Greetings J.G. Whittier Middle School families,
School is BACK! We are just over 24 hours away from the official first day of the 2020-2021 school year. I wish I could say with confidence that there still weren’t a lot of questions out there, but I feel like that would be naïve of me…
Here is what everyone needs to know to be as prepared as possible for our first day of school on Wednesday, September 16th:
–All students will start remotely from 9/16-9/18 at JGW and throughout the district. (The first few days of school will be focused on meeting teachers and classmates and getting acclimated to remote learning expectations, etc.)
CHROMEBOOKS:
If you did not receive a Haverhill Public School Issued chromebook in the spring or have not picked up your chromebook from JGW yet, we would ask that you come down to the school tomorrow between 8am-3pm to pick it up. You will need to call the office when you arrive and someone will bring the chromebook out to you.
- If families have personal devices at home, they can certainly choose to use them instead, but each student will still need to have an HPS-issued device assigned to them for when they come into the buildings because of the following reasons:
- There are no shared devices available in the schools, for safety, security and availability reasons.
- HPS does not allow students outside of the HS to join the WIFI for security and safety reasons.
- HPS Technology cannot troubleshoot, manage, nor repair personal devices.
The physical JGW building is coming along and is on target for the beginning of our school year. Please click the link below to get a virtual tour of the building and some of our new expectations for all students:
STUDENTS SCHEDULED TO BE IN-PERSON
-Beginning the week of 9/21 through 10/2 we will begin welcoming students back in very small groups 1 day per week (2 times total). Here is what that will look like:
-If your student is in Cohort A (Monday & Tuesday in-person learning) and their last name begins with the letter A-H then they will attend school in person on Monday 9/21 & Monday 9/28.
-If your student is in Cohort A (Monday & Tuesday in-person learning) and their last name begins with the letter I-Z then they will attend school in person on Tuesday 9/22 & Tuesday 9/29.
-If your student is in Cohort B (Thursday & Friday in-person learning) and their last name begins with the letter A-H then they will attend school on Thursday 9/24 & Thursday 10/1.
-If your student is in Cohort B (Thursday & Friday in-person learning) and their last name begins with the letter I-Z then they will attend school in person on Friday 9/25 & Friday 10/2.
When students arrive at school for the first 2 weeks listed above, the purpose is to get them familiar with the building, their teachers, and all of the new policies and protocols so that when we do begin the full Hybrid model on Monday October 5th all students will be acclimated to their environment.
Beginning on Monday, October 5th we will begin welcoming full Cohorts into the building (Cohort A=Monday & Tuesday)(Cohort B=Thursday & Friday).
REMOTE LEARNING ACADEMY
-If your student is in Cohort D (The Remote Learning Academy) this phase in model will not impact them at all as they will be learning remotely from home starting on Wednesday 9/16 and will have a consistent schedule to follow. For all of those students in the Remote Learning Academy, please see the link below for more information.
https://sites.google.com/haverhill-ps.org/remote-learning-academy/
TEACHER ASSIGNMENTS & SCHEDULES
-Your student should now have access through the student/parent portal to see who their assigned teachers are for the beginning of school.
-Students will not receive their actual class schedules until they arrive at school. This is no different than any other year. Please remember that your student will be in the same classroom all day, and that their teachers will travel to them instead of the other way around.
-The Remote Learning Academy Schedule will be communicated out to families within the next day. Please stay tuned…
OPEN HOUSE
-JGW will be conducting an OPEN HOUSE on Tuesday, September 15th from 5:30pm-7:00pm.
-This open house will be held remotely as a livestream. Here is the link for that livestream: https://stream.meet.google.com/stream/3659ad68-6943-40ce-8b27-0424be94e96e?authuser=0
-In order to be a part of the livestream, you will need to log in via your student’s school issued google account.
-Grade 5 Open house will take place from 5:30-6:30pm
-Grades 6-8 Open house will take place from 6:00-7:00pm
If you have questions that you would like to submit beforehand please click the link below and type your question and send it in. I will try to answer as many questions as I can.
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS IS ALL TAKING PLACE REMOTELY.
-ALL FAMILIES SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED OF WHAT COHORT THEIR STUDENT(S) IS IN, AND SHOULD NOW KNOW WHAT GROUP THEY ARE ASSIGNED TO WITH WHICH TEACHERS. If you are unaware, please contact the school to be notified at 978-374-5782.
-Please remember at this time we cannot make any changes to Cohorts or groupings within those cohorts based on our current population and numbers. If you have a specific concern, you can contact me at the school, but I really appreciate your cooperation and understanding in this matter as we have done our absolute best to accommodate all preferences and requests up until and through September 1st.
I am very much looking forward to our work together this school year. Please remember that your student’s safety and well-being is our number one priority. As always please reach out to me with any questions, comments, or concerns that you may have, and I will be in touch with you all as more information becomes available.
Thank you,
Tim Betty
Principal