nothin Schools Chief Eyes Long-Term Plans… | New Haven Independent

Schools Chief Eyes Long-Term Plans Post-Covid-19

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Superintendent Iline Tracey appearing Tuesday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”

One month into Covid-related school closures, New Haven Public Schools administrators are looking beyond the immediate crisis of distributing food and technology towards long-term policy changes.

Superintendent Iline Tracey updated the Board of Education on Monday over Zoom about how she and her staff are planning for the rest of the school year and the following fall as the length of time of the pandemic remains uncertain.

She also spoke about them during an interview Tuesday on WNHH FM’s Dateline New Haven” program.

Pass/Fail Plans

The third grading quarter was easy, since schools were in session almost until the last weeks of the quarter. Tracey has directed teachers to grade students on their work prior to the Covid shutdowns.

What should teachers do during the fourth marking period when each student has had such different experiences with technology, job loss and illness?

Tracey offered an example from one teacher who joked that Johnny’s vocabulary has grown so much in two weeks!” She said that they know some parents and siblings are helping their students or may be doing their work for them.

The Connecticut State Department of Education has recommended that all districts treat the Covid shutdowns as a special case and switch to pass/fail grading during that time. Tracey said that teachers would still provide feedback and focus on helping students engage and learn virtually.

Chromebooks For Every Student

In the future, NHPS administration wants every student — including preschoolers — to be able to take home some kind of device for distance learning.

We should never be caught off guard again,” Tracey said.

Public schools have given out around 7,500 Chromebooks and other devices to students. Tracey said that they know many students still do not have a laptop or internet connection and so are missing out on their virtual classes.

These inequities vary by school, Tracey said. She said that many magnet schools had devices already because of their unique sources of funding.

She plans to have 20,000 devices ready for all schools for the fall. Some students’ devices may break before then, and schools have given out Chromebooks and iPads reserved for at-school testing, she said.

The city has helped connect NHPS with donors who can make these purchases possible. For example, 3,500 computers are headed to New Haven high schools from the Dalio Foundation, Tracey said. Individuals interested in donating can contact Assistant Superintendent Paul Whyte at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Wifi is still a problem for many students. Board member Tamiko Jackson-McArthur suggested administrators create an informational page on the NHPS website that board members can share to tell parents how to connect to free hotspots.

I don’t think New Haven Public Schools should ever have a snow day again, with what we’ve learned about distance learning,” said board member Larry Conaway.

Graduation Date Still Unclear

Senior Nico Rivera: This is kind of sad that I didn’t get a graduation and everyone else did.

High school graduation — now that’s a hot topic!” Tracey said at the meeting.

Tracey plans to waive certain graduation credit requirements, since seniors will not have a chance to meet them. Administrators are still discussing how to handle the ceremonies themselves. Schools have ordered caps, gowns and certificates. Tracey said that virtual graduation or a summer or fall in-person ceremony is possible.

You’ve worked hard and you deserve this,” Tracey said to Student Representative Nico Rivera.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday Meals

Starting Monday, New Haven schools have switched to handing out two days of prepared meals at a time. The idea is to limit contact school staff and families have with one another.

Families can pick up prepared meals at whichever school on the official list is closest to them. The new hours are 9 a.m. to noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Looking Ahead

While dealing with the immediate crisis, Tracey and her team are also looking ahead to longer-term challenges facing children and teachers whenever school resumes.

For instance, some children will have lost parents to Covid-19, Tracey noted in her interview on Dateline New Haven.” Others will have come from homes that experienced emotional distress during the pandemic.

We have to be concerned about their social emotional state” come the fall, she said. We can’t just jump back into academics” without also ramping up social-emotional” support.

For instance, Tracey sees K‑8 teachers spending more time on morning circles” in which kids share how they’re feeling about stresses in their day-to-day lives. And other social-emotional support programs the district has implemented will be brought up to scale,” she said.

Tracey also said she wants to see students advanced to the next grade despite missing out on the last few months of work from this academic year. i am strongly opposed to holding back our students. They did not cause this,” she said. I’m leaning toward promoting our students to the next grade.”

That said, she wants to see an intervention block built into the day” when school reopens, so that teachers can work one on one with students to identify gaps caused by this Covid-19 shutdown and offer extra support to bring students up to speed.

Click on the video above for the full interview with Dr. Iline Tracey on WNHH FM’s Dateline New Haven,” in which she fielded listeners’ questions and discussed her decades of experience as a teacher, principal, and district administrator in the New Haven Public Schools.

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