Dear Families and Staff,
As we announced on Friday, December 11, 2020, Stamford Public Schools (SPS) will temporarily transition to 100% Distance Teaching and Learning beginning Monday, December 21, 2020. All students and staff who are in the Hybrid Model are scheduled to return to their in-person schedule on January 19, 2021. While it may seem like a long time to be away from our buildings, given the winter break, this temporary transition equates to 13 remote learning school days.
As we have shared in my November 25 message, the Teaching and Learning department, in collaboration with teachers and administrators, developed guidance for our school communities (Links found here: Elementary / Secondary). Each school will review these plans with their staff and communicate more detailed information with their families in the coming days.
Each building principal will provide families and staff with information about the remote learning period that will begin on December 21, 2020. It will include the following information:
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Locations and times for distribution of breakfast and lunch meals
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Any adjustments to class schedules for both Hybrid and DTLA students
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Information about the continued use of Google Classroom to access lesson links for synchronous lessons, asynchronous lessons and assignments
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Information about expectations for attendance and submitting assignments/classwork
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Guidance regarding students having a dedicated work space, dressing appropriately, and demonstrating acceptable behavior and conduct during synchronous/live lessons
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Methods of communication for parents and students to contact the school
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Options for staff who are able to work remotely
Inclement Weather Days
Weather specialists are predicting a snow storm to begin on Wednesday afternoon and span until the following day. As you may recall, this year the state has provided local school districts to opt for either a traditional snow day or to transition to a remote learning day.
In Stamford, we will be utilizing the option to use snow days as distance learning days. This will allow us to end the school year as published on our current school calendar. In the unlikely event that there are widespread power outages, however, we will need to call a traditional inclement weather day.
The district will notify families of either an inclement weather remote learning day or a traditional inclement weather day, depending upon the circumstances.
As always, please stay safe and healthy.
Sincerely,
Dr. Tamu Lucero
Superintendent of Schools