BRIDGEWATER, NJ - The first day of the 2020-2021 academic year in the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District was, by most accounts, a smooth affair.
“Today was the first day of virtual school,” said interim superintendent Thomas Ficarra at Tuesday night’s board of education meeting, the same day the new school year opened.
The district pivoted back to virtual learning, which had been used since March to close out the previous school year due to COVID-19, after administrators decided they couldn’t safely re-open local schools in time for a September start. The district hopes to employ a hybrid educational model, consisting of both virtual and in-person learning, starting next month.
“We’ll have another first day on Oct. 12, so we’ll have two first days of school,” said Ficarra.
The district had been prepared to adopt several hybrid schedules at the primary, intermediate, middle and high school levels before pivoting back to full-time virtual learning for the time being.
“We seem to have pulled it off today,” said Ficarra. “People seem pleased.”
He said the the district’s technology staff had been working to stay ahead of any tech problems that cropped up.
Tuesday’s board meeting also marked the first public meeting for new board member Jean Lee, who was chosen out of a pool of a dozen candidates in June to replace Melanie Thiesse, who had resigned from the board for personal reasons.
School board president Jackie Barlow also welcomed students, teachers, staff and administrators back to school during the course of Tuesday’s meeting. She said there had been a lot of positive comments concerning the start of the new year, and that a lot of effort had gone into improving the virtual learning process in the district as compared to the spring, when it had been foisted upon the district by the sudden emergence of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Issues will arise,” said Barlow, who later thanked staff and administrators again for a great opening day. “It’s important we work as a team.”
She added that there are FAQs available on the district’s web site at brrsd.org about virtual learning and school re-opening, which she said is a more effective tool than relying on social media outlets. She said parents and students can consult their school principals and teachers if they have additional questions.
Several residents weighed in during the second public session of the board meeting.
“Congratulations to the students, faculty, staff, administration and board on a successful first day of school (at least it was successful from my family’s standpoint),” said resident Scott Mihalick, who is running for a seat on the board of education this year. “The format and structure is a definite improvement from what was done in the spring, which is particularly commendable given the short amount of planning time between when the announcement was made that we were going all-remote, to today. Nice work.”
“The teachers did an outstanding job planning and executing virtual learning today,” added parent Suzanne Hollywood. “They should be recognized and applauded.”
Local parent Jessica Levitt, who is also running for board of education in this year’s elections, also commended district personnel on an “amazing first day,” and said a lot of hard work over the summer months had paid off.
“We found that each of our children’s teachers were not only prepared technically, but also upbeat and engaging,” said Levitt. “They are doing their best to optimize the virtual environment. If we continue to be flexible and patient, I believe we are going to have a great year, despite all the challenges.”
Parent Andrea Puszkin said the school year is off to a great start.
“Your efforts over the summer were quite visible today,” she said. “It was great that the classes are all being done live with teachers directly interfacing with their kids, rather than just in an online chat on Google Classroom or via e-mail.”
The district plans to continue with a virtual educational environment until hopefully switching to the hybrid learning model in about five weeks time, depending on conditions.
“We can all look forward to an outstanding school year,” said Barlow, “albeit a different one.”
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September 09, 2020 at 10:01PM
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