Newton Schools To Stay Closed Through End Of School Year

NEWTON, MA — The final few weeks of school in Newton usually involve a flurry of activity for students - from days of MCAS and finals to prom and end of year and season sports - but not this year.

Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday that all public schools, including Newton, will be closed through the end of the school year in an effort to help slow the spread of the new coronavirus during the pandemic.

This means sports, after school activities and special events have all been canceled, or will be radically different as the city works to cope with the unprecedented state of emergency and stay-at-home advisory.

"I don't think any of us were surprised, I appreciate the certainty of such a decision at a time when there's very little certainty," Superintendent David Fleishman told Patch after the governor's announcement. "As sad as it is not to go back this year, it provides certainty. Now it's our job to refine and continue with our distance learning plan and at the same time begin to plan for next year, which brings further uncertainty."

The statewide closure of schools was originally set to end April 7 but was extended to May 4. Although school could reopen in the fall, it's unclear if they will. A number of colleges have already indicated they have no plans to restart in person learning until spring 2021.

For the past month, students from pre-school to high school have been logging on to meet up with their teachers virtually and had classwork to help keep them connected to their school community and to support learning.

Education officials have stressed the remote learning is not intended to replace school education.

Fleishman said remote learning will continue until the last day of school, June 18.

The district sent out a survey to staff on Friday and plans to send out a survey to families to help shape the next two months of distance learning.

"We already know that families feel differently about how this is going based on their varying situations and needs of their kids," said Fleishman. "Our goal is to make sure something works for them, knowing that nothing is perfect and knowing that we're doing something that no one has ever done before."

He said his department will look for common themes, what's working for people, what's challenging.

"We worry about students getting disconnected," said Fleishman. The district has distributed more than 700 Chromebooks to help students stay connected to their teachers and classwork, but, he said, the most difficult aspect is maintaining personal connections.

The social emotional connection between adults and students and the students to students helps in times of great stress or sadness, and adjusting to a new online connection has been particularly challenging.

"You can't replicate the structure of face to face school," he said.

He pointed to Newton South, where one student recently died after they were in a car crash, and a recent racist incident online upset the student body.

"That was really unfortunate, that was so unfortunate," he said. "Teachers are like the eyes and ears at school and so you lose that emotional connection. Kids were so upset, and teachers aren't there in person to connect, that's been really hard."

Still, he praised staff and teacher efforts to maintain both content but connection and routines and structures for students.

"We will continue to refine and improve our distance learning plan and I think teachers are working incredibly hard —even as they obviously have families of their own at home, too — to make this work during an incredibly challenging time," he said. " We are making sure we have a good end to this year, which this year is incredibly unique. And we're planning next year."

The district is awaiting additional guidance and recommendations from the education commissioner.

Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey Riley previously canceled MCAS testing for the remainder of the school year for grades 3-10. He's not yet made a decision regarding the competency determination for high school graduation.

Conversation about what this means for events like graduation, prom and academic awards ceremonies have already begun at the education center and plans be discussed in the coming days and weeks, Fleishman said.

"No one has been able to talk about anything beyond May 4," said Fleishman. "Now that there's been an announcement there's a focus on how do we continue distance learning and how do we finish the year in a way that's meaningful for kids and then plan for an uncertain fall."

• READ MORE:
• Schools Canceled Through The End Of The School Year: Baker
• Newton's Distance Learning Plan Outline
• Tips For Home Learning In Newton
• Newton High School Class Zoom-Bombed With Anti-Chinese Sentiment

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna)