JACKSON – Students in the Jackson School District, who have been attending classes on 100% remote instruction since Dec. 2, are scheduled to return to a hybrid schedule that includes in-person instruction on Dec. 17.
Students are expected to be in class on Dec. 17, Dec. 18 and Dec. 21-23 before the winter break begins on Dec. 24. The hybrid schedule is expected to resume on Jan. 4, Superintendent of Schools Nicole Pormilli told the Tri-Town News this week.
Pormilli said that earlier this month, a rise in positive coronavirus tests and mandated quarantines brought the school district to the point where its buildings and departments could not be properly operated.
In a letter to the community, the superintendent expressed disappointment in the turn of events, but informed parents that 100% remote instruction was a temporary necessity.
“We are incredibly disappointed to have to make this decision. The health and safety of our students and staff is and has always been our first priority. We are acutely aware of the hardship this presents to our families and we hope you can appreciate that we would not have made this change if it weren’t absolutely necessary,” Pormilli wrote.
In an interview, Pormilli told the Tri-Town News what she has been hearing from the community.
“You have some people who are very concerned about the virus and would like to have their students learning from home … and then you have some who believe, as I believe, that students need to be in school as much as possible, but I respect people’s opinions.
“We have people who would like to see the students in school even more than we have in our hybrid model. We have a variety of different perspectives. I respect them all and we are trying to offer options for all those different perspectives.
“We take things moment by moment, we access the data we have around us,” Pormilli said, explaining that before the recent uptick in cases, administrators were working toward a schedule of in-person instruction five days a week.
Under the current hybrid model of instruction, students are not in their school every day.
Unfortunately, the number of cases increased and administrators “hit a pause button” on the plan to move to five days a week of in-person instruction, according to the superintendent.
“But we are going to begin synchronous learning on Dec. 17 (when students return). When students are on their remote instruction day, they will be able to log in to the classroom with the other students and the teacher and have their live instruction that way. We are bringing more instruction in to our hybrid model when we return,” Pormilli said.
Physical education and classes such as music are still options and the educators are still on staff.
“We have physical education classes, whether they been in person or virtual they have class. If the students are in school they are socially distancing in their activities, and if they are remote they are doing activities at home that had been assigned by the teacher and/or virtually doing them along with their teacher in their class.
“The same with music, which has been a little trickier. At the beginning of the year we did a little bit more music theory, unless we could be outside. So it is still geared more toward music theory to the best of our ability right now since we are indoors,” Pormilli said.
Large spaces such as an auditorium are available for music classes, she said.
Pormilli praised Jackson’s students and said, “The students are amazing. They are so resilient, they are really doing great. It is just so nice when you see them in person, or when they are virtual.
“This has sort of become their norm right now. We still have all the social concerns that I think everybody has in society right now for students, but the students are just amazing, they are very resilient and adapting pretty well.
“The staff has had a lot of change thrust upon them. They have had to pivot multiple times … They are doing well. It is definitely stressful, but we try to support them wherever we can, anything we can do to help support them to feel more comfortable.
“We often talk to them and get their feedback, but they had to change a lot. It has been a lot of pivoting for them, but they are troopers and they always do what is in the best interest for the students, which is just amazing. We have a great staff,” Pormilli said.
Pormilli, who is in her first year as superintendent, said, “this definitely has not been what I expected, but we have a great team here that works well together, and the community has been wonderful, patient and understanding, with just how much we have had to pivot and make change. There is no manual for this, so we are all trying to do the best we can based on the best decisions we can make. I appreciate everybody’s support.”
