ICYMI: Fall 2020 Reopening Updates
Updates on virtual conferences, such as School Leadership Team meetings, that have occurred prior to the upcoming school year.
Reading Time: 17 minutes
ICYMI SLT 09/29
TL;DR
● In the first few days of school, the administration will try to check the temperatures of each student. Randomized testing will be performed and family consent is strongly encouraged. Students and families have the right to refuse testing but may be subject to moving to remote learning.
● The PSAT/NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) will not be administered in October for sophomores and juniors due to inadequate space and safety measures. The administration is looking to collaborate with the College Board and the NYC DOE to potentially administer it in January. Students also have the option to register at other testing sites to take the exam.
● There will be restroom supervision, as only one student will be allowed in the restroom at once. Adult supervision will also be required if students want to move around or stretch in between classes.
● Biology teacher Marissa Maggio was elected to be the next SLT chair.
● Blended learning will begin for cohort A students on Thursday, October 1st. Doors will open at 8:30 am, 40 minutes before first period starts at 9:10 am. The bridge entrance will be used for pods situated in the cafeteria and the third floor gymnasium, and the main entrance will be used for pods situated in the auditorium and 6th floor gym. Students must enter and exit through the same entrance.
● In the first few days of school, the administration will try to check the temperatures of each student. Randomized testing will be performed and family consent is strongly encouraged. Students and families have the right to refuse testing but may be subject to moving to remote learning.
● The DOE will be providing masks for students and faculty. The Parents’ Association has also donated masks with the Stuy logo printed on it. There will be multiple hand sanitizer stations throughout the building.
● There will be restroom supervision, as only one student will be allowed in the restroom at once. Adult supervision will also be required if students want to move around or stretch in between classes.
● Students should come prepared with a fully charged device and headphones. There will be outlets and extra devices for each pod. If students don’t have a device, they should make a device request to the DOE.
● Grab-and-go breakfast will be given as students enter the building, and lunch will be distributed to students in their seats.
● Students in orchestra or band won’t be able to use instruments in school. The school will lend instruments to students who are doing remote learning.
● Maggio explained that teachers are five weeks behind the normal AP schedule because of the delayed start to school. There’s no way around the amount of homework students are getting, especially for AP classes.
● Principal Yu discussed the importance of communication between teachers and students. He encouraged parents and students to review the adjusted academic policies:
Instructional Expectations for Students and Teachers: https://talos.stuy.edu/cms/documents/4895/Fall_2020_Instructional_Expectations.pdf
Grading Framework: https://talos.stuy.edu/cms/documents/4896/Stuyvesant_High_School_Grading_Framework_1.pdf
Academic Integrity Policy: https://stuy.enschool.org/ourpages/auto/2014/3/18/35444630/Academic%20Integrity%20Policy_FinalVersion_9_3_20.pdf
Homework Policy: https://stuy.entest.org/Homework%20Policy%202020docx.pdf
● The PSAT/NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) will not be administered in October for sophomores and juniors due to inadequate space and safety measures. The administration is looking to collaborate with the College Board and the NYC DOE to potentially administer it in January. Students also have the option to register at other testing sites to take the exam.
● Principal Yu emphasized that faculty advisors should supervise club meetings to avoid “Zoom bombs” or other inappropriate behavior amongst students, especially in a remote environment.
● One teacher, parent, and student representative will make a survey to send out to the Stuyvesant community about communication, extracurricular supervision, etc. These representatives will also potentially form a subcommittee that is open to the public.
● SLT meetings will be taking place on every last Tuesday of the month at 5pm, unless there is a scheduling conflict. The next SLT meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 27.
TL;DR
● Principal Yu presented Stuyvesant’s Exception Model, which proposed dividing the 36 percent of students who did not opt into full remote learning on the DOE survey into four blended learning cohorts with approximately 300 to 400 students in each cohort. The school would follow an eight-day rotating schedule, in which each of the blended cohorts would come to the building for two consecutive school days. All students will attend five periods each day.
● Students in blended learning will learn in one of five designated locations: the third or sixth-floor gymnasiums, the library, the cafeteria, or the auditorium. Students are expected to wear a mask, bring a device and headphones for class, and maintain six feet distance with others at all times.
● Key concerns highlighted were the ventilation system and the bandwidth capacity, as well as access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and adequate staffing.
● The SLT reached consensus to support Principal Yu’s Exception Model with an added request for the DOE to resolve and provide clarity on several issues, including providing a ventilation report on the building, doubling bandwidth capacity, implementing random testing, and providing an adequate supply of PPE.
In today’s School Leadership Team (SLT) meeting, Principal Seung Yu presented the Stuyvesant Exception Model that will be submitted to the NYC Department of Education (DOE) for approval tomorrow, Friday, August 14.
The exception model will divide the 36 percent of students who did not opt into full remote learning on the DOE survey into four blended learning cohorts—A, B, C, and D—with 300 to 400 students in each cohort. Students who opted for full remote learning (64 percent) will not be placed in a blended learning cohort and will be designated as cohort E unless they opt into blended learning at one of the four designated times throughout the year, the first of which will be in November. There will be an eight-day rotating schedule, in which each of the blended cohorts will come to school for two consecutive school days. All students will attend five periods each day (i.e. periods 1-5 on Monday, periods 6-10 on Tuesday). The school day will start at 9:10 a.m. and end at 2:00 p.m, and periods will be 50 minutes long with 10 minute passing times. There will be no designated lunch periods, and meals will be grab-and-go and distributed for students to eat during an instructional or free period.
Students in blended learning will be assigned to one of five designated locations: the third or sixth-floor gymnasiums, the library, the cafeteria, or the auditorium. Students are expected to wear a mask, bring a device and headphones for class, and maintain a six feet distance with others at all times. Each period is expected to be a mix of live virtual instruction and independent work, though details have yet to be worked out.
The majority of teachers will teach their lessons virtually from designated classrooms throughout the building. As of now, 25 percent of teachers have submitted medical accommodation requests to the DOE; if the accommodations are approved, these teachers will instruct from home.
For those seeking emotional support, guidance counselors will be stationed at various locations throughout the school. Because 13 percent of non-academic staff have applied for medical accommodation, some counseling meetings may take place virtually rather than in person.
Yu acknowledges the imperfections of the exception model. Among the issues highlighted by Yu and the SLT were bandwidth, ventilation, and testing. As of now, the school has a bandwidth of 200 megabits per second (Mbps), which will need to be upgraded to sustain more than 400 simultaneous users. The school was already in the process of installing fiber-optic cables and will continue with that project while seeking to extend the bandwidth to 400 Mbps. The school’s ventilation system currently uses filters with MERV-8 ratings, 25 of which were labeled defective in the city’s 2019 inspection. Filters with ratings of MERV-13 and above are recommended to protect against COVID-19. While the custodial staff will conduct deep cleanings of the building each night, there are concerns about safety as it relates to testing, with many SLT members calling for random COVID-19 testing with a 24-hour turn-around time for results.
The model allows for students to easily opt in or out of blended learning, and will continue to function even in the case of a school-wide closure. It also provides programming flexibility that will allow the majority of the course catalog and electives to be kept. The exception model also allows for students to have a degree of socialization and engagement with peers, teachers, and staff around the school building, something especially for the 54 percent of incoming freshmen who chose blended learning and will be entering the school building for the first time.
At the end of the meeting, the SLT engaged in consensus-building on whether or not to endorse the reopening plan as a committee. The initial vote did not show a full consensus, with more than four members voting against the measure. It was suggested that a caveat be added to the proposal to request that Stuyvesant engage in fully remote learning unless the DOE resolved issues of ventilation, testing, personal protective equipment, bandwidth, staffing, and more. A consensus was reached for a section to be added to the proposal calling for the DOE to resolve these outstanding issues, which Yu agreed to advocate for.
LOOKING AHEAD:
● Stuyvesant’s Exception Model will be submitted to the DOE tomorrow, August 14, to be reviewed. The final reopening plan is due to be cemented by the week of August 31.
● The anticipated start date for the 2020-21 school year will be September 10.
Access the full meeting recording here: https://youtu.be/-qQwRS57ys0
Access the agenda and the exception model proposal here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1e9-Id5TN5he_w_o-oZRgMBi5SSujVwxe
Find more information on the DOE’s website: schools.nyc.gov/returntoschool2020
TOWN HALL 08/06
TL;DR
● Principal Seung Yu introduced himself and explained that, for him, the three most important elements of Stuyvesant are school community, rigorous and expansive coursework with high levels of instruction, and extracurricular activities and opportunities.
● Students will be able to switch from remote learning to blended learning four times during the academic year, the first of which will likely be in November. Students will be able to switch from blended learning to remote learning at any time.
● There will be some electives in a blended learning model, and assistant principals will have to decide which remain. The first priority is keeping Advanced Placement courses.
● Students will be learning in pods, with efforts made to keep students in the same classes to facilitate contact tracing and prevent the entire school from closing down if cases are detected.
● At the moment, teachers will not receive further remote learning training. Stuyvesant does plan on offering teachers training in the future.
● Temperature checking will be done randomly to a few students as they enter the school each day. The building response team will be trained to identify signs and symptoms. There will be two isolation rooms in the nurse’s office for students to go to if they exhibit symptoms. Students will also have to follow social distancing rules. If they refuse, they may have to switch to a fully remote model.
Tonight’s Town Hall meeting was co-hosted by the administration and the Parents’ Association (PA) and led by Director of Family Engagement Dina Ingram and President of the PA Alex Shafran. The meeting began with an introduction of Principal Seung Yu, who shared his thanks with the Stuyvesant community and his values as principal: as a father of a seven-year-old and four-year-old who attend public school, he understands students’ desires to be seen and heard and the role that adults play to create conditions for success through model behavior and direct engagement with them. Yu explained that for him, the three most important elements of Stuyvesant were school community, rigorous and expansive coursework with high levels of instruction, and extracurricular activities and opportunities.
After defining key terms (full remote learning means that all instruction is remote, with no students coming to the school, even for extracurriculars; blended learning means that students are in the school building on some days and can opt into full remote learning at any point), Yu declared that all programming will be based on a blended model. If students opt-in to full remote learning, there will always be a seat available for them in one of the blended cohorts. It is possible that the school could switch to a fully remote model, in which case the same program would be followed, just remotely.
Next, Assistant Principal (AP) of Security, Health and Physical Education Brian Moran gave updates on the school building. Escalator replacement has continued ahead of schedule, and only the two-to-four and six-to-eight escalators will be shut down in September. When school reopens, current entry and dismissal plans will have students entering through the bridge and north doors, with staff using the main entrance. Moran reiterated the school’s priority of health and safety, in adherence with DOE guidelines.
Following Moran, AP of Pupil Personnel Services Casey Pedrick went over the work that guidance and college counselors have done remotely and shared the department’s commitment to continue fulfilling students’ needs in a blended model.
After these presentations, the Q&A session began. Questions were answered by Yu, AP of Organization Dr. Gary Haber, Programming Chair Jonathan Cheng, Moran, and Pedrick. The answers to the questions asked are summarized below:
Health & Safety
● The school will be cleaned nightly by the custodial staff. There is no plan for cleaning between periods yet.
● Lunch will be held in classrooms and be instructional (students will be taught while eating).
● Temperature-checking will be done randomly as students enter the building. The building response team will be trained to identify signs and symptoms. There will be two isolation rooms in the nurse’s office for students to go to if they exhibit symptoms.
● Students will have to follow social distancing rules. If they refuse, they may have to switch to a fully remote model.
Programming & Model Selection
● Stuyvesant will be requesting an exception model, as the school population and building capacity do not accommodate any of the DOE-created models. Schools have been directed by the DOE to submit a blended learning model. The DOE will consider fully remote requests based on the data collected from the fully remote opt-in survey and the number of available teachers who are approved for medical accommodations.
● Yu will submit Stuyvesant’s exception model to the DOE by August 14. The model will be shared with the community beforehand.
● There will be some electives in a blended learning model (at least one post-AP Calculus and post-AP Computer Science elective), and assistant principals will have to decide which remain. The first priority is keeping Advanced Placement courses.
● If students select full remote learning, they will not lose their seat at Stuyvesant.
● Students will be able to switch from remote learning to blended learning four times during the academic year, the first of which will likely be in November. Students will be able to switch from blended learning to remote learning at any time.
Academics
● Students will be learning in pods, with efforts made to keep students in the same classes to facilitate contact tracing and prevent the entire school from closing down if cases are detected.
● All students will still be required to take Physical Education (PE) classes. Students will be required to be 12 ft apart for in-person PE classes, and will not have to change into PE uniforms. The locker rooms will not be used, and students will be encouraged to wear loose-fitting regular athletic gear.
● The DOE has not provided any new guidance on grading models for the school year.
● The majority of students will be taught by Stuyvesant teachers, though there may be some exceptions according to the DOE.
● Further remote learning training is not currently planned for teachers. Stuyvesant does plan on offering teachers training in the future.
Miscellaneous
● There is no news from the Public Schools Athletic League, but New York State has postponed athletic competitions until at least September 21.
● The PA is looking into van-pools for commuting.
● The school is looking at staggered schedules and the potential of starting the school day later for teachers and students to avoid rush hour.
● Students with IEPs and 504 plans will have their accommodations respected.
● The school is not planning on administering the PSAT exam, but is awaiting guidance from the DOE.
● It is very likely that there will not be program changes this year, except for students with glitches in their schedule or do not have the courses needed to graduate.
LOOKING AHEAD:
● The deadline for the DOE survey allowing families to opt into remote learning is tomorrow, August 7. Fill out this survey to do so: www.nycenet.edu/surveys/learningpreference
● There will be a SLT meeting before August 14, and the data from the aforementioned survey will be shared with families before that date as well.
Find more information on the DOE’s website: schools.nyc.gov/returntoschool2020
07/23 update/clarification
Every school is required to submit a blended model or choose a DOE-recommended one. However, schools may indicate a preference for completely remote instruction when submitting a plan for blended learning. Upon receiving data, such as the number of approved medical accommodations for faculty and the number of parents who prefer remote learning, the DOE may consider a fully remote model for the school.
Thus, the DOE’s rejection of Principal Contreras’s request for a fully remote fall semester does not indicate that there is no possibility of eventually assuming this model. The DOE can make the decision to approve such a model after receiving the aforementioned data and reviewing Stuyevsant’s plan for blended instruction.
07/23 UPDATE
The Superintendent denied Principal Eric Contreras’s request to submit a proposal for a fully remote model, which was strongly supported by Stuyesant’s School Leadership Team. The deadline for submitting exception requests and model choices, which was originally today, has been pushed, and the school is waiting for more updates.
SLT MEETING 07/21
TL;DR
● The general Stuyvesant community displayed overwhelming support for a full remote learning model, the breakdown being 56% of students, 59% of parents, and 91% of teachers. Among teachers, 80% indicated that if in-person instruction were to resume in any form in the fall, they would apply for a medical exception allowing them to stay at home.
● If Stuyvesant was to adopt a blended learning model, very few non-core courses would likely be offered.
● There was a consensus amongst the SLT for Principal Contreras to only submit a fully remote model as Stuyvesant’s preliminary proposal to the DOE. If this is approved, the building would likely remain open to teachers and students who lack sufficient access to resources on an appointment basis.
Tonight’s School Leadership Team (SLT) meeting began with presentations from the student, parent, and teacher representatives about the results of the surveys they recently distributed to their respective groups.
While 91 percent of teachers supported a fully remote model, only 59 percent of parents did so. Among the slight majority (56 percent) of students who preferred a blended model, students felt most strongly that science and math classes (72 percent and 62 percent, respectively) should be taught via in-person instruction. In addition, there was a wide disparity between support for remote learning across the grades: while 70 percent of rising seniors preferred this model, only 35 percent of incoming freshmen wanted a fully remote model.
Nearly all math, science, English, foreign language, and social studies teachers, in contrast, indicated support for remote learning. Slightly higher than in other departments, 20 percent of computer science teachers support a blended model. Fifty percent of health and physical education teachers support this model—the most of any department.
The student survey also included information regarding how students would commute to school: an overwhelming majority (86 percent) would be taking public transportation. Of those who preferred a fully remote model, though, only 16 percent supported it due to commuting-related issues. Rather, around 50 percent of students’ primary concerns were related to health and safety. The remaining students preferred a remote model because it would offer more electives and Advanced Placement classes.
Teacher representatives described the potential changes that would take place should Stuyvesant adopt a blended model. Almost all non-core courses would likely not be offered, and student schedules would be designed according to general outlines that vary with grade and graduation requirements. In addition, 80 percent of teachers indicated that if the school were to resume any form of in-person instruction in the fall, they would apply for a medical exception allowing them to stay at home. Among those, about half (40 percent of all teachers) would do so due to a medical condition that falls under CDC guidelines, while the others would do so because they believe that being at or traveling to Stuyvesant is unsafe. These absences would require Stuyvesant to hire many substitute teachers, which could cost up to one million dollars for the full year.
With most stakeholders strongly supporting a fully remote fall semester, several SLT members brought up the possibility of only submitting a fully remote option to the Department of Education (DOE). Initially, the SLT had planned on submitting two options to the DOE: one blended model and one fully remote model. Due to support from all constituencies, however, the SLT approved the submission of only one preliminary proposal for remote learning. Principal Contreras will submit this proposal to the DOE, which will include an outline for a completely remote semester this fall. Because this proposal would require the DOE to grant Stuyvesant an exception, there is a possibility that it will be rejected, requiring the school to come up with a blended model. Nevertheless, if this proposal is approved, it is likely that the building will remain open to those who lack resources at home. For example, teachers can possibly come into school to record their lessons—especially those in the science departments, who may need access to equipment. Similarly, students may come into school to meet with teachers and guidance counselors on an individual or small group appointment basis.
LOOKING AHEAD:
● Principal Contreras will submit the initial proposal by July 23. The DOE will then give Stuyvesant feedback on this proposal, and Stuyvesant will submit a final proposal by August 14. The final proposal must be approved by the DOE by August 21, and students will receive their fall schedules on August 26.
● The DOE Office of Family Advocacy and Community Empowerment is hosting Student and Family Information sessions at 6:30 pm on July 28, August 12, and August 27. Sign up to attend here: https://learndoe.org/face/.
● The school will host another Town Hall for the Stuyvesant community before submitting the final programming model (date TBD).
Links:
Access the agenda, remote learning and blended learning proposals, school space study, and other materials displayed during the meeting here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uXC0f0J7qZOgv12XXFysGIdfbJ8UtZLa
Access the results of the student survey here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/u/4/d/1IkRxnqV731qduf-jOM05l2wtQWFcYaVnP_qC_Jb9BkQ/edit?usp=sharing
Find more information on the DOE’s website: schools.nyc.gov/returntoschool2020
SLT MEETING 07/15
By Morris Raskin
During today’s School Leadership Team meeting, the main topics of discussion were the nature of September’s school reopenings and the procedures and timeline that parents and students can expect for the coming year. The meeting opened with a brief review of the Department of Education’s (DOE) official summer schedule with regard to reopening before diving into the hot-button issue of the meeting: whether the first semester of the 2020-2021 academic year should be carried out using a “blended” format (with both virtual and occasional in-person classes) or be held completely online.
As of now, a completely remote model is not one of the DOE’s recommended options. If Stuyvesant chooses to endorse this format, it would have to apply under an exception. Stuyvesant would need to make a case for fully remote on the basis of limited space and staffing as well as widespread support; widespread support has, in fact, been growing due to the likelihood of limited course selection in a blended model. At the moment, the majority (67 percent) of surveyed students showed support for the blended option. In addition, support for the blended model was found to be highest among freshmen, with 75 percent of incoming freshmen having indicated a preference for some in-person classes this fall. Finally, while a significant number of students and parents were in support of a blended model in this initial survey, up to 80 percent of teachers were not; many teachers will likely apply for medical accommodations, thus creating a need for many substitute teachers.
A DOE early opt-in form has been released (linked below) and will be accompanied by a city-wide information session tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m.
Links:
DOE Survey: https://www.nycenet.edu/surveys/learningpreference.