Stoughton Public Schools: Update To Families From Interim Superintendent Ford (August 11, 2021)

Press release from the Stoughton Public Schools:

August 11, 2021 - 3:00pm

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope everyone is having a relaxing and reinvigorating summer. There are a number of items I’d like to share with you as we continue to work towards a new school year.

The District has just concluded the most expansive summer programing we’ve ever offered.  Just under eight hundred students, in Grades Pre-K through 12, took part in one or more programs.  In addition to the Knights of Summer and traditional summer offerings, new activities such as acceleration academies, athletic conditioning, music lessons, enrichment programs, and counseling provided students and families with an incredible number of options. The District plans to continue expanding its summer programming based on what we learned over the past six weeks, and looks forward to providing more opportunities next year. 

The Stoughton Public Schools has partnered with Transformative Health Solutions to provide a COVID-19 vaccine clinic to those who are 12 and older.  The clinic will take place at Stoughton High School on August 26th from 10am to 3pm. To make the vaccination process more convenient for parents, students will have the option of receiving their second shot during the school day.  As a parent/guardian it is important to understand that beyond the obvious benefits of being vaccinated, an asymptomatic student who is vaccinated is not required to quarantine if found to be a close contact under the existing guidelines.  The link to the registration form can be found at: https://bit.ly/SPSClinic

The administrative team has finished developing its Return to School Plan. Overall, the focus has been on providing students with a regular school experience, while continuing to implement safeguards to ensure the health and wellbeing of our students. To make certain the District’s Plan meets the needs of every student, extra supports have been put in place to include adding two counseling programs, expanding special education and English language education services, hiring reading and math specialists, and expanding after school academic and enrichment programs.

The District’s Return to School Plan will be presented to the School Committee at their August 24th meeting.  While the Plan is complete, we’re still waiting on an updated set of guidelines from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education before presenting the Plan to the Committee. The District has reached out to the Stoughton Teacher Association to ensure that any component(s) of the Plan that may be subject to bargaining can be addressed, and any issues resolved before students return in September.

On a final note, the principals will be sending out their back to school letters on August 18th to provide more detailed information on the upcoming school year. Additional updates will also follow from this office as we continue to prepare for the first day of school.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Ford

Interim Superintendent 

This press release was produced by the Stoughton Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.