December 10 Parent Communication
Dear NCS Families and Staff:
Let me begin by saying thank you for supporting our asynchronous learning day yesterday. It gave our faculty and staff an important opportunity to plan together, and provided our students with a chance to experience the independence often needed for remote learning. We will try to limit the use of asynchronous days in the future, but I want to stress how valuable they can be as we try to balance the complex needs associated with in-person, remote, and hybrid learning.
Masks, Masks, Masks:
When we talk with folks at the Department of Health, they continue to emphasize the importance of mask wearing. In addition to keeping people safe, the practice also helps to limit the number of individuals needing to be quarantined when there is an exposure. As we move closer to Holiday Break, we are asking each member of our school family to continue prioritizing masking in both professional as well as in social settings. If you find that your child’s mask is beginning to show signs of wear and tear, please just let us know. We have lots of extra cloth and disposable masks, and we would be happy to pass them along to your son or daughter.
Update on Proactive Consent for Rapid Testing:
We recently asked parents and staff members to consider proactively filling out a consent form in case NCS were to receive a “yellow zone” designation and be required to test 20% of its in-person population. I am pleased to share that close to 50% of individuals have already consented, and that we are positioned to begin rapid testing if there is a need in the future. However, please know that we would not begin testing without first communicating much more detail to families about what the process would look like.
Child Health Plus:
Because the health and safety of our students is always our first priority, I wanted to share important information on an insurance plan offered by New York State called Child Health Plus. The program provides free or very low cost health insurance for children under 19 that is based on household income. If you have a child who is currently uninsured, I would encourage you to learn more about Child Health Plus by clicking on the following links:
Eligibility and Cost
Application Information
Title I Program Parent Meeting:
Title I of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides financial assistance to state and local educational agencies in order to meet the needs of at-risk students. The goal of Title I is to provide instructional services and activities to support academic achievement, and districts are required to offer an annual meeting to parents who are interested in learning more. This year we will be holding our meeting virtually from 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 17. If you are interested in attending, please let me know and I will pass along a Zoom link for the conversation.
As always, please do not hesitate to call or email (585-374-7901, mfrahm@naplescsd.org) if something is on your mind. We hope this finds you safe, healthy, and well, and wish you a wonderful Holiday Season.
Matt
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