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COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
Melican Middle School prepares for full reopening on April 26
By Liz Nolan Contributing Writer
NORTHBOROUGH - Robert E. Melican Middle School Principal Michelle Karb has been working with her team to prepare the school and students to head back to full-time, in-person learning to begin on Monday, April 26.
Algonquin Regional High School will also start this model on the same day.
Karb said during the Northborough School Committee on April 7 that she is excited that 31 students who have been on the full remote program are ready to return to the new model, leaving only 84 students in the remote program for the remainder of the year. Student schedule changes were able to be minimized.
“Our biggest goal was to disrupt as few students as we possibly could,” she said.
Karb said teachers and teams
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Robert E Melican Middle School stands ready for students to return from months of remote and hybrid learning.
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have been busy preparing for how to support returning students.
“Some students are actually doing well this year because we are in a hybrid model,” said Karb. “They really like the smaller class sizes; they really like working from home a couple of days a week. We are trying to think about how we support those students where this [change] may be a struggle for them.”
While recognizing that transition plans are important for some students in all grades, Karb said a special orientation will be held for sixth-grade students who have not stepped inside the building yet this year.
In addition, she also said that students’ stamina will need to slowly be built up again as they shift to the new model. The initial plan is to have a slow roll in and not have homework assigned initially, for example.
Facility and space changes made to accommodate student return
New desks and dining tables have been ordered to help with social distancing. Outdoor learning spaces will be utilized, accommodating classes such as chorus rehearsals.
“We continue to be transparent on what we are doing,” said Karb. “I am confident that we will be [ready] by the time the kids return.”
More student and interscholastic sports will be welcomed back after the April vacation break, bringing more feelings of normalcy again.
“It’s always impressive how many logistics are involved with running a building this year,” said Northborough School Committee Chair Keith Lebel.
By Liz Nolan Contributing Writer
NORTHBOROUGH/SOUTHBOROUGH - The Public Schools of Northborough Southborough has seen an overall 51 percent student participation in its COVID pool testing program. This falls short of the district’s goal to have 80 percent participation.
Although in-school transmission has been rare, there is a push for higher student participation in the weekly school pool testing. Grades 6-12 move forward with full in-person learning starting on Monday, April 26. Elementary schools already went back on March 22.
During the Northborough School Committee meeting on April 7, Director of Wellness Mary Ellen Duggan said participation had been trending upward each week before the long holiday weekend.
Simultaneously, state COVID-19 case numbers as reported to the Department of Public Health have jumped for ages under 19.
Duggan acknowledged the uptick in numbers.
“The Medical Advisory Team is meeting every week to look at all those numbers and keep an eye on all of the metrics to make sure it is still staying safe,” she said.
She said that the next steps are to look at possibly incentivizing participation with raffles. She is also looking at students who signed up for the screening but have not yet participated.
A survey seeking feedback from all families is also being created. The results will capture information as to why families are participating or not.
Screening will continue over the April vacation week, as it is mandated for all athletes and students participating in in-person extracurricular activities.
Northborough leaders present COVID-19 experiences on national stage
As work continues, Superintendent Greg Martineau
Northborough | 13
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Almost ‘business as usual’ as school reopening continues, Superintendent says
By Melanie Petrucci Senior Community Reporter
SHREWSBURY – It’s almost “business as usual” at the Shrewsbury Public Schools as grades K-4 navigate a successful in-person reopening following a year of COVID-19 remote and hybrid learning, Superintendent Joseph Sawyer told the School Committee April 7.
“Lots of smiles behind those masks, and lots of thumbs up from students feeling very good about being back together with their friends,” Sawyer said.
Accommodations have been made at schools that needed additional lunch spaces in particular. The Walter J. Paton School, for example, installed a tent for what Sawyer called “Al Fresco dining.”
“Kids were extremely cooperative and flexible in the way they are following all the different rules,” he added, noting social distancing and masking requirements.
He acknowledged, relevant to transportation that things had been running smoothly and on time. Increased traffic at schools was, further, not at the level that administrators had expected.
Pooled testing produces low positivity rate
With reopening continuing, Sawyer shared that pooled coronavirus testing is now occurring at all grade levels. Out of 9,828 tests since early February, two have come back with positive results. This works out to a 0.1 percent positivity rate.
“I hope it gives a lot of reassurance to folks that there is a very limited [case] number,” Sawyer said April 7.
He went on, though, saying, “We are still looking to get the percentage of people tested to be higher, and we are going to continue to communicate with regards to that.”
He said that Massachusetts is in a strong position in terms of its case count in comparison to the rest of the country. Percentages of positive tests specifically sit below the five percent benchmark set forth by the John Hopkins University that the Shrewsbury Schools used in considering their reopening decisions.
As of April 7, a cumulative 371 Shrewsbury students have tested positive for COVID-19. Eighty staff also tested positive, making for a total of 451 cases in the district since the beginning of the school year. Shrewsbury High School continues to have the highest number of cases, particularly with eight suspected cases of in-school transmission identified.
Vaccine rollout continues
The state and the nation are reopening as long-awaited coronavirus vaccines begin to reach the arms of millions of citizens.
In Shrewsbury, 48 percent of roughly 700 school staff members who responded to a recent survey earlier this month said they had received two doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Of those, roughly onehalf had received their last shot more than 14 days before their survey, meaning they were fully vaccinated.
Concerns remain about fall plans
Looking ahead to the fall semester, School Committee member Dale Magee inquired April 7 about the district’s plans for the fall in the event that three-foot social distancing policies remain in place, even as all students could be expected to be back in class full time.
Sawyer said that there are some classroom spaces that aren’t being utilized now. He expects that remote learning will not be an option and that spacing will not be in place. But the district is still thinking about the situation.
From here, in the short term, the Shrewsbury Schools began phasing grades five and six back into the classroom starting April 12. Grade 7-8 will begin Monday, April 26, as the high school will then reopen on Monday, May 3.
Northborough | from page 12 said that the district was recently invited by the Centers for Disease Control to share its experiences surrounding COVID-19 testing and screening. Members of the district Medical Advisory Team, as well as Northborough Health Agent Kristin Black, presented Northborough’s work to around 1,000 community leaders across the country on April 8.
The education surrounding the screening process remains a priority for the remainder of the school year.
Additional information can be found on the District website at www.nsboro.k12. ma.us at the District Reopening page, under the COVID-19 Pooled Screening link.
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