Norwalk summer school students will attend in-person classes
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CT Insider
Erin Kayata June 26, 2020 Updated: June 26, 2020 7:08 p.m.
Ponus Ridge Middle School's remodeled second floor in Norwalk.
NORWALK — The city's public schools will move forward with a hybrid model for summer classes that will include a combination of in-person and virtual instruction.
The plan will have students in upper elementary school and middle school rotate between in-person classes and online for two and a half weeks at a time. Students in lower elementary school will attend in-person classes every day for three hours.
High schoolers completing courses will do so remotely, while students doing credit recovery will participate in the hybrid model. However, they will come in on an individual basis rather than all at once.
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A number of health and safety measures have been established, including temperature checks and health questionnaires about symptoms that students and staff will be required to complete each day. Parents can also opt to have their children only do virtual learning for summer school, which starts July 6.
Chief of School Operations Frank Costanzo said research shows that in-person instruction for students in kindergarten through third grade is critical.
"We're an Alliance District and are required to provide reading and math support to students who don't meet local benchmarks," he said. "There's a lot of research that suggests a real teacher makes a world of difference for students in that age group. ... Given the stage in their psychological development, it makes good sense to have them with a live teacher every day to practice learning to read. Many of our students have not had a quality learning experience at home without a certified teacher to work with them."
The district previously clashed with city officials over the option of in-person summer school, which contradicted previous recommendations from the Norwalk Department of Health. But Costanzo said Norwalk Public Schools worked with the city health department to establish guidelines that complied with state standards for in-person summer school.
"We've had productive meetings over the last few weeks with NPS leadership, and I was pleased that Dr. Alexandra Estrella was part of these conversations," Mayor Harry Rilling said. "As incoming superintendent, her insight, opinion, and expertise was welcomed and appreciated."
Rilling said Norwalk Director of Health Deanna D'Amore and Dr. Norman Weinberger, medical adviser to the school district, "raised concerns about how the district could allow in-person summer school to run safely while keeping students and staff healthy."
"NPS listened to the feedback from these experts, took additional time to review and revise its proposal, and worked hard to develop a plan to address these lingering concerns," Rilling said.
According to a survey of parents whose children would be attending summer school, between 300 and 400 preferred the hybrid learning arrangement, which also contributed to the district's decision.
In July, the district also plans to launch a reopening task force, which will include Costanzo and Estrella, to develop plans for when students return to classrooms in the fall. On Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont announced students will be allowed to return to in-person learning full-time in the fall.
"Estrella had a lot of COVID-19 experience with her previous district," Costanzo said. "The both of us have a knowledge base and we'll have summer school under our belt. The big question around the fall is whether there's a spike around the country that hits the state. In Connecticut, we continue to see our numbers decline. We're feeling really good about the reopening plan for summer school. Provided the data goes in the same direction, we'll be ready for the fall.
Board of Education Chairwoman Sarah LeMieux, however, has reservations about students returning in the fall, but said she is confident in Norwalk's plans for summer schools considering Estrella's experience overseeing child care and recreation centers during the outbreak in her previous role as superintendent of Community School District Four in East Harlem, N.Y.
While the decision about summer school fell to central office, LeMieux said the Board of Education helped contact parents and solicit input about the plans.
"The city, very rightly so, was concerned that if we were going to provide an in-person model, we do it as safely as possible," LeMieux said. "(Estrella) has experience already that led me to believe the way we were approaching in-person summer school was fairly safe."
Mary Yordon, president of the Norwalk Federation of Teachers, said the union was not included in most of the conversations about summer school plans. Nevertheless, she's pleased with the precautions being taken, though many Norwalk teachers opted out of teaching summer school this year, out of both health concerns and need for time off following the strain of distance learning during the regular school year.
"Our concern is primarily with the health and safety of our students," Yordon said. "The board has planned for summer learning in compatibility with state guidelines for summer learning. There are many, many features that have been incorporated that help. I'm reasonably satisfied the summer learning plan is the best that can be done at this time under these circumstances."
erin.kayata@hearstmediact.com
Erin Kayata
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Erin Kayata is the city hall reporter for the Norwalk Hour. She previously covered education for the Stamford Advocate. Erin got her start covering Darien and New Canaan for the weekly papers there. Before that, she worked at the Boston Globe as part of their co-op program. Erin grew up in southeastern Massachusetts and graduated from Emerson College with a degree in journalism.
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