New Chatham Teachers Get Ready For 2021-2022 School Year

CHATHAM, NJ — The newest faculty members in the School District of the Chathams started their upcoming school year early with their orientation beginning this past Tuesday, with the school year for students right around the corner on Aug. 30.

On the district’s Twitter Page when welcoming the new educators, the school district commented, “We are excited for the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year.”

Welcome to all of our new educators who started orientation today! We are excited for the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. pic.twitter.com/aShGyBiZNZ
— School District of the Chathams (@chatham_sdoc) August 17, 2021

Before school officially starts, there are also two staff days on Aug. 24 and 25.

In a letter to families on Monday, Superintendent Dr. Michael LaSusa said in 2021, the school district is returning to academic protocols and extracurricular activities as it had in September 2019.

The in-person school day will have 6.5 hours in the coming year, rather than the 4.5 hour daily in-person pandemic schedule. The district will additionally get back to in-person lunch periods, normal use of art and music rooms, a return to science labs, the ability to go to school without having a daily health form to fill out and parent visitors allowed back in the buildings.

Though the start of the school year doesn’t make masks optional as many parents had wanted, because of Gov. Phil Murphy’s Executive Order 251 which mandates them, LaSusa concluded in his letter that he hopes in the near future there will be “the elimination of certain contract tracing protocols and no longer needing to wear a mask.”

He said there’s plenty to look forward to in the upcoming school year, noting that student activities and learning will be as normal as it possibly can be, with student learning “within the classroom and not split in two by a livestream.”

“I love everything about the start of school and this year is no different,” LaSusa wrote. “Thank you for helping us make the progress we have so far and for your ongoing flexibility and support as we move forward together.”

RELATED: Status On Vaccinated Students, Masks, More: Chatham Schools

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.