It’s usually one of the most talked-about events of the year anyway, but today, after a summer of consternation on the part of the area’s districts, public schools are officially open today — mostly with the pupils staying home.
The COVID-19 pandemic lingered through the summer and into the fall, making the return to school a constant topic of conversation among administrators, teachers and parents of school-age children. It forced Lynn, Swampscott, Saugus, Lynnfield, Revere, Marblehead and Salem to go with a remote learning system. Only Peabody, among the area’s public schools, has gone to a hybrid system — a mix of in-school and remote learning — as has the Johnson School in Nahant.
LYNN
Families lined up at two of the city’s high schools on Tuesday to pick up the computers their students will need for the start to the school year.
All students will be learning remotely when the school year begins on Wednesday, which marks a shift from Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler’s initial proposal.
Tutwiler had previously recommended that in-person learning be provided to certain groups of students, including special education students, English language learners and those who attend Fecteau-Leary Junior/Senior High School.
But Tutwiler shifted to recommending all students learn remotely upon the release of state health metrics that listed Lynn as a high-risk community for the virus. On Nov. 20, district leadership will meet to determine whether it is safe to switch to a hybrid model — a mix of in-person and remote learning — on Dec. 1.
Lines have been long all week at the district’s device distribution sites — Lynn Vocational Technical Institute and Lynn English High School on Tuesday — as the Lynn Public Schools have been trying to get their new shipment of computers distributed in a matter of a few days, Tutwiler said.
Tutwiler said the district has been distributing devices to students in grades 3-12 for about eight weeks, and has been targeting students in first and second grade since Sunday with a shipment that arrived last week.
“(Wednesday) is the first day of school and we’re excited about that and we’re trying our level best to get a device in the hands of students who need it,” said Tutwiler.
The district has purchased devices for its approximately 4,000 students in grades K-2 with a $1.6 million grant it received from the Baker-Polito Administration last month, but due to the significant demand, those computers have still not arrived.
Tutwiler said outreach was done over the weekend to identify which K-2 families do not have access to a device at home. Every student in grades 3-12 and every student who needs one in grades K-2 will receive a device to start the school year. In K-2, that amounts to 2,300 devices, he said.
“We’re asking families with computers to use their own devices,” said Tutwiler. “We wanted to get a device in the hands of families who don’t have a device to start in a virtual platform.”
LYNNFIELD
Lynnfield will be starting the year with fully-remote learning except special needs and other high-priority students and pre-school children, who will receive four days a week of in-school learning.
After being hit hard early in the pandemic, the community had been on cruise control through the summer with stable case numbers and no deaths since early May.
But that all changed last week when the town went from green to red with 18 new cases within a 12-day span, prompting the school committee to reverse its learning plan from a hybrid model to fully remote through Sept. 30, when the district plans to reevaluate the data.
Despite the disappointment, Lynnfield Superintendent Kristen Vogel said, “there is wonderful energy in our schools as we start Wednesday.”
Vogel said students at Lynnfield Middle School and the Summer Street and Huckleberry Hill elementary schools had a chance to meet their new teachers last week when they picked up their Chromebooks and supplies.
At the high school, Principal Bob Cleary and Assistant Principal Brian Bates were still in the office late Tuesday distributing a handful of Chromebooks to late comers.
“I’m happy to say we’re all set and ready to go,” Cleary said.
All athletics are on hold until the district can re-evaluate new public health data at the end of the month. Vogel said if the town is able to switch to hybrid, the fall season will begin shortly thereafter.
“Although it is a remote start, our educators are so looking forward to seeing their students,” Vogel said. About 15 of those students were outside playing a pick-up basketball game. None of the boys were wearing masks.
MARBLEHEAD
Although Superintendent Dr. John Buckey’s reopening plan calls for three weeks of remote learning to begin the school year, he said certain groups of students will be learning in-person during that time.
Under his initial plan, approved by the Marblehead School Committee on Aug. 10, Buckey recommended that the school year start on Sept. 14 with three weeks of remote learning, with a shift to a hybrid model on Oct. 5.
In his presentation to the panel, Buckey said the district was considering allowing in-person instruction for special education students and English language learners during those first few weeks.
About a week later, he said he heard the feedback from that school board meeting “loudly and clearly,” which was that parents wanted the district’s youngest students, in grades Pre-K to 2, back in school as early as possible.
“We heard that and we will be attending to that,” said Buckey. “All of our students will be back in the hybrid — in-person instruction — on Oct. 5, but we will be bringing our youngest and most vulnerable students back sooner.”
Although health metrics released by the state last week show Marblehead is a “lower risk community,” as its daily coronavirus case rate is less than 4 per 100,000 residents, Buckey said he opted to start with remote learning to allow students more time to re-acclimate to school.
NAHANT
The Johnson Elementary School’s hybrid reopening plan looks somewhat different from most other districts.
Thanks to a small student population and ample classroom space, Nahant families have been given the flexibility to choose for themselves whether they want their child to have full-time online or full-time in-person instruction.
All students will begin with online instruction Wednesday before in-person students make their switch next Monday.
“Our building is actually able to accommodate many more students (than it currently has), so we have the luxury of space, which is wonderful,” said School Committee chair Lauren Sherlock. “Our building was also renovated within the last 20 years, which provides a much better system for ventilation.”
Classroom lessons will be live-streamed to remote learners, which Sherlock said will allow those students easier access to their teachers as they participate alongside their peers.
If families find either option isn’t working out, Nahant’s flexible model will still allow students to switch, as long as the school is given a two-week notice.
“We’re trying to incorporate a more fluid situation for the students in the classroom and at home,” Sherlock said, adding that Nahant’s hybrid plan focuses both on health and safety for children and staff, as well as on providing an equitable, high-quality education for all students.
PEABODY
Peabody Superintendent of Schools Josh Vadala said he is excited to begin the year with in-person learning.
“Each year, the start of school is marked with anticipation and excitement. Although the start of this school year is unlike any other, I am still very excited to begin the year,” Vadala said. “Our teachers and school staff cannot wait to welcome students back to school on Wednesday. We’re looking forward to a great school year.”
Peabody is going with a hybrid model, which varies depending on grade level. Students at the high school will begin the year with two morning half-days of in-person learning, while students in grades K-8 will have two full days of in-person learning. High-risk students and those with special needs will receive up to four days of in-person learning.
“I am grateful for the collaboration with the mayor’s office, school committee and public health department that has allowed us to welcome students back to in-person learning. The community has done an excellent job of following the safety protocols as we have seen a consistent decline in the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the city. It is extremely important that our students and families continue to follow the safety measures that have allowed us to open safely.”
REVERE
Revere initially had planned to start with using a hybrid model, but with coronavirus transmission rates rising in the city, state guidelines made remote learning the safest model for now.
“After weeks of COVID positivity rates above 6 percent, there is strong advice that we, instead of doing a hybrid model, move to a remote model to begin the school year,” Superintendent Dr. Dianne Kelly said at a virtual school committee meeting.
“Our focus was on hybrid and remote was an option, but the full in-person was never really an option for us,” Kelly said. “It appears right now that, with the school committee’s vote, we’ll focus on a fully remote start to the school year. However, our intention will be to get back to a hybrid model as soon as it is safe to do so.”
SALEM
The Salem school district is set to begin the school year with an all-remote learning model that would include small in-person learning opportunities.
Originally Salem had opted for a hybrid model with students pre-K through third return for in-person schooling while older students worked remotely, but after being designated as a red city by state guidelines, meaning more than eight cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days, the district had to adopt the remote model for all students.
Wednesday (Aug. 19) superintendent Stephen Zrike addressed families on Facebook live and gave an update to what this new schedule will look like when school begins on Sept. 16.
“Our remote learning schedule is going to be built to meet (the Department of Education’s) required hours,” Zrike said. “We are expecting students to work the equivalent of that time on a weekly basis which is just over five hours a day. We’ll give more specifics but we are making sure that we’re meeting minimum requirements that the state has for time that students are learning.”
SAUGUS
Saugus schools start entirely online, a plan considerably different from the hybrid model of learning first submitted by the district to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) last month.
The change came following a state report released Aug. 13 designating Saugus as a high-risk, or red zone.
“We wanted to have as much in-person time as we could,” School Committee vice chair Ryan Fisher said before the district’s Aug. 14 decision to switch to its online model. “That’s so important. We’re cognizant of the fact that we’re in the middle of a pandemic and we need to protect students and staff, so hybrid was the best approach.”
An 18-page document detailing the plan includes three instructional models — in-person, hybrid, and remote learning — that follow guidelines initially laid out by DESE in June.
Adaptability may be key moving forward as multiple school officials have repeatedly warned that, due to the extreme unpredictability of the COVID-19 pandemic, reopening plans are always subject to change.
The district plans to revisit its hybrid model later this fall depending on how well the community is able to contain its number of COVID-19 cases.
SWAMPSCOTT
Schools are starting remotely, but it won’t be long before students are attending classes.
Swampscott Superintendent Pamela Angelakis said the district plans to shift to a hybrid model Oct. 26, but families will still have the option to continue online only.
When school resumes, certain groups of students identified as “high needs” will already be learning in-person, either through a hybrid model or a fully in-person scenario.
The rest of the student body will return to school on staggered schedules, which vary at the elementary, middle and high school level, if health metrics allow next month.
As a “lower risk community,” in terms of the state’s coronavirus map, Swampscott was not required to start remotely, but Angelakis said she wanted to give teachers a chance to prepare for the return of students and to give district leadership time to monitor the trajectory of the virus locally.
All students and staff who are in school will be required to wear face masks inside buildings, with hourly “mask breaks” included as part of their daily schedules. Ideally, those mask breaks would take place outside and outdoor instruction will be maximized, according to the reopening plan.