Dear K-5 Families,
Governor Cuomo recently announced that all school districts in New York State will remain closed through May 15, as part of his extension of the statewide PAUSE to help protect the public against the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This means that the earliest we would be back in school is Monday, May 18 unless there’s another extension. We will maintain the continuation of learning, meal distribution and childcare for essential workers without disruption. The use of vacation days and emergency days for the 180-day waiver remains the same.
As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, the Hudson City School District continues to monitor the situation and adjust our plans to meet state regulations and continue serving all students. At this time, we are providing you with additional information regarding our distance learning program, grading and assessments.
Distance Learning
We developed this K-5 Educational Plan to outline what student learning should look like during this time. It includes information about how much time per day students should be engaged in learning, how you can engage your child in learning activities while at home, student expectations, grading and more.
Teachers spent the last week revising their curriculum to focus on and prioritize essential skills and topics. The district’s goal is to deliver new information to students in a variety of formats. The staff was provided with resources and tools such as ScreenCastify and Google Meet, just to name a couple. Students can expect to receive frequent feedback from their teachers on their progress in each subject.
Students in grades K-2 recently received new paper packets. Should the statewide school closures continue to be extended, K-2 teachers may choose to make additional paper packets available but ideally we want to mainly use online instructional resources. We realize this transition may create more demand for school-issued devices and we are planning for that now. If your child(ren) needs a Chromebook, please contact Principal Brenneman so we can arrange this for you.
Parents are encouraged to check the progress of their students by contacting their child’s teachers via email (see the Staff Directory for email addresses). If you haven’t already done so, please ask the teacher to add you to the Google Classroom weekly summary report. Learn more about Google Classroom on our home learning webpage.
Grading
K-5 is now in the 3rd and final marking period of the 2019-2020 school year. Current grading policies and practices will continue and remain in effect as best as possible using teacher discretion and with flexibility. At this time we are asking teachers to use their best judgement and experience to determine what should be graded and how it should be graded.
Please know that the Parent Portal for eSchool will not be active for the 3rd marking period. The teachers will need to reconfigure the grade book and we are also waiting on guidance from the State Education Department. Teachers will continue to record grades as always and provide relevant feedback to families.
Report Cards
Schools are working proactively to create a Narrative Report Card that would be used for the final marking period of 2019-2020 (if schools are ordered to remain closed until the end of June). Grades in a Narrative Report Card may resemble the following:
Evidence of Learning = Student has demonstrated learning of essential curriculum based on what was taught and assigned.
Not Yet Learned = Student has not completed assignment, or work completed does not yet demonstrate learning of essential curriculum. Students will be given the opportunity to redo and resubmit work to demonstrate learning. More information will be shared as this is developed.
MCSES Spring Events & Activities
Events and activities that have been canceled:
- The U.S. and NYS Education Departments have suspended the Grades 3-8 State Tests for the remainder of this school year.
- MCSES Drama Club Performance
- MCSES Drama Club Writing Program
- All field trips through May
- Spring Concerts
- Swimming
- Mother’s Tea
- Hudson Reads
Events that have been postponed:
- Kindergarten Screening
- Kindergarten Open House
- More information will be provided when these events are rescheduled.
Thank you for your dedication to your child’s education and continued support of our schools.
Sincerely,
Dr. Maria Lagana Suttmeier
Superintendent of Schools
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