Williamsville Central School District

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9-23-20 Williamsville Relaunch Plan Phase-In Update to Families


September 23, 2020

To All of Our Williamsville Central School District Students and Families,

Thank you for your patience and understanding over the last few weeks.  We have been working hard on solutions and have made a great deal of progress. On Monday, I announced the essential elements of our Reset, Relaunch, Return Plan for Grades 5-12. Today, I will share the specific timeline for the reentry phase of our plan.

Thanks to a collaborative effort by our teachers, building and District administrators, along with feedback from staff, students, and PTSA leadership, we have finalized our instructional plan, which will provide a Williamsville education to all students – both remote and in-person. 

Our goal was to ensure a free and appropriate public education for all students, including those who selected the fully remote instructional model and those who chose the hybrid instructional model. We also wanted students in our hybrid instructional model to return to our classrooms before January of 2021.

I am proud to share we have accomplished this thanks to a coalition of stakeholders who were truly dedicated to meeting the educational needs of our students and expectations of our school community.

On October 13, 2020, the District begins the Williamsville Relaunch Plan, a 3-step phase-in process, starting with the middle schools. All students in the hybrid instructional model in grades 5-12 will be phased into our classrooms by October 26, 2020. The following is the specific phase-in timeline. This change does not affect our current K-4 instructional model.

Timeline for Re-entry

 

  • October 13, 2020: Grades 5-6

 

  • October 19, 2020: Grades 7-8

 

  • October 26, 2020: Grades 9-12

 Upon thorough review, our committee determined a phase-in model was critical to help us support our staff of approximately 700 teachers with the transition to the model. It was also necessary to ensure our technology needs were thoroughly met to effectively deliver a quality model for our students and staff.  Delivering a quality model was essential to our committee.

When the Williamsville Relaunch Plan begins on October 13, 2020, students – whether remote or in-person – will continue to follow their daily class schedule on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Hybrid in-person (example Group A), hybrid at home learners (example Group B) and fully remote students will all be part of the same class, with teachers providing a synchronous experience, asynchronous instruction, and independent learning.

We will also be making a modification to our Wednesday schedule. Beginning on September 30, 2020, Wednesdays will include a brief synchronous homeroom/home base experience followed by asynchronous and independent learning. 

As a guide, please review the chart below.

Group A: Last name A-L
Group B: Last name M-Z
Group C: English Language Learners
Group D: Students in self-contained classes (8:1, 12:1, 15:1) attend school in-person five (5) days a week

Fully Remote: Students who receive classroom instruction from home

 9-23-20 Updated Instructional Chart

For additional information, please refer to our middle and high school frequently asked questions by clicking here: Frequently Asked Questions. Further information will be forthcoming as we continue to work through this process.

I want to thank everyone for their efforts to make this possible. Through teamwork and cooperation, we greatly accelerated our timeline. We will keep you informed daily of our progress and will not stop until our plan is complete. Thank you again for your support.

Sincerely,

Dr. John McKenna
Acting Superintendent of Schools