August 24, 2020
Dear Parent/Guardian,
Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year at Gardner Middle School. Each Wednesday we will be sending out an email with any new information and/or changes of which you need to be aware. In order to receive this information, as it becomes available, it is important that we have an updated email for you.
The first day of school for students will be Tuesday, September 15, 2020. To start the year all schools in Gardner will be remote.
The remote teaching and learning model that will be used this fall is going to be different from the one you and your student experienced in the spring. Some of these proposed changes include:
· A set schedule of classes and times that all students will be expected to attend
· Daily, live, virtual lessons presented by the GMS staff
· Teachers will share expectations with families around the mandatory work assigned in their classes.
· Daily attendance in each class will be taken and monitored
· Plusportal pages for all teachers will include any information needed to help students to be successful
Gardner Public Schools is committed to getting the necessary technology into the hands of any student who is in need. The district will be coordinating a date and time for families to pick up Chrome books and other necessary devices. We will share the information regarding the pick-up dates and times as soon as it becomes available. **If your child still has a Chrome book that was borrowed from the school in the spring, this needs to be returned to the school as soon as possible in order for it to be updated. Chrome books will not be reactivated until they are updated.
Our teachers are returning to school next week and will be generating a list of suggested supplies to help students to be successful during remote learning. These lists will be sent to parents and posted on our website.
Some scheduling information will be available beginning next week. Look for an email alerting you to the Team of teachers to which your student has been assigned. We appreciate your patience as we work through many of the changes that come out each week.
Eventually, we are hoping to move to a hybrid model. This would mean that the majority of our students would be in the school building, receiving in-person instruction, for 2 days each week. The student population has been divided into 2 different cohort groups. Cohort 1 is students with last names A-J and Cohort 2 is students with last names K-Z. Exceptions will be made for families with children who have different last names. All children within a household will be assigned to the same cohort and will attend in-person learning on the same days of the week.
Keep Smiling and Go Wildcats!
Sincerely,
Arthur Murphy
Principal
Gardner Middle School
(978) 632-1603, ext 2100