July 2020
Dear Freeport Families,
This was certainly not the year that we planned for or expected when we began last September. Freeport Public Schools embraced the theme of Be the Change for the school year, and we certainly became Changemakers who made a difference. The historic pandemic of COVID-19 changed normal activities globally and locally. The life we knew had been turned upside down, and yet, we continued to reach out, educate, share, and try to keep mental health and a sense of stability in the lives of our students, families and staff. As author Vivian Greene said, "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain."
Following the closing of schools, we continued to educate our students through our online E-Learning program. We provided Grab and Go breakfast and lunch meals Monday through Friday. Our staff reached out daily to our students and families providing academic and emotional support. It took enormous effort and partnership with our families, but we were determined to Be the Change needed to continue educating and nurturing our students. As many of our end of year rites of passage had to be cancelled, we planned numerous virtual ceremonies and car parades to honor and celebrate our students who continued to work hard to meet their goals. We are so proud of all of them.
Our Grab and Go meals will continue through the summer along with providing child care for the children of First Responders. We have robust and exciting E- Learning programs available for our students beginning Monday, July 6th, 2020. Listed below are the amazing programs we are offering. For more information on each and to register, please visit our website at www.freeportschoools.org and click on the Summer Programs button.
Special Education: Based on the Governor's Executive Order, this will be our only in person summer program. It is for classified students with Extended School Year on their Individual Education Plans. A remote option is available as well. The program will run from July 6th through August 12th. The in person program will maintain all Department of Health guidelines for health and safety.
Summer E- Learning Rising Grades Kindergarten through 7: Our Summer Learning Program is open to all students from the Freeport School District in Kindergarten through 7th Grade. The program will run Monday through Thursday from July 6th to July 30th. Check out the schedule on the website for the live instruction happening each day. There are weekly themes that include reading, writing, and math activities as well as projects, challenges and virtual field trips. All materials and instruction available in English and Spanish.
Summer E-Learning ENL and Biliteracy Camp: The program is organized around four engaging weekly themes that will utilize evidence-based best practices for ELLs in rising grades K - 8. There are schedules on our website for online live instruction for each grade level. There are weekly themes that include reading, writing, and math activities as well as projects, challenges and virtual field trips.
STEM E-Learning Summer Program: This program will introduce students in Grades 5 - 6 to computer programming through online live instruction through Python coding. Space is limited and the program runs from July 6 - July 23rd.
Summer Arts E-Learning: This virtual program will provide e-learning opportunities with both asynchronous and synchronous instruction with the bonus of virtual field trips and webinar experiences. All students in grades 5-12 who applied will select music masterclasses in either band, orchestra or Chorus along with two options for enrichment under media, theatre, dance, mindful movement, and visual arts instruction. Program begins July 6th and goes through July 24th.
Dodd Rising Grade 8 E-Learning Summer Support: This is an enrichment/remedial program to support At-Risk students with a focus on ENL students. Students were identified by data. All instruction is live online based on a schedule for all core subjects (ELA, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science).
Rising Grade 9 E-Learning Transition Program: This is a virtual summer transition program to prepare and get ready incoming grade 9 students for Algebra 1. This program is designed to provide additional enrichment and prerequisite preparation for the Algebra 1 course. The program provides 90 minutes daily of live online instruction featuring project-based learning from July 14th through July 30th.
Freeport High School E-Learning Summer School: The program runs from July 6th through August 7th. Classes are available for remediation and enrichment in core subject areas. Classes will be in session Monday through Friday and students will receive synchronous and asynchronous instruction through Google Classroom. Students will receive a minimum of 96 minutes per week in each subject of LIVE instruction. There will be at least 96 minutes per day of online live instruction. Students may take courses they have failed, for repetition or for acceleration.
In addition to our comprehensive Summer School, we are in the process of planning for our eventual return to school for the 2020-2021 school year. There are, of course, many more essential questions than we can answer without clear guidelines or regulations from the State. Still, we have to anticipate what we would need to safely return our students and staff to our schools. Not being able to predict the future and how quickly we may move through the Governor's phases of a return to normalcy, we have to be prepared with a plan for re-opening along with a plan for not returning in the Fall. We will be working diligently on these and will take into account all aspects of the instructional, health and wellness, safety and facility needs. We will provide you with updates as they become available.
Wishing you and your families a wonderful Summer. Please remember to be safe and stay healthy. Don't forget M-S-W: wear your masks, social distance, and wash your hands.
Sincerely,
Kishore Kuncham, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools