Princeton Public Schools slated to bring youngest students back on Oct. 5
The Princeton Public Schools district is slated to bring its youngest students back to school buildings on Oct. 5 — a week earlier than originally planned — if the move is approved by the board of education. Older students still are slated to begin hybrid learning later in the month as previously planned.
District officials sent a letter to parents informing them of the hybrid learning start dates on Thursday afternoon.
Pre-K, kindergarten, and first-grade hybrid learning students will return to elementary school buildings in cohorts the week of Oct. 5.
Second through fifth grade hybrid learning students will return in cohorts the week of Oct. 12.
Middle school and Princeton High School hybrid learning students will return in cohorts the week of Oct. 19.
In the letter to parents, Interim Superintendent Barry Galasso said at each elementary school, there will be options for fee-based childcare provided by the YMCA. Childcare scholarships are available through the YMCA. He said there will also be daily YMCA enrichment options for students with IEPs, students with special needs, and students who work with specialists. The YMCA sessions have been set up so that student cohorts do not mix. All requirements for masks and physical distancing will apply to participants in the YMCA programs, he said.
Details about the hybrid-learning schedule at the middle school and at Princeton High School will be shared with parents next week along with schedules for the distribution of electronic devices.
Masks are required at all times at all schools and on the bus. Children will have their temperatures taken every morning and parents must submit a COVID-related symptoms assessment each day for each child.
Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.
So sad we have disrupted the lives of so many young people who are more likely to die of a lightning strike. Let’s hope we have not damaged these youths in the long term. NJ teachers should be ashamed they didn’t lobby to instruct, in person, for the full school year.
Shame on you, Walter, for not thinking about the teachers’ health and their families. It is not children vs. teachers. It is students and families and teachers against a system that insists they all work or train to be workers regardless of risks. So what if some of them suffer or die, right? They will have been “productive citizens” in their lifetimes and that is all that matters, right?
Education isn’t about training students to be workers. It’s about educating them to be citizens. So far, I’m not seeing much education occurring for my children who are in the PPS schools. I would support remote learning if there was more education happening. I hope this changes soon, but expect that we need the schools to reopen. I am confident that teachers and students will wear masks and will follow safety procedures. We are all having to reestablish our lives and our careers in a safe and responsible manner. The schools need to be a part of this too.