2020 - 2021
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OCEANSIDE/ISLAND PARK GUIDE
I.P. schools ready for uncertain future By Briana Bonfiglio Families and school officials adjusted to a new set of circumstances over the last three-plus months of the 2019-20 school year as students learned at home via remote classes response to the coronavirus. Google Classroom and FaceTime replaced inperson instruction and hanging out with friends for students across the district, and at press time in early August, officials were still mulling what the year will look like. When the pandemic first hit, school officials implemented a class directory for both Francis X. Hegarty Elementary School and Lincoln Orens Middle School on the disrict’s website, where teachers began posting virtual assignments. Superintendent Dr. Rosmarie Bovino regularly posted updates to parents about remote learning. She encouraged students and parents to email teachers with any technical issues or confusion around concepts or instructions about remote learning. In one letter to the community in March, she suggested typing, “virtual hand raise” in the subject line so that teachers could prioritize those emails. “They know ‘virtual hand raise’ means a student cannot move forward with learning without assistance,” she explained at the time. Though plans for the fall were still being developed, voters approved the district’s $40.6 million for the 2020-21 school year, which includes Covid-19 preparations, such as technology for students and protective supplies for school buildings, and maintains all programs from 2019-20. The district will expand its “blended learning model” next year, which entails more digital engagement paired with traditional instruction. This will require supplying third- and fourth-graders with Chromebooks; children in higher grades already use them. It also requires repurposing the district’s iPads for use by kindergarteners to second-graders. Bovino explained that this technology would be especially useful in a situation in which stu-
dents may need to move to remote learning for a few days if someone at school were to contract Covid-19 and cleaning needed to be done. Another added expense is for a program called ClassLink, which will connect all of a student’s multiple log-ins to one account. Once students log into the device, they will have internet access and be logged into all their district-approved applications. “This is going to be wonderful,” Bovino said. “We’re very excited about this, and we have a big plan in place to get all these devices ready for the beginning of August for summer reading.” Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the district will purchase sanitization supplies and equipment for custodians. The district will also rearrange its office spaces and add partitions, as well as install sneeze guards in its offices. Courtesy Dawe Alvarado
Top Photo: Marysol Alvarado, a student at Lincoln Orens Middle School, completed schoolwork with her friends via video chat as part of adapting to remote learning. Courtesy Island Park Public Schools
Bottom Photo: Student of the Month awards were given virtually for the last three months of the school year.
