OBENSD Message

A Welcome from the oyster BAy-eAst NorWich ceNtrAl

school District superiNteNDeNt

With the safety and wellthe first weeks of school and adjusted being of our students as to meet the needs of our learning the highest priority, the community. Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central We are grateful that the infection School District has been diligently rate remains low in our region, yet we working with members of our understand that this continues to be learning community as well as loa fluid situation; plans are a work in cal and state authorities to safely progress, and our ability to reimagine, open schools for students and staff reassess, readjust and pivot is parain September. Over the past few mount. As we continue this journey months, our Districtwide Re-Openthrough uncharted waters, working to ing Committee and several submeet our students’ educational needs committees comprised of members Dr. Laura Seinfeld is our beacon of hope that we will get of the Board of Education, district through this together. Let me take staff, our health/medical team and this opportunity to express my deepcommunity stakeholders have helped put into est gratitude to our staff and community for action the multi-faceted re-opening guidance their tireless work to benefit our students and framework set forth by New York state. district, and wish our students and staff a safe,

To give you a snapshot of our re-opening healthy, and productive school year. plans, we have ordered the required personal protection equipment, reconfigured classDr. Laura Seinfeld rooms and common areas, removed comSuperintendent monly touched equipment, and set protocols Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District for illness, testing and contact tracing, among numerous other health and safety protocols, as per state and health guidelines. We are requiring students and staff to wear face coverings in school and on buses and take daily temperature readings to monitor their health. We have reimagined the delivery of in-person, remote and hybrid learning models, and surveyed our families on numerous issues, including transportation, learning plans, social/emotional needs to shape our re-opening plans. For our community’s reference, we have dedicated a “Re-Opening OBEN Schools” page on our district website where all information on our re-opening plans is centrally located.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 health crisis in March 2020, we have learned a great deal and, despite great challenges, our focus has always been to safely deliver the best possible education to our students. With that in mind, we are proceeding cautiously as we open our doors in September by building in time to reinforce all health and safety protocols with students and staff. Based on state and health guidelines, we have developed a “first phase” plan, with the goal of returning all pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students to school for in-person instruction every day and returning all students in grades nine to 12 to school on alternating days. On days when students are not physically in school and learning remotely from home, they will be provided with instruction via synchronous live engagement that mirrors learning experiences within the classroom. For students who will not return for in-person instruction, a full-time remote learning option is available. These plans will be reassessed within Herald File Photo