Shutesbury

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December 18, 2020

Dear Moose Community,

The snow has returned! I hope that you were able to enjoy the beauty of the snowfall yesterday. In true 2020 fashion, my snowblower decided to not work yesterday. I spent my afternoon shoveling for 2.5 hours. As I was shoveling, I was reflecting on the past few weeks. I want to continue to give the staff public shoutouts of thanks for their dedication and skill. I also want to thank the PK-2 staff and families for their support, patience and cooperation as we began hybrid learning.

Last night, the Shutesbury School Committee voted (4 in favor and 1 abstention) to support the Union 28 Leadership Team's recommendation to return to remote learning for the 2 weeks following the December break. A formal letter from Union 28 will be shared on Monday, but I wanted to inform the school community now. With rising COVID cases in the Commonwealth and surrounding towns, as well as the knowledge that people will be traveling and gathering over the break it is vital for us to ensure the safety of the staff and students in Shutesbury. ALL students will be learning remotely from January 4th-January 15th. Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades have a tentative return to hybrid date of January 19th. Other grades' return schedules will be decided when more data is available in early January.

The Shutesbury Board of Health has also supported the recommendation of returning to remote learning for the 2 weeks following the break. They have also asked me to share the following information with the community:

"Please remind the entire SES community that anyone who travels during the holiday season should quarantine on returning home.  This is a requirement for travelers out of state, and good practice for anyone who has gone to visit others even within Massachusetts."

They would also like to remind the school community about the free testing site at UMASS. There is more information on this testing site here:  https://www.umass.edu/coronavirus/communitycovidtest

Next week we have school on Monday the 21st and Tuesday the 22nd. We will have an all-school virtual assembly (led by Mr. Cortina and me) at 1:00pm on the 22nd.

Sincerely,

Jackie