Dear Families,

We are excited to tell you about a new development involving Weedsport students in grades 3-6. As you know, they have been rotating between in-person and remote instruction since the beginning of the year. When we created our school reopening plan over the summer, the best case scenario for us was to have all students here learning in-person every day. However, with some initial uncertainties regarding classroom space, staffing, and transportation, we did not want to promise something and not deliver.

At the end of the summer, the administrative team planned on revisiting the school structure approximately every five weeks. At these checkpoints, discussions were/are had about changes, especially with students attending daily if physical space and staffing could be adjusted. As we head towards the ten-week mark in November, the Elementary School will be making several adjustments.

We are happy to say that starting on Nov. 2, students in grades 5-6 will come to school every day. Because we continue to strictly adhere to safety and spacing regulations, the students will attend at the Weedsport Jr.-Sr. High School.

Our fifth and sixth grade students will be coming in daily but will be riding the first bus run and having classes at the Weedsport Jr.-Sr. High School. The school day for the 5th and 6th graders will change to 7:40 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Our fifth and sixth grade students will enter the building in the morning at the entrance by the Auditorium, be in one wing of that school, and will not switch classes. The teachers will also be the same.

Additionally, students in grades 3-4 will attend daily at Weedsport Elementary School starting on Nov. 9. These dates are phased in as one change must be made before the other can take effect due to room adjustments at the Elementary School building. 

With third and fourth grade students, the structure will also be daily. However, to maintain the social distancing, the teachers will be live streaming to half the students in their class, while the other half will be in the classroom. This will then switch every other day.

The school structure of the programs in pre-kindergarten to second grade will stay the same as the start of the school year.

Please know that meetings will be ongoing with staff to work out details. The timeline of the students’ return is tight and there are still considerations to work out; however, it is too important to have the students back to school daily to wait until every aspect of the change is finalized. Foremost in our mind is that we acknowledge that this could cause a change in families’ childcare arrangements and we wanted to inform families as soon as we thought this change was feasible.

We understand that there may be many questions leading up to these transitions. The administrative team will be hosting a live webinar on Tuesday, Oct. 27. at 6:30 p.m. to provide families with detailed information regarding these transitions for our students. Please check your e-mail for more information on how to register for this upcoming webinar. In addition to the webinar, we will be sending information home to families to ensure that everyone is on the same page as the adjustment goes into effect.

We are very grateful that our entire learning community has helped make this possible through their tireless work and commitment to our students.

Thank you in advance for your patience while these adjustments are implemented.

Respectfully,

Weedsport Administrative Team