Clinton

Important SOMSD Update: New School Reopening Date for All Students, Monday, September 13

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September 6, 2021

Dear SOMSD Community,

As we all recover from the impact of Tropical Storm Ida, we sincerely hope this message finds you and your family safe.  As a school district, we suffered significant losses,  and from the evening of the storm throughout the long weekend, our staff has been assessing the damage.   

The purpose of this communication is to share the District's status with you. We suffered damages to our facilities and our transportation vehicles.  Our Facilities Team has worked tirelessly throughout the weekend and done a terrific job of remediating the water damage to our facilities. However, the most pressing concerns for our reopening center around our school buses and transportation vans. We have been working closely with our insurance adjuster and the mechanics that we have an ongoing relationship with to assess the situation. At this time, we have received updates that have made us somewhat optimistic that our transportation fleet will be operational sooner than our original estimates. 

Another significant concern for us is the valuable school and classroom preparation time lost by our educators. We want our Fall Reopening to be a positive experience for all after the challenges presented by the last 18 months. To that end, we will be delaying our first day of school. The new date for all students is tentatively Monday, September 13, 2021. 

All staff will report to their buildings on Thursday, September 9 & Friday, September 10 to finalize their preparation for the return of our students. This delay will allow us to have a clearer picture of the condition of our Transportation Fleet, as well as other ongoing remediation efforts. 

In closing, the school year calendar will be shifting, the first day of school will tentatively be Monday, September 13 for all grade levels Prek-12. Staff will be returning to the buildings on Thursday, September 9.  If this plan is required to change, we will immediately update the community.

South Orange & Maplewood School District

SOMSD Fall 2021 Return to School Guidebook

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We are pleased to share with you the fall 2021 Return to School Guidebook. This guidebook provides an overview of our plans for a safe return to in-person instruction, five days a week, for all students.

All schools will open at full capacity for in-person instruction with a teacher in every classroom, a visionary administrator leading every school, and support staff providing critical wraparound services and support for our students and communities. Schools will return to their pre-pandemic times, class schedules and extracurricular activities.

This guidebook provides more details on: Operations & Logistics; Health & Safety Procedures; Meals; Contingency Plans; What to Expect for Curriculum & Instruction, Technology and Special Education; Chromebook Usage & Distribution by grade levels, and more.  The guide also summarizes the District’s contingency plans should the County’s health conditions require operational and instructional adjustments.

RETURN TO SCHOOL: TRAVEL QUARANTINE GUIDELINES FOR THE UNVACCINATED

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View/Download Letter:  bit.ly/FallTrQuara  |  Spanish Translation:  bit.ly/3sqa1tc  | Haitian Creole Translation:  bit.ly/3sp4kvy

August 17, 2021

Dear Parents / Guardians, Students, and Community Members,

As we begin to prepare for a September 2021 return to school, we know that families have pre-planned vacation trips or may be planning for a final trip with their child(ren) to wrap up the summer break.  As such, we want to share the most recent travel quarantine guidelines for unvaccinated individuals as per CDC guidance, *NJ Department of Health and input from our local Departments of Health.  

A reminder, the first day of school for the District is as follows (revised, Monday, 9/6):

  • Monday, September 13:  For all grade levels (PreK - 12)

For the purpose of this guidance, domestic travel is defined as travel lasting 24 hours or longer to states or US territories other than contiguous states (i.e., Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Connecticut).  NOTE:   Fully-vaccinated individuals do not have to quarantine. 

For unvaccinated persons after you travel:

Get tested with a viral test 3-5 days* after travel AND stay home and self-quarantine for a full 7 days after travel. (For testing options - covid19.nj.gov)

  • Even if you test negative, stay home and self-quarantine for the full 7 days.
  • If your test is positive, isolate yourself to protect others from getting infected.
  • If you don’t get tested, stay home and self-quarantine for 10 days after travel.

Important Note:  The day the family returns is Day Zero. Then count seven or ten full days depending on testing.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR RETURN TO SCHOOL?

Unvaccinated Travelling Student Quarantine Guidelines
Grades PreK - 7 and 9
  • May attend on the first day of school Thurs., September 9 ONLY IF
  1. Student returns from travel on September 1 and tests negative on Day 3, 4 or 5 after return | # of Quarantine Days:  7

(or)

     2. Student returns from travel on August 29 and chooses not to test | # of Quarantine Days:  10
Grades 8 and 10 - 12
  • May attend on the first day of school on Friday, September 10 ONLY IF
  1. Student returns from travel on September 2 and tests negative on Day 3, 4 or 5 after return |  # of Quarantine Days:  7

(or)

    2. Student returns from travel on August 30 and chooses not to test | # of Quarantine Days:  10

HOW WILL STUDENTS ACCESS THEIR CLASSES DURING QUARANTINE?

If your family does not return by the dates above, your unvaccinated students may access their classes virtually during quarantine.  If your student needs a Chromebook to access their classes in the beginning of the school year, parents/guardians must reserve a Chromebook (see below in "Quarantine Chromebook Reservation" section). Chromebooks may be picked up on the following days:

  • Dates: Wednesday  & Thursday, September 1 - 2, 2021
  • Times: 9:30am - 3:30pm
  • Place: Columbia High School (Side Door, Academy Street entrance)
  • Note:  Please make sure that the person picking up the Chromebook is: 1) not exhibiting any symptoms  2) wearing a mask and 3) not supposed to be quarantined due to recent travel or close contact.

Quarantine Chromebook Reservation:

So that our IT department is able to better prepare for distribution, any parent/guardian requesting a Chromebook will need to fill out the attached google form to reserve your Chromebook:

To view full CDC guidance for both domestic and international travel for unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals, view the links below:

*Although NJ Department of Health (NJDOH) no longer issues its OWN travel advisory list, it directs us to CDC guidance, as does our local Departments of Health.

Sincerely,

The South Orange & Maplewood School District

SOMSD Launches Rubicon Atlas, First-Ever Public-Facing Website for the District’s K-12 Curriculum

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Access K-12 Online Curriculum Atlas site:  https://bit.ly/SOMSDAtlas

SOMSD Community,

The South Orange & Maplewood School District’s Curriculum & Instruction Department is proud to announce that the District’s K-12 curriculum will now be available online.  The District has partnered with Rubicon Atlas to build out a digital public-facing platform for the K-12 curriculum which is now open to SOMSD families and the broader community.  

 The District’s partnership with Rubicon Atlas brings to fruition a two-year quest to provide the District community with transparency and access to the curriculum across all grade levels.  Rubicon Atlas is a leading online planning, assessment and reporting platform for independent and international schools worldwide. By providing schools with one unified system on a consistent, modern and mobile-ready interface, Rubicon Atlas via its platform AtlasNext offers a seamless & integrated experience for school leaders, teachers, students, and parents.

In the past, the District’s curriculum has been scattered across multiple portals for documentation and lacked a centralized location to document curriculum in addition to a common language or focus.  It has been a goal of the District for a couple of years to coordinate the curriculum process with a fresh start of curriculum documentation and review. To do this, the District needed to establish a centralized place for curriculum documentation, as well as ensure that teachers/parents are able to view how curricula are aligned and referenced from Common Core NJSLA standards.

Dr. Matthew Friedman, Assistant Superintendent, Curriculum & Instruction, says “We are excited to finally bring to fruition this District goal.” He continued, “The process of transferring our curriculum to an online platform, allowed us to find the crucial gaps and overlaps in our current curriculum, where similar aspects of curriculum were being repeated year to year, while across grades, there was a lack of consistency in curriculum. In transferring curriculum to Rubicon Atlas, we sought to achieve a more cohesive and standard sequence across curricula.” 

Providing access to the District’s curriculum via a user-friendly site not only provides transparency and allows parents to view what their child(ren’s) will learn at their grade level, but it also beneficial to teachers, allowing them to view mapped curricula by subject area, grade-levels and standard alignments on one site and in one-location.  Within Rubicon Atlas, school and District-wide curriculum is one click away for all teachers, spanning all subjects and grade levels.  In addition, teachers will easily be able to apply filters by grade, subject, or course.

Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Ronald G. Taylor shared, “We are so excited to add this high-quality tool to our District. During my tenure, I have heard concerns from stakeholders regarding the need to anticipate what students will be learning next or questions regarding the pacing of instruction or even questions about curricular compliance with state mandates.”  Taylor continued, “Rubicon Atlas is a proven platform that offers a user-friendly transparent solution addressing those previously stated concerns, while also significantly increasing the access of instructional resources to our educators. Kudos to our Curriculum and Instruction Team, led by Dr. Friedman and Director Ann Bodnar, who worked many hours with our Academic Content Supervisors to bring this much discussed need to reality.”  

South Orange & Maplewood School Community

COVID-19 Mobile Vaccination Clinic Will Be Available @ CHS on Aug. 17: Open to all District Staff and Essex County Residents Age 12 and Up, Registration Recommended

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Download:  COVID-19 Mobile Onsite Vaccination Clinic_Aug. 17 & Sept. 7 Flyer

The Essex County Mobile Health Clinic will be onsite at Columbia High School to administer COVID-19 Vaccinations on Tuesday, August 17 and September 7* from 10am - 2pm.

THREE VACCINATIONS ARE AVAILABLE ONSITE:

  • Pfizer (Age 12+)
  • Moderna / Johnson & Johnson (Age 18+)
  • Parent/Guardian must accompany their child(ren) for vaccine administration

Key Details:

  • Open to all District staff/personnel and Essex County Residents
  • Registration strongly recommended - call the Maplewood Department of Health:  (973) 762-1820
  • Location:  CHS Gym Parking Lot (located on Valley Street)

*The Mobile Unit will return on Tuesday. September 7th (three weeks later) to give the 2nd dose of Pfizer); If you get the Moderna vaccination on August 17, you will have to go to another county location, four weeks later, for the 2nd dose. J&J is one dose

SOMSD Fall Safe Return to School Video Presentation & Update

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Good Afternoon SOMSD Community,

The state of NJ and the NJ Department of Education has mandated that every NJ Public school district will reopen schools to in-person instruction for all students for the 2021-22 school year, returning to pre-Covid normal school days that will include lunch and that will address the needs of ALL students.  A brief video presentation led by Superintendent Dr. Ronald G. Taylor along with Julianne Porter, RN, CSN, SOMSD Lead Nurse provides high-level information to help families prepare for Fall 2021 return to school.  

As the District Reopening Task Force works on finalizing and fleshing out the nuanced details of our September reopening, the District is solely following state guidelines (with input from our local health department), and unless the mandate changes, we are moving forward with preparation to have all students in school full-time (five days a week).  Below are the key points highlighted in the “Fall 2021 Safe Return to School” presentation led by Superintendent Ronald Taylor:

  • We are planning for full-day, five-day a week in-person instruction, with normal pre-Covid school hours;
  • All students will be back for full-time, in-person instruction for the 2021-2022 school year (no cohorts will be in place);
  • Parents or guardians will not be able to opt children out of in-person instruction as allowed for the 2020-2021 school year;
  • All students and staff will be required to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status;
  • Because we cannot maintain a social distance of 3-6 feet (one strategy to mitigate virus transmission) and still offer full-day in-person instruction, we will prioritize other mitigating strategies, including masking and desk partitions where feasible; 
  • Screening testing:  Unless directed by the DOH, screening testing will not be mandated.  COVID-19 testing site information will be posted on the district website, and available at COVID19.nj.gov.​  The District has investigated the availability of mobile testing units and home Covid test kits for voluntary use and will provide the community with updates if confirmed;
  • Parents/Guardians will be asked to e-sign the 2021-22 SY Parent Agreement Letter of Compliance with COVID-19 Guidelines, deadline, September 17 (a separate email will follow in the coming weeks); and
  • Schools will reopen on September 9th: Grades PreK-7/9 and September 10th: Grades 8/10-12.

A more detailed return to school guidebook will be provided to families before school reopens for the fall.  Continue to enjoy the summer and be safe.

South Orange & Maplewood School District

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