Jaguar Families,
So long 2020 … 2021 is finally here – we did it. I hope you all had a restful and relaxing break. I can honestly say that this was the first time in a long time, I was totally unplugged. No Facebook, no Twitter, no emails, no laptop. It felt amazing and it was needed. Now that my personal battery is charged and my laptop battery is slowly charging, I want to fill you in on what’s going on this week at Silver Hill.
The following is information from Dr. Marotta and the Haverhill School Committee pertaining to the increase in Covid 19 numbers and the return to in person learning.
“As you probably know, the rate of COVID-19 infection in our community and throughout our country continues to climb. As of last week, Haverhill was currently at an 11.2% COVID-19 testing positivity rate. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) indicators and thresholds for risk of transmission of COVID-19 in schools, this places our community at the highest risk level for transmission. Even more concerningly, as we listen to the media and the experts, we hear that infection rates are likely to climb in the short term due to the holidays. Knowing that Haverhill’s rate of illness was climbing, the School Committee called a meeting last week to discuss and review information related to our return to in-person learning.
At the meeting, the following revision in our learning plan for the weeks after winter break was approved. The return to school plan is as follows:
- Monday, January 4, 2021 – Remote Learning All Cohorts
- Tuesday, January 19, 2021 – Cohort C PreK–12: In-person Learning (others continue remote)
- Monday, January 25, 2021 – Cohort A & B K–8: Hybrid Learning (HHS continues remote)
- Monday, February 1, 2021 – Haverhill High School Hybrid Learning
- Remote Learning Academy will continue as scheduled”
1/5/21 – Conferences/Times
This year, parent/teacher conferences will be held virtually via Google Meet on January 5th, 2021 from 4:00-5:30 PM. You will be receiving emails from your child’s teacher(s) with information about signing up- ( if you haven’t already). Once you have received an appointment link from your child’s teacher(s), you can use those links to sign up for meeting times.
Please note, that to accommodate as many families as possible, meetings will only be five minutes in length. If you wish to schedule a longer meeting to discuss your child’s progress, please reach out to that teacher individually to set up an alternate meeting time.
IT issues
All IT related issues please reach out to our superstars Mrs. Richard- crichard@haverhill-ps.org and Mrs. Zylkuski- lzylkuski@haverhill-ps.org. They have been our go to ladies for the trouble shooting concerns that have popped up.
F & P / Letterland Assessments
F&P reading assessment and letterland assessments will be conducted remotely over the course of the next few weeks. Please reach out to our literacy coach Ms. Todd if you have any questions regarding these assessments- Jessica.Todd@Haverhill-ps.org
Nurse Notes:
Vaccines: Update in state policy
The deadline for Massachusetts school students to receive a flu shot has been extended. Flu shots that are required for all students in Massachusetts schools, from child care through colleges, the Department of Public Health announced earlier this year. Students older than 6 months will have to be vaccinated by Feb. 28, unless either a medical or religious exemption is provided. The original date was Dec. 31. New students entering school before March 31, 2021 must have received a dose of vaccine for the current flu season for entry. Students who are home-schooled are exempt from the policy, but health officials said students at elementary and secondary schools that are using a remote learning model are not exempt.
Please send proof of immunization to kfetty@haverhill-ps.org
If you did some cleaning during the winter break, Nurse Fetty kfetty@haverhill-ps.org would greatly appreciate any donations of gently used pants (size 5T and up). They can be dropped off at the school during school hours. Thank you in advance for this.
No school -1/19/21- Civil rights day
Thank you and as always, please feel free to reach out to Mr. Gray and myself at any time.
-Mr. Parker
Asst. Principal