Update from Head of School about Return to School in Fall

Dear Rising Tide Students and Families,

Thank you to each of our students and parents/guardians for demonstrating great flexibility and perseverance through a challenging year.

Today Governor Baker announced the release of the Initial Fall School Reopening Guidance that has been prepared by Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley.

Here is a quick summary of the guidance:

DESE has set a goal for the safe return of as many students as possible to in-person school settings, to maximize learning and address our students’ holistic needs.

DESE has shared a clear set of health and safety requirements for in-person learning in the fall, grounded in scientific literature and discussions with expert medical advisors, which includes masks/face coverings, a minimum physical distance of three feet of space, hand washing/hand sanitizing, and staying home when sick.

While the goal is to have all students return in the fall, DESE is requiring all schools and districts to prepare and submit plans for three models: in-person learning with new safety requirements, a hybrid of in-person and remote learning, and the continuation of remote learning (to ensure continuity of learning throughout the school year, even if circumstances change).

DESE will issue further guidance and support in the coming weeks for additional elements of operations and programming including transportation, handling a COVID-19 positive case in a school community, and athletics and other extracurricular programming.

As I included in my update on June 10, we have had a number of collaborative teams working on initial plans for various scenarios at Rising Tide in the fall. This work will continue actively next week. While guidance for bus transportation is forthcoming, we plan to offer busing to Plymouth residents through the Town of Plymouth, and regional busing to residents of the towns in our designated region. In our end-of-year memo on Monday, we will share more information about busing.

I anticipate that we will be able to share details about our plans for the fall with families by the end of July, but we will be sure to share any new updates or information throughout the summer as it becomes available.

We would love your feedback and questions as we prepare for the upcoming year. If you have not yet completed the end-of-year survey, please take 10 minutes to share your voice with us:

2019-2020 Rising Tide Parent/Guardian Survey

I wish all of you and your families a great start to the summer.

Sincerely,

Michael O’Keefe
Head of School