Published April 15, 2020
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The School Department officially launched its remote learning plan last week.
School officials gave an overview of the different plans to the School Committee on April 7. The district launched the program in the wake of Gov. Charlie Baker closing schools through at least May 3 due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
After schools were originally closed for three weeks, Superintendent Jane Tremblay said each school provided enrichment activities for students to undertake. During that timeframe, administrators, educators and the Technology Department worked behind the scenes in order to develop the remote learning plans in the event schools were closed beyond April 6.
“We wanted to make sure we were ready,” said Tremblay.
Tremblay said the plans include administering daily activities and assignments that focus on “essential skills.”
“It was important that we put together a balance between screen-time activities and non-screen time activities,” said Tremblay. “We also wanted students to have connections with educators throughout the week.”
Tremblay noted the elementary and middle school plans are following guidelines established by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), which she said requires teachers to “reinforce, apply and deepen previously taught skills.” She said Lynnfield High School teachers will be allowed to introduce “new concepts.”
“If we get the word that we are going to be out of school beyond the first week in May, teachers across the district will begin to introduce new concepts at each grade level,” said Tremblay. “We are already planning for that next phase.”
Tremblay and the School Committee have received questions from parents about why the district did not implement the remote learning plans sooner such as Wakefield. She recalled that Lynnfield Public Schools decided against becoming a “blizzard bag” district for snow days. She said school districts that used blizzard bags were allowed to implement remote learning right out of the gate.
“If you did not get an okay from the DESE to use blizzard bags to begin with, it was not something you could start now,” said Tremblay.
Tremblay said each plan is designed to be flexible.
“We know our families are balancing a myriad of responsibilities and concerns during this challenging time,” she said.
Lynnfield High School Principal Bob Cleary said students in the elementary through high school level will be receiving pass or no pass grades for the last quarter or trimester of the school year. He said high school students will be receiving grades for the third quarter.
“We are trying to hold students accountable to some level given their circumstances,” said Cleary. “We recognize there is an equity situation and we are trying to be fair.”
Educational Technology Director Stephanie Hoban said her department has been working to give families Chromebooks if they need a device in order to complete the assignments.
Elementary plans
Huckleberry Hill School Principal Melissa Wyland and Summer Street School Principal Dr. Karen Dwyer gave an overview of the elementary remote learning plans.
Wyland said weekly lessons for each grade level will be posted on the elementary schools’ websites on Sunday nights. She said teachers will be holding whole class meetings via Zoom, a videoconferencing company, twice a week. She said the meetings will last 15 minutes.
“We want students to feel connected to one another as well as their teacher,” said Wyland.
Wyland said teachers will be holding hour-long office hours three times per week.
“These hours will be specified on our website each Sunday evening,” said Wyland. “Teachers and parents can have phone conversations and can consultant about questions that come up. Teachers can also use office hours to work with students one-on-one on specific skills or areas they need extra help with.”
Wyland said teachers will notify the two principals if a student is not participating in remote learning.
“We want to first reach out to those families to make sure they are okay and offer our support,” said Wyland.
Dwyer said educators are using state standards to plan the lessons each week.
“Everyone in the district is receiving the same curriculum and lessons every day,” said Dwyer. “The teachers in each grade level participate with developing the activities.”
Dwyer said video lessons will also be developed, which will be shared on Mondays. She said the “mini-lessons” will focus on English language arts and math.
“We are trying to focus on the critical skills and concepts,” said Dwyer.
Dwyer said students will be undertaking science, social studies and social-emotional learning activities as well.
“We are providing a variety of online and offline options because we don’t know when parents will be available to help children,” said Dwyer. “These are activities children will be able to do independently. We want to encourage movement because we don’t children to be sitting in front of a screen all day even though that is the mode of delivery.”
Dwyer said resources will be provided to students and parents.
LMS plan
Principal Stephen Ralston and Assistant Principal Tom Sallee gave an overview of Lynnfield Middle School’s remote learning plan.
Ralston said LMS’ schedule “tries to provide some structure, but is very flexible.” He said the middle school will be posting assignments early in the week via Google Classroom.
“We are sharing the lessons early in the week so that those assignments can be done at any time during the course of the week,” said Ralston. “We are having students turn in their assignments at the end of the week.”
Ralston said office hours for teachers will be held primarily on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Sallee noted that the middle school has established guidelines for students using Zoom in order to make sure they are using it appropriately.
LHS plan
Principal Bob Cleary discussed Lynnfield High’s remote learning plan.
Cleary said the high school “doesn’t need as much structure” as the elementary schools and the middle school because students are used to working independently.
“It allows us to be more flexible when teachers and students are getting together, whether it’s one-on-one, small group or large group sessions,” said Cleary.
Cleary said students are receiving assignments via Google Classroom or by email, which is how they received assignments before the pandemic. He said the group sessions are being held on Zoom.
“We are doing everything we can to support our students,” said Cleary.
Cleary noted students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses will be taking “abbreviated versions” of AP exams.
Additionally, Cleary said the pass and no pass grading system for the fourth quarter “will not impact a student’s GPA.”
Special education
Student Services Director Roberta Keane outlined the support services available to special education students.
Keane said her department has been working to make sure special education students and English language learners not only have access to assignments, but the support they need to complete them.
“We have been collaborating with families about what remote services look like at home,” said Keane. “We started putting those services in place under the auspices of providing enrichment for students.”
Keane said special education students’ families will be able to access the service plans on Sunday nights.
“We want our support services to support what is going on in general education rather than competing with it,” said Keane.
Keane encouraged parents to check-in with their respective liaisons if their child needs assistance.
“We will help parents prioritize what is important,” said Keane.
Work commended
The Administrative Leadership Team repeatedly thanked each school’s faculty and staff for their assistance with developing the plans. Officials also commended the Technology Department, particularly Educational Technology Director Stephanie Hoban and Digital Learning Coach Sarah Perkins, for getting the plans online.
School Committee Chairman Jamie Hayman commended the work educators have done to “get us to this point.”
“This has been exhausting,” he said. “Teachers have been working late into night and on weekends, and have gone above and beyond. I don’t think anyone will claim what we have right now is perfect, and it’s an evolving work in progress. But it’s a reflection of how all of the educators across this district care about the students in Lynnfield.”