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NIS Weekly News
Nantucket Intermediate School - January 4, 2021
Happy 2021!
Dear NIS Families,
After a lovely holiday break we are all back to school today. It has been great seeing your children's smiling faces as they've rejoined their teachers and classmates, even if it is over a screen. The teaching and learning happening is comprehensive and watching your children fully engage in these learning experiences makes us so hopeful during such a challenging time in education. Thank you for all of your support!
We wanted to take a moment to share that requests for children to be in cohorts different than the one assigned are processed very thoroughly. Parents must clearly articulate why they are requesting a change in cohort. As you know, we are still operating with fewer students in classrooms, so adding children to Cohort A is very challenging and often simply not possible. When it was possible, we worked with classroom teachers to look at performance data etc. to determine which children met the criteria for Cohort A set by the district and the state. Sometimes, getting a student into Cohort A meant switching classrooms which can be very hard for students. It is also important to know that requests for a switch to Cohort D take time. Our Cohort D students are committing to being remote learners for the rest of the school year. They are switching teachers and classrooms. We work hard to provide a seamless transition from one class to another, thus it is not an overnight transition. Additionally, we want to maintain a reasonable class size for our Cohort D classrooms, so we are careful to not overload these remote learning communities. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions about the hybrid model and cohorts. Unfortuately, for now, we are all virtual learners.
We thank all of you who have followed the travel guidelines with regard to testing, and all of you who changed your travel plans to promote health and safety. It is our sincere hope that we can open our school doors, continue to follow all health and safety protocols, and maintain our pattern of no community spread in our school. We are hopeful in 2021 that there are brighter days ahead when we can all be in person again!
Wishing you a year of health, wellness and community,
Evemarie McNeil, Principal & Donna Johnson, Assistant Principal
Remote Learning Continues through 1/8/21
As you know, ALL REMOTE LEARNING continues all this week. Again, we greatly appreciate your hard work to log children into their classes, monitor their engagement during remote learning, and ensure their schoolwork is completed! We also appreciate your patience with any and all technical glitches. This is just an unwelcome part of the remote learning experience. Dr. Hallett will continue to work with hospital and town officials to make decisions about safely opening school, and share any resulting changes to the current plan to return to hybrid learning on Monday, January 11th.
Reminder: There is no school Wednesday, January 13th - Professional Development Day for NIS staff
NIS Nurse Notes: Nancy Small, RN
Happy New Year NIS Families! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday break and are well rested and ready to get back to school/work. I know I am. Good riddance to 2020 and hello 2021. I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I know the Covid vaccine will help to stop the spread of this pandemic and bring about positive changes. I look forward to getting my vaccine!
Just some friendly reminders. If you traveled out of state over the break, you are required to quarantine for 10 days (this is a change from 14 days) or get a covid test and quarantine until negative test results. See link for travel order: Mass Travel Order The asymptomatic testing is now at the Nantucket VFW building on 22 New South Road. Hours are Mon-Fri 10-2pm & Sat 9-12 pm NCH testing information
The deadline for getting the flu vaccine has been extended to February 28, 2021. It is still state mandated and you may get the vaccine by making an appointment with the nurse at Nantucket Cottage Hospital by calling 508-825-1000. If you do not plan on getting your student vaccinated due to religious beliefs or a medical condition, I will need a handwritten note stating it’s against your religious beliefs or a physician’s note.
Please keep safe and healthy,
Nancy Small RN
Teaching, Learning & Report Cards
Trimester 1 report cards were published in ASPEN on Friday, December 18th. NIS also mailed home printed report cards the last week.
What is the same and what is different?
We will still be measuring student progress against grade level standards. The ratings are "not meeting" grade level standards, "partially meeting" grade level standards, and "meeting" grade level standards. Another option you may see is "I" for "introduced" when the topic has been introduced to the students, but they haven't been learning about it long enough to assess their learning against the standard.
We have identified priority standards. We recognize that it is not feasible to hold teachers and students accountable for every grade level standard when they had interrupted learning the entire spring of 2020 and we have 170 school days this year instead of 180. It is also salient that teaching and learning during a pandemic is challenging and takes longer - especially when learning remotely. As a result, we are adjusting our pacing to spend more time on lessons based on student responses to instruction and the most critical standards that are prerequisites for the next grade level and beyond. Our focus is on student learning, not just the coverage of grade level curriculum.
Our first term addressed prerequisite skills and standards needed to access this year's grade level standards as well as social/emotional learning. Remember, last March the state directed us to review skills and concepts taught during our first weeks of remote leaning. The state then identified priority standards to focus on for the remainder of an all remote trimester 3. As a result, there were concepts and skills we needed to teach and practice this school year before moving into grade level standards. Our recognition that students were entering school and a new classroom remotely to start the year required us to work harder at building community. This and the state of the nation with the pandemic, political strife, and racial conflict supported an enhanced focus on social/emotional learning embedded throughout the school day. We are proud of our focus on educating the whole child, but shifting priorities impacted the amount of time we spent on grade level standards during Trimester I.
Recently you talked with your child's teacher about their progress so far this school year. Your child's report card should be reflective of your conversation. As you may notice some "not meeting" ratings, please add the word "YET" to the end: "not meeting, yet". Work with your child's teachers to fully understand why your child is not meeting yet. They should be able to offer you and your child suggestions for what can be done at home in addition to what is being done at school. As a school, we are working hard daily to identify children's unique challenges with accessing the learning, implementing interventions, and reaching out to you for help. We are partners in this more than we have ever been and want to work with you to support our students.
Finally, we fully recognize there are some challenges that are extremely difficult to overcome such as sick family members, students who need to watch and help younger siblings while parents work, and technological challenges for example. This is a school year unlike any other and it's our goal to work with you to maximally support your child’s continued learning. Please don't hesitate to reach out.
Partners with you,
NIS Admin and Staff
Behavioral Support
Laura Stanley, NPS district behavior analyst, wants to share her newsletter with you full of strategies for supporting your any behavioral challenges you may be experiencing with your children at home. Here it is: Behavior Support Strategies at Home
Laura Stanley, MS, BCBA, LABA
District Behavior Analyst
Nantucket Public Schools
Phone: 508-228-7290 ext 4226
E-mail: stanleyl@npsk.org
BCBA Behavior Newsletter https://www.smore.com/wuh54
Please Charge Chromebooks Each Night - Thank You!
NEW!!! Technology Cheat Sheet Guides for Students
Tech Help Desk Access en Español
Video # 1
Steps for TECH HELP DESK REQUEST/Pasos para SOLICITAR AYUDA TÉCNICA
Loom | Free Screen & Video Recording Software — Watch Video
Meals Provided
Nantucket Public Schools Food Truck: During All Remote Learning...
Parents can pick up student breakfast and lunch meals served by Island Kitchen and Patrick Ridge between 9:30am - 12:00pm at the food truck while we are all remote. When hybrid again, the hours will revert back to 9:30am - 11:30am.
NIS School Improvement Plan 20-21
District and NIS Return to School Safety Protocols
NPS Return to School Protocols - Fall 2020
NIS Family Handbook 2020-2021
- English: NIS Family Handbook 2020 - 2021
- Espanol: NIS Familia Manual 2020-2021
COVID-19 Travel Order
Effective August 1, 2020, all visitors and returning residents entering Massachusetts must follow new travel orders. The Commonwealth has made great progress to slow the spread of COVID-19 and gradually re-open the economy, and all visitors have a responsibility to help us keep transmission levels as low as possible.
All visitors entering Massachusetts, including returning residents, who do not meet an exemption, are required to:
- Complete the Massachusetts Travel Form prior to arrival, unless you are visiting from a lower-risk state designated by the Department of Public Health.
- Quarantine for 10 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72-hours prior to your arrival in Massachusetts.
If your COVID-19 test result has not been received prior to arrival, visitors, and residents must quarantine until they receive a negative test result.
Failure to comply may result in a $500 fine per day.
Please find more information, including the list of lower-risk states, exemptions, business guidance and other details at https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-travel-order
For NPS District Information
Be sure to check the www.npsk.org website for specific District communications and updates.
Nantucket Intermediate School
Email: mcneile@npsk.org
Website: https://www.npsk.org/NIS
Location: 30 Surfside Road, Nantucket, MA, USA
Phone: 508-228-7290
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nantucketintermediateschool/
Twitter: @NISlearners