Photo: Return to learning has been less than ideal Dear Belmont Parents and Community: As a member of the School Committee, I’m fully aware that many parents are deeply unhappy with the fall reopening plans for our schools. Based on the volume of emails and phone calls, it’s also clear that many people do not […]
Photo: Wait on voting for a hybrid model To Andrea Prestwich, Chair, Belmont School Committee I understand the Belmont School Committee needs to ratify the Belmont Public School’s remote learning plan in some form or fashion before school starts. Prior to voting, I would urge you and the other members of the committee to address the […]
Photo: An update for the hybrid phase. Saying they heard the concerns of parents, the Belmont School District has moved up by nearly a month the earliest date district schools can begin the hybrid phase. In an update to the district’s “Return-to-Learning Fall 2020” blueprint during the Belmont School Committee meeting on Sept. 3., the […]
Photo: Kindergarteners heading to class With the avalanche of changes and challenges foisted upon the Belmont public schools since March, Belmont School Superintendent John Phelan told the Belmont School Committee on Wednesday, Sept. 2, he finally had some good news to announce, akin to “chocolate chip ice cream [with a] nice hot sauce.” The $3,500 […]
Photo: One hundred years ago, New York City schools opened school building windows to effectively fight the “Spanish flu” pandemic. (Library of Congress) In a recent survey of Belmont parents, 67 percent were in favor of opening the school in hybrid or in-person. Questions remain: Is the time now to reopen Belmont school in the hybrid? Is […]
Photo: The title page of the Belmont School District’s presentation on the coming school year After questions from parents and students on how and when Belmont schools would transition between the four learning phases established last week, the Belmont School District released a detailed blueprint on the health and safety criteria the community and each […]
Photo: Belmont High Football will be delayed until 2021. It’ll be Thanksgiving without the turkey this year. The annual Belmont vs Watertown Turkey Day football rivalry, which would be marking its centennial contest in 2020, will have to wait until sometime next year to settle its annual grudge match after the state and the athletic […]
Photo: Burbank Elementary School The doors will be opening at Belmont’s six public schools in approximately 45 days and according to the educators in charge, the hows and whys of beginning the new school year remain, in two words, quite fluid. With the COVID-19 pandemic in the US continuing unabated, the idea that simply ringing […]
Photo: The cover page of the Massachusetts DESE guide to reopening public schools in September. With guidance from the state now in hand, the Belmont School District is beginning in earnest to put together a blueprint for opening the school year in less than two months. But no one should believe this will be an […]
Photo: First slide in the Belmont School District’s overview of its Phase II remote learning program. While a sizable number of Belmont parents – in online message boards, text communications and emails – are pushing the school district to employ a more traditional teacher/students learning experience via a virtual classroom, it appears, for now, Belmont’s […]