The Baystate Academy Board of Directors and school leadership have determined that in the best interest of our students and staff, we will re-open school on September 14th in a 100% Remote Learning Model for the 1st quarter which ends on November 6th.
This decision was based on input from our stakeholders, uncertainties with the provision of transportation and food services from the district, and a concern for the health and wellbeing of our students and staff.
The Remote Learning Model will consist of students receiving live streamed instructions as well as independent practices from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Mondays to Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Fridays. There are also times where students with special needs will received one on one instruction and support as well as tutoring sessions for all students. They will also receive therapeutic services remotely to the extent possible. If in person support is needed, that will be arranged with the family and service provider.
Students who do not have access to a computer will be assigned a Chromebook and families without access to the internet will be provided a hot spot for internet connectivity. We will also establish an IT Help Desk that will be staffed from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. to support students and families with computer issues or support with our Google Classroom, which will be out learning management system.
We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 transmission rate and impact to the residents of Springfield. By October 26th, we will determine if it is deemed safe for students to return to school in a Hybrid or fully on-site model, if so, students will return to school in one of those models by November 9th.
These plans are subject to change over the course of the next few months, and we will provide families frequent updates to the plan.