Dear Middle School Families, I write to you today with updates about the start of school, and with a warm welcome to all our new and returning families to the 2020-2021 school year. I hope you and your families are well and managing to enjoy some of the respite that summer can offer before we begin school in earnest. Even though the global pandemic has now reached six months and we predicted that starting school in September would be far from normal, it still feels very strange to be writing to you about beginning school during this ongoing health crisis. Little is familiar, but our collective energy and passion for starting school remain high. Our summer work has required great stamina and patience and at times has felt like running on a hamster wheel. We plan, test scenarios, prototype, and then start all over. Gains are small, incremental, hard, and sometimes we work for hours only to learn that we haven't gone anywhere. I think we all yearn for school as we know it and school as we have come to love it. The reality is that school will be very different this year, although, at some point in the not-too-distant future, it will get back to normal. In many ways this makes us sad, and yet in other ways it inspires us, tests our creativity and resolve, and ultimately will make our school better. Our teachers and administrators have never worked harder over the summer. Several of our Middle School teachers taught summer courses that I hope your children enjoyed, and we all participated in professional development on virtual teaching, and diversity, equity and inclusion topics focused on racial healing, gender equity, sexuality education and more. We are eager to get back into our in-person or virtual classrooms to begin working with our students again. Helping them to thrive and learn, letting them know we believe in them, and challenging them to live lives that make a difference remains our focus. We will welcome about 49 new students to our Middle School this fall, and we will open our doors to an all-time high enrollment. The robust interest in our school is certainly in part due to our success with distance learning last spring, the strength of our faculty team, and our ability to change and adapt to the needs of the adolescents in our care. It is also due to the positive momentum from our capital campaign, our building projects, and the resources our leadership has been able to cultivate to keep families who have been impacted by the economic crisis. While the pandemic continues to test our optimism, there is much to be optimistic about and grateful for as we enter the school year together. The safe return to campus for students and teachers continues to be our highest priority. We are hopeful that the positivity rates in Philadelphia and neighboring counties will make it possible to open in person. Clearly, what we do now will impact the safe return to campus, so we ask that you continue to be mindful about wearing masks and maintaining social distancing, not attending large group gatherings, and not traveling out of state in the next two weeks. Changes in behaviors now could help to make in-person schooling more successful in September. We are thrilled to begin the adventure of the 2020-2021 school with you, our parents, caregivers and students, and please read on to learn more about the start of school. Cordially, Wilson Felter Director of Middle School Start of School - Classes for all students will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
- Middle School will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 2:50 p.m. Our start and end times reflect our desire to stagger arrival and departure with LS and US for safety reasons, while being sensitive to families and faculty members with children in multiple divisions. We are asking that students arrive on campus no earlier than 8:00 a.m. and leave no later than 3:20 p.m.
Schedule While we are finalizing details of the schedule, here is what we can share now: - We are planning on opening school in person on Sept. 8 and we have worked hard to create a schedule that can easily pivot between in-person and distance learning.
- Sixth graders will be grouped in cohorts. Cohorts are small groups of students who remain together during the school day for academics, advisory, cocurriculars, lunch and more.
- Seventh and eighth grader students will be grouped in advisories (about 14-15 students) and will have English, social studies and science together in those groups. In mathematics and foreign language, students in seventh and eighth grades will have different groups according to their language choice and math placement. They will remain in these groups for cocurricular activities and lunch.
- In general, students will remain in the same classroom for their academic classes and advisory with the exception of seveth and eighth grade mathematics and language, outdoor activities and breaks.
- For in-person learning, we will have three or four academic blocks (60 min. each) and one co-curricular block (60 min.) per day. If we pivot to distance learning, we will condense block time to 40 minutes.
- We are prioritizing movement and exercise for our adolescents and are striving for each student to have physical education at least three times per week.
- If families wish to keep their children home for health reasons while we are conducting in-person school, students will participate in class synchronously through classroom technology systems.
Health and Safety - We will be asking all members of the PC community to sign a Covid-19 Community Compact to demonstrate individual and family commitment to both personal and community health and safety. This compact will be shared along with other divisional registration materials.
- We will be using an email notification system called Safety iPass linked to the school's emergency communication system for families to do daily health screenings at home before coming to school. Students' screening will be verified upon arrival by the scanning of a unique QR code or student ID barcode. The home screening requires a daily temperature and symptom check. Please purchase a home thermometer, if you do not already have one, for the morning temperature check.
- The wearing of masks is essential for community safety and required for students, faculty and staff on campus. Families will need to provide masks for their children to wear to school. Masks need to be solid colors or small patterns; PC logos are permitted, but no camouflage, and no commercial or political slogans, symbols or lettering. Students need to wear masks when on campus and in buildings, and are required to bring an extra, backup mask to school each day.
- We know that we have had and will continue to have Covid-19 positive cases within the PC community. While details will be provided in the school's upcoming Health & Safety Plan, we know positive cases of Covid-19 will be reported to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH), and PC will work with the PDPH, families and the larger community regarding contact tracing and communication of information.
Dress Code - Because we are not using lockers, the dress code is relaxed to allow students to wear appropriate clothing for physical education and movement throughout the day. The only addition to this year's dress code for Middle School students is the wearing of masks.
Lunch - CulinArt dining services will be available on a limited basis. Families can choose to bring lunch or to pre-order lunch through the CulinArt's NutriSlice app, and these box lunches will be delivered to students. Students will need to bring snacks for breakfast and other times during the day.
Sports - The Inter-Academic League is suspending fall sports for Middle School students. We are planning to provide middle graders with frequent exercise and movement opportunities during the school day. We do not know the status of winter sports yet, but will be in touch as soon as we have more information.
School Supplies - Students should carry all personal belongings and books in a backpack or school bag. The bag will be stored in each students' advisory classroom and will remain there for the entire school day. Each student will also be provided a personal storage bin for supplies like scissors, markers, paper, math tools, pens and pencils, etc.
Orientation Week, Aug. 31-Sept. 4 - In advisory groups, students will build community and learn about one another and some of their teachers, review the new health and safety protocols, learn the daily schedule, do a building walk-through, have pictures taken for ID cards, and receive laptops and a brief technology orientation.
- Students and families will find out their specific groups for orientation sometime next week.
- Students should bring masks, their laptop if they have one from the previous school year or if they are bringing a laptop from home, a writing utensil, a reusable water bottle and a snack. Also, each student needs to bring their bookbag, as well as patience and flexibility as we go through our protocols and procedures to keep everyone safe.
- Monday, Aug. 31, New Student Orientation between 9:00 a.m and 3:00 p.m.
New 8th graders – 9:00-10:30 New 7th graders – 11:00-12:30 New 6th graders – 1:00-2:30 Monday evening, Aug. 31 – Virtual orientation for all 8th grade parents and caregivers 7:00-8:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, Sept. 1, Orientation for all 8th graders
9:00-12:00 – Groups 1-3 1:00-4:00 – Groups 4-6 Tuesday evening, Sept.1 – Virtual orientation for all 7th grade parents and caregivers 7:00-8:00 pm
- Wednesday, Sept. 2, Orientation for all 7th graders
9:00-12:00 – Groups 1-3 1:00-4:00 – Groups 4-6 Wednesday Evening, Sept. 2 – Virtual orientation for all 6th grade parents and caregivers 7:00-8:00 p.m.
- Thursday, Sept. 3 – Orientation for all 6th graders
9:00-12:00 – Groups 1-3 1:00-4:00 – Groups 4-5 Important Upcoming Dates - Aug. 24 – Virtual parent/caregiver and advisor get-acquainted conferences begin. We would like the conference to occur sometime before September 11.
- Aug.31- Sept. 4 – Orientation week. See above for the detailed schedule and remember to attend the evening virtual orientation for parents and caregivers for your child's designated grade.
- Sept. 8 – First official day of classes. School day begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 2:55 p.m.
- Sept. 24 – MS Back-to-School Night (virtual), 7:00 p.m.
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