rejuvenating time with lots of sunshine and smiles. I am comfortable stating that none of us have ever entered this joyous time of year with more angst about the present or anxiety about the future (than we are currently experiencing).
We understand and acknowledge the grief that exists in our school community. We are grieving the loss of our shared experiences. We are grieving the loss of our daily face-to-face interactions (our jokes, our debates, our hugs etc.). We are grieving the loss of our culminating activities that some have waited a lifetime for. In short, we miss our school lives…our normalcy. However, some in our community, are grieving the literal loss of a loved one. To all who are coping with that unimaginable toll, we wish you peace.
Please know that your District’s leadership is working tirelessly in planning for whatever our new normal will be. We are preparing for our summer offerings and the fall return. We have learned so much from our current emergent circumstances. We are learning to be nimble, understanding that we may need to switch between a traditional school setting and distance learning (or a hybrid model) without much notice. We have learned that we as a District must expedite our planned investment in our technology; to that end our Board recently approved $500,000 towards the procurement of 2,500 Chromebooks to replace antiquated equipment and move us closer to a one-to-one ratio (device to student).
Most importantly, we have learned that what began as a temporary emergency measure may very well be with us far longer than any of us expected. To that end, we have spoken with our SOMEA partners (our collective bargaining unit for our teachers) and will be working together to plan for what we believe will be vast improvements in our distance learning capacity (which will include extensive professional development prior to the 2020-2021 school year). We will also be reviewing multiple digital platforms to determine a more streamline prescriptive approach, that will result in our distance learning methodology being more consistent (while protecting privacy), age-appropriate, and most of all safe for both students and teachers.
In closing, we are reviewing your responses to our digital distance learning survey and using your feedback to inform our plans (if you have not yet submitted survey feedback please click here). We are launching a School Re-opening Task Force that will include many representative members from our internal school community to ensure that we are taking into consideration the possible unintended consequences of well-intentioned ideas.
Lastly, as we enter the final weeks of the school year, please be assured that we are still here for you. If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s teachers and school leaders.
Thank you, wishing you and your families well.
Dr. Ronald G. Taylor, Superintendent of Schools