Monomoy School District Releases Tentative Reopening Plan

HARWICH – The Monomoy Regional School District has released its draft “Back to School Plan” for the 2020-21 school year.

The draft plan offers families a choice of two options: in-person learning and distance learning.

In the in-person learning program, students in preschool through grade 7 will attend school in person daily, while students in grades 8 through 12 will attend school in person two of every three days and learn at home on the alternating days.

The distance learning program is available to students in preschool through grade 12, and will engage students in learning at home via synchronous and asynchronous lessons and activities.

“Our team has been working all summer to create plans that will not only offer options for our families, but more importantly, that maintain the highest standards of health and safety while also ensuring the best possible education for our students,” said Monomoy Superintendent Dr. Scott Carpenter.

“With the health and safety of our students, staff, families, and community as our highest priority, we developed programs that address the needs of a variety of situations.”

For students learning in person, a number of precautions will be in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including 6-foot distancing in all classrooms, a requirement that all students and staff wear face masks, increased cleaning and sanitizing, and movement protocols that limit contact.

The school district will submit the plan to The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at which point the state may issue additional guidance and directives.  

Pending additional guidance and feedback from the state, Monomoy will open the selection process on Wednesday, August 5 and families will have until Wednesday, August 12 to submit their preferred model for the upcoming school year. 

“All planning was done in such a way that we can easily and flexibly pivot to full distance learning if the prevailing health factors make that necessary, and we can also easily pivot back to educating all students in the buildings if COVID numbers improve,” said Carpenter.

Families will have an opportunity to ask questions and give feedback on the draft plan during an interactive forum at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

The full draft Monomoy Back to School Plan for 2020-2021 can be found here.