March 5, 2021
Dear Parents and Guardians:
As a school district, we are
actively planning for the next phase of reopening our schools. It has been the
district’s goal throughout the pandemic to bring our students back to school
for as much time as safely possible. As I shared in my Friday
message last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and the New York State Education
Department (NYSED) have not changed nor updated their guidance relating to
school operations to make it possible for our schools to reopen for full
in-person instruction.
When the district is able to
bring students back in person five days a week, the hybrid model will no longer
be an option. If your child is currently in the hybrid model (cohorts one and
two), your child will automatically be scheduled for in-person instruction five
days a week unless you choose otherwise. Families have the choice to either
“Change from Hybrid to Fully Remote” or “Change from Fully Remote to In Person
Five Days a Week.” If you
prefer to transition to or from the remote model in the next phase of
reopening, you must make a commitment by Friday, March 19.
Please note the
following when making your decision:
·
Families
transitioning from hybrid to 100 percent in person five days a week will keep
their current schedule, classmates, and teachers, as cohorts one and two will
combine and maintain the schedules and teachers they have. There is no action
necessary on your part to transition your child from hybrid to full in-person
instruction.
·
Families
currently participating in the hybrid model who choose to transition to the
fully remote model will have new schedules and new teachers, due to the
complexities of staffing, scheduling, and the availability of services,
programs, and courses. This includes special education. At the secondary
level, certain courses available in the hybrid model may not be available in
the remote model. For that reason, some students may need to drop a class if
they become fully remote.
o
If
you choose to change from hybrid to 100 percent remote, you must indicate this choice by March
19.
o
If
you choose to change from fully remote to full in-person instruction five days
a week, you must indicate
this choice by March 19.
To make your commitment, please
log into your Infinite
Campus Parent Portal , choose School Store, and indicate
either “Change from Hybrid to Fully
Remote” or “Change from Fully
Remote to 100 Percent In Person 5 Days a
Week.” If you have more than
one child, please complete the School Store selection for each child. The
School Store Procedures and other helpful links are found at the end of this
email.
As the district plans for the
full reopening of schools, we are launching another ThoughtExchange. As you may
remember, ThoughtExchange is the crowdsourcing service we used to obtain
information from our stakeholders before school reopened in September. You can
access the new ThoughtExchange here. Thank
you, in advance, for your participation. Your input is valued and appreciated.
Quick Tips:
·
This
exchange is confidential. Your thoughts will be shared with other participants,
but not your identity.
·
If
you see a thought that is rude, hurtful or identifies a person or group, you
can report it by clicking in the upper right corner of the thought.
·
You
will see and can rate thoughts that others have shared. 5 stars = strongly
agree, 1 star = strongly disagree
·
You
do not need to rate all thoughts, although it is recommended to rate at least
20.
I thank you for your continued
patience as we begin to work toward the goal of welcoming our students back
five days a week.
Sincerely,
Casey Kosiorek, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Link to Infinite Campus School Store Procedure
If you need support accessing
the Infinite Campus Parent Portal, please contact the appropriate person below:
Merton Williams MS: Loreen Masters (lmasters@hilton.k12.ny.us)
Northwood ES: Linda Koenig: (lkoenig@hilton.k12.ny.us)
QUEST ES: Dawn Comden (dcomden@hilton.k12.ny.us)
Village ES: Lauri Root (lroot@hilton.k12.ny.us)
