Back-To-School In Malden: 5 Things To Know (2024)

Schools

The pandemic has forced a radically different start to the school year. Here are five things to expect.

Posted Mon, Sep 14, 2020 at 12:10 pm ET|Updated Mon, Sep 14, 2020 at 3:57 pm ET

1. When is the first day of school? School will start Sept. 16 for students. The calendar is 170 school days, with 850 hours of time-on-learning for elementary and 935 hours for secondary schools.

2. What will a typical schedule look like? At grades K-8, morning circle times launch the synchronous learning. High school students will participate in six courses daily.

Full-day kindergarten and grades 1-6: 8:15 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Grades 7, 8: 8:00 a.m. - 2:20 p.m.
High School: 7:45 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.

An online MPS teacher leads core instructional blocks and exploratory activities for the entire class at given times throughout the day. Students also have time for independent, asynchronous work or synchronous small group work with teachers.

Teachers will provide one hour per week beyond the scheduled day to provide additional tutoring and personalized support for students. It is anticipated that class size will average 25-30 students.

3. Attending class. Attendance will be taken for each block and recorded by the teacher in the X2 / ASPEN student information system. Teachers will utilize the following options:

• Present – Student has engaged in at least one synchronous activity this day.
• Absent – Student is absent from synchronous learning activities on this day.
• No Contact – The teacher has been unable to make contact with the student during this time. Students with consecutive "No Contact" codes in all of their classes will be flagged for the SST and, if necessary, a safety/wellness check.

Students with Individualized Education Plans are also eligible for this learning model; however,
MPS will maintain in-person services and instruction for IEP students, particularly those with complex and significant needs and preschool-aged students. Families may arrange for students to come to the school on a part-time scheduled basis for related therapies, social skills groups, or Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services.

In-person services may be provided in the home or in community-based settings where feasible for students with significant and complex needs, if it is not possible to provide services in the school setting.

4. Grading and time-on learning. Grading will be based on the traditional grading structures in place. Each school within the district will meet the required student learning time of 170 days and 850 hours (for elementary schools) and 935 hours for secondary schools.

5. What might a class look like in the world of remote learning? MPS believes that connection to caring adults is essential for students' social-emotional health and that it is important for students to be able to interact with their teacher and peers throughout the day in various ways.

One example of how this could look is to think of a class from the perspective of Launch -
Explore - Land:

Launch - The whole class signs onto the platform to be greeted by the teacher and have face-time with peers. During this portion of the class, the teacher might read a story, ask a probing question to activate students’ thinking about a topic, or teach a new concept.

Explore - During this stage, students step away from the screen (or log off completely) to practice on their own. Or, they might work with a peer through a set of questions or a mini-project. During this time, the teacher might pull a student or two together for some extra support and guidance. Or, they might use this time to connect with a family using google meet (or an old-fashioned phone call) to see how remote learning is going.

Land - In this phase, students will come together at the end of the class to share their experiences.

In another example, students may be engaged in an exploratory class, such as physical education. In this scenario, the teacher might log on for attendance with the larger group, then offer some suggested physical activities that the student could do inside or outside the home. Again, at the end of class, students might come together to wrap up the lesson and think about how they can stay physically active throughout the day.