Meeting called to order @ 6:00 pm, April 29

Housekeeping 

▪ Meeting conducted via Google Meet due to COVID-19 

Principal Update 

• First we must acknowledge the losses in our community 

o Ms. Vanessa passed away due to COVID-19 

o A family lost their home due to fire 

o We are trying to support both families 

• Guidance counselor taskforce led by Rosa P. to support children as needed 

• Attendance ~90% daily 

o Watching attendance first and foremost through the lens of safety of students 

o Working with students of first responder families to keep a schedule and receive any needed supports

o Check-in with parents re: related services 

o Elevated task force to keep an eye on families where students have not been seen regularly on visual  platforms 

• Cluster Teachers – joining class morning meetings 

o Carving out time on their own w/Google Classroom and other visual platforms 

• New grading policy – Letter going out to families 

o Flexible & patient 

o Strongly consider rest of year prior to school closure 

o Ensure academic & IEP goals being met  

Remote learning survey 

o Inclusions updated with results, data, and resources  

o Very little input that indicated “too little” being provided/assigned 

• Mental health supports added to Inclusions 

UFT Update 

• Union has been very supportive of members 

o Member Assistance Program (MAP) + 1 other service 

New Business 

• Questions about next year 

o How do we give students closure for this year? 

▪ Can classes stay together? 

▪ Perhaps begin the year with classes/teachers intact to ease into new year  

o Too soon for any decisions 

▪ Many factors 

▪ Requires a lot of input from paras and teachers 

o 5th Graders 

▪ Need to collect their belongings 

▪ Miss out on graduations – maybe ask them back for a ceremony in the Fall 

▪ Try to make up some trips/events

o Guidelines still being worked out for classroom logistics 

▪ Very fluid at this point 

Personal Experiences/Perspectives w/Remote Learning 

• Sumeet – Everyone is doing the best they can; overall positive 

• Matt – Same; days are up and down; difficult to keep kids engaged 

• Debbie – trying to balance instruction and support 

o Support different families/different needs 

▪ Video check-ins 

▪ Chat 

▪ Email 

o Make sure everyone is comfortable 

• Frank – Honored to be part of a community banded together 

o Teachers collaborating and creative 

o Resilient

o Administration support 

o Continue to make decisions best for the kids  

• Yvette – Has heard from some parents 

o Mostly sharing positive experiences about classroom teachers and cluster teachers 

o Coffee/tea virtual chats have varying participation 

▪ Changing up themes (i.e. scheduling help, screen time) 

▪ Similar format for ASD (i.e. sensory diet) 

• Marina – Received a lot of work from students 

o Trying to pop in to a morning meeting each week for each of her classes 

• Rosa P – Cluster teachers/ESL teachers working at capacity 

o Additional resources available on Inclusions 

o Commend teachers and parents for being flexible 

• Laura – Really appreciates tech/support provided by Doug 

• Megan – K-1 struggling to balance structure for families that need, but not too much to overwhelm kids and parents

o Planning a drive-by 

o Kids are doing great 

o Amazing parent communication 

• Rosa A – schools created a project to go out to families – poster to put in windows 

o Producing a video to go out to community 

• Shari – Interesting ELL sessions because most of the families don’t speak English 

o A lot of sessions include parents ➔ family literacy  

• Bridget – Everyone (parents, teachers, kids) stepping up 

o New/unique perspective for many parents of children with special needs to see them as learners
o The message is “Do what you can.” ➔ Entire city will return with a 6 month deficit; everyone will be OK
o Survive ➔ Do what is best for everyone 

o Recommended time on Google Classroom/visual platforms is no more than 90 minutes
• David – Some 1-on-1 time with teachers would go a long way if it is possible 

o Video meetings have been positive ➔ great to see teachers and classmates 

• Cheri – Great experience 

o Teachers have been awesome 
o Impressed with the level of engagement of teachers 
o Kids are very adaptable 

o Thank you Doug for all the technology and support 

• Desiree – It has been challenging with 2 kids with IEPs

o All teachers/specialists have been very supportive and accommodating 

o Some students are collaborating 

o Learning a lot about kids as learners 

• Dustin – Class 4-3 is doing very well 

o First couple of weeks was a lot of troubleshooting over logistics 

o Learning a lot from other teachers 

o Stressing for families ➔ Don’t do too much; don’t stress 

o A lot of personalities are changing on screen 

o Trying to keep it fresh and fun 

• Francis – Remote learning looks a little different at ASD 

o The bulk of the sessions are 1:1, which is difficult 

o Support from providers, administration, and parents is overwhelming 

o Make sure kids are happy 

o Posting a lot of videos ➔ very useful for students as they can view them on their schedules
o Not ideal for students to sit at a screen and chat for very long 
o More of a support for parents than kids often 

• Liza – Fun to see Google Classroom and learn what works for students and teachers
o Try to stick to same schedule of days of the week for cluster classes ➔ adds structure and normalcy
o Interesting to see how kids learn ▪ They need to move around a lot

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