Hamilton Schools Implement Remote Learning Plan amid COVID-19 Coronavirus

Schools Closed to Students…

The Hamilton School District has implemented remote learning.

Please read the below letter from Superintendent Dr. Scott Rocco

Dear Hamilton Township School Community,

We realize that this is a challenging time for each of you and for our students. We appreciate the seriousness of concern surrounding COVID-19 “Coronavirus.” Most importantly, we understand our responsibility to ensure the safety, security, and well-being of our students, staff, and community stakeholders.

After careful consultation as a senior staff and in coordination with local, county and state governmental officials and health authorities at this time, we are announcing our plan to pause our current method of instruction and move to our remote learning plan.

As such, beginning Monday, March 16, 2020, students will no longer report to their school buildings, rather they will be provided their education in their home setting. We expect this remote learning plan to be in effect for a minimum of two weeks (through March 27th, 2020).

During this time, we will remain in constant communication with our entire school community through multiple platforms including our district website, social media pages, school messenger phone system, email etc.

During the second week of remote learning, we will reevaluate the situation, communicate with local, county, and state officials, and then determine if the remote learning timeline needs to be extended
beyond this timeframe. As a district, we have worked tirelessly over the last few weeks to prepare for this possibility. Our remote learning plan consists of a mixture of on-line learning opportunities for our students who have Internet access with use of a compatible device (available via teacher webpage), along with a series of traditional learning activities consisting of books, instructional packets, supplementary handouts, and other resources,
etc. for our students who do not have either Internet access and/or a compatible device (instructions provided by teacher). Our goal within this plan is to provide equitable access for all students while at home during this time.

School Services

Our teaching staff will be available to consult and converse with students and families during the school day as needed. Additionally, our buildings will remain open, for faculty and staff only.

Our school building administrators, office personnel and supervisors will be coordinating with staff and will be available via phone or email to address any questions and concerns. Our custodial staff will be in our buildings continuing to carry out our “enhanced” cleaning protocols.

Finally, all of our District-level offices (curriculum, human resources, student services & programs, education, and business) will be open and staffed during this period to assist our students in any way possible.

Food Services

In an effort to provide continuity for our students and mitigate some of the challenges associated with this plan, we have worked with our food service provider to make breakfast and lunch available for those in our school community who need it. We have set the following sites up for food service pick-up (Hamilton High School West, HHS North, HHS East, Sunnybrae Elementary, Kuser Elementary, and Wilson Elementary).

Our goal is to offer those in our community who need it, 5 days’ worth of food one time per week. The sites will be open on Tuesday, March 17th and then again on Tuesday, March 24th between the hours of 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. More information will be provided on our website.

Athletics/Events

All district athletic programs will be suspended/postponed during this period of time. The district athletic directors will work in coordination with the NJSIAA to develop a plan moving forward upon our return to school. As stated in the March 12, 2020 communication, all other school events/activities have been suspended/postponed and our administrators will be working to reschedule these events where possible upon our return. Kindergarten Registration at several elementary schools (Sayen, Wilson, Kuser, Langtree, Robinson, Lalor & Mercerville) will be affected and postponed. Additional information will be provided at a later time.

Attendance

Student attendance will be reconciled upon our return to school. We will be using the work completed by our students during the remote learning period to demonstrate their “attendance” to the task and receive credit for the day(s).

We encourage you to:

• Visit our HTSD website for updates;
• Visit our Coronavirus updates website
• Follow our Social Media feeds for information; facebook, twitter, instagram
• Update your contact information on the School Messenger and Parent Portal systems. If you have not already completed the HTSD Back To School Portal, please make sure to do so by following the directions here. We highly recommend that all parents/guardians provide their email and opt-in for district text updates

There is no responsibility we take more seriously than ensuring the safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff and the Hamilton Township community. We realize the impact of this decision on our students and families, but we are confident that it is the right decision at this time.

Again, we will continue to provide timely updates throughout this remote learning period. Please feel free to contact your school by phone or email for further questions or concerns once our remote learning plan starts.

Finally, I am fully confident that our entire school district will continue to support our students and school community during this difficult time.

I thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,
Scott R. Rocco
Scott R. Rocco, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Download the original Letter here

About The Author


Irving Lawrence Duckwald III is a freelance writer and blogger based in Central New Jersey. He has a penchant for fried chicken, fast cars, and fancy suits. With a knack for "setting the record straight", he can argue till the cows come home why it's Pork Roll and not Taylor Ham.