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August 12, 2020

Enfield High School Parents and Families,

 

We are thrilled to welcome back our returning students and to welcome the incoming freshman class, the class of 2024, for the first time.  The past year has certainly been a challenging one for our students, families and educators, and we know you have many questions about the upcoming school year.  This letter is intended to provide a succinct overview of the major changes. We have created a document explaining the details of our reopening plan that you can access by visiting our website or clicking here: Detailed EHS Reopening Plan . The document includes topics such as our revised schedule, specific details on student protocols, our communication plan, technology access, professional learning, and COVID-19 procedures and operations.     

 

We will review these changes and host a virtual meeting for parents to ask questions on Monday, August 17^th at 5:30pm. To register for the session, please sign up by noon on Sunday, August 16^th using this link: Link to Register for Information Session

Additionally, we will hold a question-and-answer session for students in the near future as well.

 

What were our priorities while planning?

Our plans were based on the guidance provided by the CT State Department of Education’s reopening guide.  Our first priority was to promote staff and student safety to the greatest extent possible using the guidelines provided. We continue to be committed to offering a high-quality education for our students.  Since we closed schools last March, we have surveyed students, parents, and staff to reflect on the remote learning experience with the goal of improving our distance learning model.  Our primary objectives will be to promote more student engagement through student-centered instruction that is collaborative, meaningful to students, and appropriately challenging.   Additionally, we are very committed to supporting the social and emotional well-being of our students. We will be allocating considerable time for teachers to build relationships in their classrooms, provide students social and emotional skills, and create a safe space for learning. Our team is hard at work preparing professional learning for teachers and mentoring modules for students to build awareness and improve skills related to promoting racial equity at Enfield High School. 

 

What are the key changes?

As you may have heard from the Superintendent’s announcement; we will be starting the year in a hybrid model.  What does that mean for EHS?  Students will be attending EHS in-person unless they have opted out for the remote learning option.

What will the hybrid model look like at EHS?

Hybrid Schedule	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
In-School (Synchronous)	Last names A-K		Remote Learning for All Students /Disinfect Building	Last names L-Z
Remote (Asynchronous)	Last names L-Z			Last names A-K

EHS is adopting a hybrid option that offers students a mix of in-person and remote learning.  The hybrid option allows us to keep class sizes lower in order to promote social distancing.  To summarize, students with the last names A-K will attend on Monday and Tuesday, students with the last names L-Z will attend on Thursday and Friday, and Wednesday will be a remote learning day for all students.  Having a remote learning day for all students will enable teachers to meet with the entire class at once at least once per week and will allow custodians to conduct a thorough cleaning of the building between cohorts. 

 

Why are we moving to a semester schedule?

In order to promote cohorting and reduce the number of classes that mix over the course of a week, EHS will be adopting a semester schedule.  Whereas we previously had A and B day classes that alternated every other day, we now will hold A day classes every day in the first semester and B day classes every day in the second semester.  This means that full year courses will now be completed in a half year and half year courses will not be completed in a quarter.  These adjustments allow us to improve cohorting without making reductions to students’ schedules.  It also allows students to focus on less classes at a time so that they can be more organized. 

 

As you can see below, students would only meet with their “A-day” classes in the first semester, and with “B-day” classes in the second semester.

 

 

What schedule will students follow when in school during the hybrid model?

For the hybrid model, the in-person days (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) will follow the following daily schedule:

 

What will remote Wednesdays look like in the hybrid model?

Remote learning days will have a mix of synchronous and asynchronous learning.  Synchronous learning refers to sessions where classes of students receive live instruction from the teacher.  Asynchronous learning refers to assignments and tasks that students are able to complete on their own time outside of the live sessions. Office Hours are times teachers are online and available for students to ask questions. Teachers will be available to work with students during asynchronous sessions. 

 

This model includes changes such as a later start time for students based on student, parent, and staff feedback.  It also increases live, synchronous instruction to promote student engagement.  Live sessions for students have been compressed into 4.5-hour window to limit time students required to be in front of a screen.  Additionally, teachers will be available for one-on-one or small group check-ins during asynchronous learning time and Office Hours. Asynchronous learning time provides students breaks from live instruction to promote movement or screen breaks.  Time was strategically embedded in this schedule for professional collaboration, meetings, and extra-curricular clubs and activities

 

What will lunch look like?

Students will eat in their classrooms to reduce large crowds.  Seniors may not leave during lunch (unless they are not returning after lunch due to early dismissal). Students will be permitted to remove masks while eating, but must put their masks on when they are finished. Students will be required to clean up after themselves.

 

What Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will be required?

All students and staff will be provided a mask and required to wear a mask at all times.  Students will be permitted to take mask breaks. Additionally, staff and students will receive frequent training and reminders to maintain social distancing, and to wash hands often.

 

What other measures is the school taking to promote safety?

• Staggered arrivals and dismissals
• Designated foot traffic patterns and one-way hallways where possible
• Desks and work areas will be sanitized between classes.

 

How will the facilities be maintained?

Enfield Public Schools is working with Buildings and Grounds to comply with CT guidance around building water systems, cleaning and disinfecting schools, and ventilation systems.  The head custodian will conduct regular inspections and the building principal will meet regularly with the head custodian to address facility concerns.

Adjustments to how students and staff use our facilities will be made to promote safety measures.  For example, we will now utilize one-way hallways where possible to reduce the risk of transmission.  For example, using the diagram below you can see that students traveling on the third floor in the A & E wings will only proceed north/west to south/east, whereas students on the second floor A and E will only proceed south/east to north/west.  In hallways where one direction is not possible, students will be required to stay on the far-right side of the hallway. Increased time has been allotted for passing to accommodate this adjustment.

Students will be required to wear masks in restrooms and will be limited to 3 individuals at a time in alternating stalls. 

 

What are the protocols for visitors?

We have implemented the following protocols for visitors at Enfield High School for the safety and health of all students, staff and guests. Visitors will be asked to remain outside the building and contact the welcome center staff by phone at 860-763-8895. If dropping off something for a student, please label with the students' full name and grade. Staff will pick-up the items outside. If picking up a student, please state the students name, grade, reason for dismissal. Staff will escort your student out of the building to parent/guardian. Pickup will require identification and signature. If you have a scheduled appointment, you must wear a mask or face covering and adhere to appropriate social distancing guidelines of six feet.

 

How can freshman prepare to transition to EHS?

We will release a virtual freshman orientation video in August to students on our websites and via social media.  Additionally, opportunities will also be provided for freshman to take a tour in a small group. To receive updates, make sure you are signed up for School Messenger, and please follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EnfieldHS1.

 

 

How will iPads be distributed to freshman?

Enfield High School will utilize a curbside pick-up plan to distribute iPads to students in the Class of 2024 on Monday, August 24^th from 8:00am to 4:00pm, as well as hotspots to students in any high school grade level who do not have an internet connection at home. Along with receiving an iPad, each freshman will receive a tutorial packet including information necessary for logging into and setting up their iPad.  Additional iPad setup support sessions will be available, by appointment, on Wednesday, August 26^th between 9:00am and 4:00pm.  Further details about the iPad distribution process and support sessions will be announced, via email and School Messenger, in early August. 

 

Where can I find more information?

Please visit our website: http://enfieldhigh.sharpschool.com/.  If you have any questions, please reach out to your grade-level dean of students:

Grade 9-Ms. Cox-Blackwell/ [email protected] (860-763-8807)

Grade 10-Mr. White/ [email protected] (860-763-8811)

Grade 11-Mrs. Nelson/ [email protected] (860-763-8839)

Grade 12-Mr. Murray/ [email protected] (860-763-8835)

 

I plan to provide frequent updates as they are available via email.  Please be sure that you are signed up for email communications via School Messenger.  You can update your email address here: Link to Access School Messenger. Additional resources will be posted on our website: Link to Access Webpage on Reopening .

While we will send several additional updates and communications before the start of school, we hope this serves as a starting point.  If you need further clarification, we hope you will join us for the virtual informational session on Monday.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Erin E. Clark

Principal

Enfield High School