Pittsfield Families,
We hope that you and your family are enjoying good health; we thank our many Pittsfield families for stepping up in your strong support of Pittsfield students. We recognize that the pandemic is creating a stressful burden for many of our families, and we appreciate your commitment to collaboration for our students’ benefit.
In a phone conference with school leaders earlier today, both our governor and commissioner of education shared very complimentary observations and thank you’s to New Hampshire students, families, and staff for your work with remote learning. Governor Sununu talked about his own challenges with remote learning for his family, illustrating his own commitment to remote learning.
Here’s the latest district news:
Attendance. Reminder to families that the district is required to take attendance during our daily check-in’s with students. Because of this, we encourage good attendance during our remote learning period.
CRTC. PMHS students participating in CRTC (Concord Regional Technical Center) programs are advised that the CRTC will be taking April vacation as scheduled later this month.
End-of-Year Transition Celebrations. In addition to our PMHS graduation ceremony and other senior activities, we have begun to discuss possibilities for our other traditional transitions: kindergarten to first grade, fifth and sixth grade to PMHS, and eighth grade promotion. We’ll have details to share as plans are finalized.
Learning Materials. Reminder that we are moving to materials pick-ups every two weeks. Our next pick-up will be Thursday, April 23. Remember also that all pick-ups will be scheduled for PES, regardless of the grade. Materials not picked up on Thursday’s will be mailed to student homes on Friday’s; an exception would be for tech equipment or other large materials, which will be delivered by school bus during daily food delivery runs.
Meals. The district is providing meals to all students upon request. Meals are delivered between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. daily or between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon for families who opt to pick up meals at PES. In addition to lunch, meals include breakfast for the following day with varied menus for each. The district is utilizing meal delivery best practices to minimize the danger of potential danger of exposure to the virus.
We are currently finalizing arrangements to provide weekend meals as well. More information will be provided as plans are finalized; we expect weekend meals to get under way for the weekend of April 25-26.
Families who receive meal deliveries are requested to leave a cooler or box at your door to minimize personal contact. Derek Hamilton is coordinating food deliveries; questions and requests should go to Derek vis email (dhamilton@sau51.org). Thanks to our outstanding food service staff!
Our PES and PMHS food pantries continue to function during the period of remote learning, offering personal toiletries in addition to food items. Please contact Mike Curtin via email (mcurtin@sau51.org) to arrange for service from our food pantries.
Preschool and Kindergarten Registrations. Families who would like to have your preschool children entered into the annual lottery for preschool slots are requested to complete a pre-registration form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf63irLZKfIRr6DWQ65g9PFmVs2Klcc-ChVo5Co90AsweJ_gA/viewform
Families who are anticipating that a child in your household will begin kindergarten next year – reaching the age of 5 years old by September 30, 2020 – are also asked to complete the pre-registration form linked above. If you know of other families who may be interested in kindergarten registration, and who may not be receiving this message, please pass along this information.
Related Services. Though we have initiated a 4/1 schedule of instruction (instruction to all students on Monday’s through Thursday’s; Friday’s utilized for office time, individual help, small group work, etc.), our related service providers (speech and language and other therapeutic services provided per individual student plans) will continue to provide services on Friday’s due to scheduling requirements.
Remote Learning Term. Governor Sununu has announced that our remote learning format will continue through the end of our 2019-2020 school year.
Seniors. Thank you to our seniors who responded to our survey regarding graduation; the overwhelming majority of seniors favor the scheduling of our usual formal ceremony during July or August, as soon as we are able to get together. We are also planning for some events to occur in early June; more information will be coming within the next week or so.
School and SAU Offices. Reminder that we ask that our school and SAU offices not be visited; please email individuals with whom you would like contact. We will do our best to respond to email messages within twenty-four hours during the week.
These are truly stressful times for us all, more for some folks than others. Please know that we are here to support our Pittsfield students and families in any and every way that we can. We hope that you enjoy your weekend; Sunday’s weather looks gorgeous!
Sincerely,
John Freeman, Superintendent of Schools
Derek Hamilton, Dean of Operations