Public Schools update

A School District newsletter published on March 16 included a message (below) from Superintendent Larry Mussoline about how the public schools are carrying out their mission during this extraordinary time. The full newsletter is HERE.

Dear Haddonfield Families:

What an interesting week! Maybe there is another way to describe it. Not sure.

Today, among all the world and national issues related to this bonafide pandemic,Governor Murphy closed all N.J. schools and many other public places indefinitely. No time frame. Two weeks to start but “most likely longer” is what the Commissioner of Education said today.

It seems to be a daunting time. So much of what we hear and see on the news causes anxiety; an understandable reaction to what is certainly an unprecedented interval in all our lives. However, now more than ever, the message has to be one of calmness and composure. Not fear. Here’s an interesting article from UPenn’s Director of Positive Psychology Center, Dr. Martin Seligman, that is worth the read. Let’s let this era in our lives play out by practicing cleanliness and social distancing. Let’s be smart about being in crowds. This too shall pass.

I periodically check the World Health Organization (WHO) website to catch up on the latest information, and last Monday, the Director-General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote the following:

“Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic is real. But it would be the first pandemic in history that could be controlled. The bottom line is: we are not at the mercy of this virus. The great advantage we have is that the decisions we all make – as governments, businesses, communities, families, and individuals – can influence the trajectory of this epidemic. We need to remember that with decisive, early action, we can slow down the virus and prevent infections. Among those who are infected, most will recover.”

I was struck by the line “the decisions we all make – as governments, businesses, communities, families, and individuals – can influence the trajectory of this epidemic.” Here in Haddonfield, of course, we already decided it was best to shutter our schools from having so many congregate in one place for a starting period of two weeks. Please know that the latest CDC guidance is to close school systems at least four weeks and possibly for eight weeks. I can’t tell you how happy I am that we have been writing to staff discussing plans for a possible cyber education program due to a closure for the past two weeks. Seriously, we are way ahead of many other school systems that moved on this later.

It was because of that always-be-prepared attitude that I wrote to all of you last Monday afternoon to announce a one-day cancellation of classes, occurring today. As you read this, our faculty and staff are working together to make plans for seamless lesson transitions from face-to-face to online learning in order to keep the pace of instruction smooth over the next two weeks. Undoubtedly viewed as an inconvenience last week, today’s “snow day with no snow” is absolutely necessary to ensure that your children continue their education in the atmosphere of our current school closure. I believe we will all sleep better knowing we can handle this closure, whatever the duration, and continue the business of educating your children through this period.

There are two prevailing philosophies of education during school closures that school leaders around the state and nation are deploying. One is to provide enrichment work through packet-like handouts that students will simply work on during the time off. The other, which defines our philosophy, is to maintain educational continuity by continuing our daily work with your children online. See our Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Colleen Murray’s explanation of this philosophy of education linked here.

Some thoughts on homeschooling during a prolonged shutdown:

● The district is committed to ensuring all of our students eat proper lunches during a mandated closure. To that end, anyone attending any Haddonfield school can come to the middle school cafeteria between 11:00 a.m. and noon each day that we are closed to pick up a brown bag lunch, free of charge.

● Check-in with your children daily about their virtual school learning tasks, activities, and assessments that they are working on.

● Encourage adherence and attendance in the virtual school check-in times offered by each of your children’s teachers.

● Designate a place where your child will work independently on his/her assigned tasks.

● Be a part of this new endeavor by asking your child to provide a brief summary of the learning he/she is engaging in for each class to ensure their understanding of the content and of the process and to demonstrate their learning.

● Ask your children about their deadline calendar and support them, as needed, in submitting assignments in accordance with the established deadlines set up by each teacher.

● Remind your children to email his/her teacher(s) if they have questions and to participate in each teacher’s live office hours (they will send them) for synchronous learning.

● If remote Internet access is required, please see our virus web page for Internet options. Comcast is offering free internet for families who qualify. There are some options in town for free Internet, but check first because of closures of public places.

● Dedicate appropriate time to learning, as guided by your students’ teachers.

● Check appropriate Canvas and Google Classroom teacher accounts and emails for information on courses, assignments, and resources, on a daily basis.

● Attend and participate in virtual school office hours offered by each of your teachers to communicate with them in real time.

● Engage in the virtual school platform with academic honesty.

We have canceled all events including athletics during the time period we are off from school for social distancing reasons surrounding crowds. Again, we will continue to monitor the situation and make decisions that the Board and I feel are in the best interest of our students, the overall school community, our families and our Haddonfield community.

Please take a look at our web page “Cold & Virus Prevention/Coronavirus” for helpful information. This page is fluid; we made changes and/or additions almost every day. There is some great advice from Harvard’s School of Public Health on the meaning of social distancing for parents. Look through the resources; they may be very helpful to you.

Thank you for your patience and understanding while we continue to try to do our very best for you, our students and staff. These are uncharted waters for all of us in a traditional face-to-face school system. We are unlike colleges that have employed cyberlearning options for the past many years. They can close and continue the business of education much more easily than we can. But the silver lining in this foray into cyberlearning for our K12 school system is that we will become better at it. That has the potential to translate into cyber and blended learning opportunities for children and families who are interested in those opportunities to better prepare for college in the future. Of course, that will be up to future school leaders.

Sincerely,

Larry Mussoline, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools