District Communications

Dear Winooski Families, 

During these trying and uncertain times I hope you are finding moments to relax, reflect, exercise and laugh with your family and friends. Last week I was able to find some time and mental/emotional space to begin processing all that has happened. I want to share my reflection, thinking and some of the data and resources used throughout this journey to make decisions to meet our purpose of safely reopening WSD schools for all students, staff and families and putting student and staff health, safety, and wellbeing as our primary guiding belief.

Each one of us comes with our own biases, background and opinions about the “best” way to reopen schools. I have heard just about every opinion about what the right decision is and let’s be honest, there is no “right” or “correct” decision.  My role is to balance the needs of families and staff.  A hybrid model is the middle option for a reason, it considers many factors and finds a middle ground in balancing family and staff needs.  While Mill River UUSD, serving communities outside of Rutland, has decided to go with a K-12 fully remote learning model, our neighbors in the Champlain Valley School District are receiving intense pressure from a variety of stakeholders, including local pediatricians, to open in-person for more than two days per week. Some people are very scared of contracting the virus and believe remote learning is the best method of ensuring physical health and safety. Others believe the health data clearly points toward a more robust opening of in-person instruction, and not opening school poses a greater health and safety risk to our children.

In mid/late July over 200 or 50% of our families responded representing over 400 of our PreK-12 students to a survey about Learning Models (In-Person, Hybrid, Remote) preferences

On a scale of 1-5 with 1 being the least comfortable and 5 being the most comfortable…

• In-Person: 32% of parents/caregivers were comfortable with this model (4 & 5 combined)
• Hybrid: 55% of parents/caregivers were comfortable with this model  (4 & 5 combined)

In the last two weeks 149 or 37% of our families, representing 262 of our PreK-12 students, responded to a survey asking “At this time, are you planning to choose the fully remote learning option for your child(ren) in the coming school year? 

• • 68.8% said No
  • 20% said Yes
  • 11% said Maybe

Below is a description of the current hybrid learning model and full remote learning plans by school as developed by members of the District Reopening Committee. Our overarching goal in assigning students is to allow for students from the same family to attend on the same days to facilitate a more consistent family schedule.  

JFK Elementary

The JFK Reopening team, in conjunction with the District Reopening Committee, has been working this summer to develop a comprehensive hybrid learning plan for our students, staff and families for this fall.  Most students will be divided into two equal sized learning groups, with one group attending in-person school on Monday and Tuesday (Pod A), and the second group attending in-person school on Thursday and Friday (Pod B).  Most students will be participating in remote learning on Wednesdays and on the two days when they are not scheduled to be in school.  All JFK teachers and staff will be supporting students during their in-person and remote learning. Wednesday will be a remote day for all staff to allow for a thorough clean of the building. You will be notified by Friday, August 14th of your student’s placement in Pod A or B.  

Winooski Middle-High School

Middle School:  We want to keep our students, staff and community as safe as possible while also providing the in-person learning opportunities we know to be valuable. We are trying at both the middle and high school to keep student groups at 12 or less.  

Pod A students and teachers will attend school in-person on Mondays and Tuesdays beginning Tuesday, September 8th.  Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday Pod A students and teachers will be working remotely.

• Pod B students and teachers will attend school in-person on Thursdays and Fridays beginning Thursday, September 10th, 2020. Pod B students and teachers will work remotely on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays starting on September 8th.  

Pod assignments are being organized to ensure children in the same household are attending in-person school on the same days.  This information will be shared with families by August 14th.

We are looking forward to planning robust hybrid programming for students in this hybrid learning environment.  This will look and feel different than our emergency remote learning last spring, as students will be using their in-person learning experiences to guide their remote enrichment, collaboration, and independent practice.  Teachers and students will work together to determine the best balance of synchronous (live) learning and asynchronous (on your own schedule) learning opportunities for at-home learning days.

High School: 
At the High School level, the reopening committee has been working on rapid-prototyping models of learning that would have the best learning outcomes for students while having the least health risks to students, family, and staff.  We realize that there may be a limited window of time this academic year to have face-to-face instruction as the pandemic evolves. We want to seize the start of the year to set foundational practices and expectations to carry us through the entire year should we have to be off-campus doing fully remote learning for months.  

We are assessing four versions of a hybrid model that would try to minimize the numbers of students and teachers in the High School.  These proposals include two days on-campus, in class learning and 3 days off-campus (remote).  The goal would be to have teams of teachers who support the same students both during the on-campus and off-campus days to make the learning as rigorous and as supportive a system as possible both academically and social-emotionally. This would have the benefit of aligning with the Middle School. The sorting of students into A and B pods will be completed by August 14th.  

Full Remote Learning Option

We have selected Discovery Education  and the VT Virtual Learning Cooperative as part of our full remote learning plans.  Details about how these will work, how to let us know if you want to select one of these options and how to enroll will be coming by August 21st.

Teachers will arrive for Pre-Service on Monday, August 17th and we will have a full three weeks to refine our reopening plans. We are only a month away from the first day of school on September 8th, there are still many unknowns, and we have also made tremendous progress on our reopening planning. 

Finally, there is much for us all to do in challenging circumstances. We need each other.  We know that you may be struggling with childcare needs, economically supporting your family, educationally supporting your child(ren) and I want you to know that we are here for you and we are in this together! We can do this and we will be stronger, smarter and proud of what we will have accomplished for our students!

Additional WSD Updates

Antiracism Work

Winooski School District will raise the BLM flag August 7 at 4pm. 

Join the Facebook Live stream at https://www.facebook.com/winooskilearns and watch live on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/WinooskiLearns/

Middle School teacher Mugabo W’Ishema Thierry Uwilingiyimana will speak at 4pm. 

Winooski Students for Antiracism representatives will be speaking at 4:10pm. 

Please join in online and support our students!

The WSD School Board will present their response to the demands of the Winooski Students for Antiracism (WSA) at the August 12 board meeting. Please join this meeting to learn more about how our district is moving forward with this important antiracism work.

Capital Project Updates

We are excited to share that our district will receive a $57.8 Million Direct Loan Investment from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Community Facilities Loan Program. This investment will save Winooski taxpayers approximately $11 million! Read the full press release.

We know this is a challenging time for everyone, and we are so grateful for your ongoing support.

Take care,

Superintendent Sean McMannon