City School District of New Rochelle
News & updates
March 20, 2020
‌
District Adapts To COVID-19
With Distance Learning, Food Relief Plan
A message from the Superintendent:
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis changes each day, and the City School District of New Rochelle responds swiftly and effectively to meet the challenges. The District organized food relief for families of students who depend on schools for daily meals (with the deeply appreciated assistance from community partners), and has launched a rigorous Distance Learning Plan.

We will continue to apprise you of updates and developments. Through it all, I want you to know that, while schools may be closed and many employees are working from home, we remain devoted to serving our District and the New Rochelle community. I am determined to see that we never forget our mission of providing a high-quality education for all, and that we emerge from this challenging time stronger than ever.

Sincerely,
Dr. Laura Feijóo
Superintendent of Schools
K-School Registration, Magnet Acceptances
Will be Rescheduled

The schedules for kindergarten enrollment and Magnet Acceptance forms are being adjusted to provide sufficient time for registration while the City School District of New Rochelle addresses the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

All children who will be five years old on or before Dec. 31, 2020, must register for kindergarten. Registration will be coordinated by Dr. Charles Coletti, the District kindergarten registrar.

Once a deadline is set, Dr. Coletti will schedule registration days – three to six days for each elementary school, depending on its size. Parents will receive a letter giving them a specific appointment and listing the documents they will need. A registrar will contact the parent three to five days before the appointment as a reminder.

Further information will be sent once the registration system is up and running and new deadlines are set.

Please do not bring any forms to the Central Administration in City Hall at this time.
The National Guard and volunteers assembling meals at 95 Lincoln Ave.
Meal Support Continues

Joining forces with community partners, the City School District of New Rochelle continues to arrange for free meals for the families of students who normally depend on the school day for breakfast and lunch.

They are handed out by local volunteers and the National Guard at the following locations during the week:

·          New Rochelle High School House IV parking lot 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
·          95 Lincoln (WESTCOP) 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Extended hours)
·          345 Main Street (New Rochelle Housing Authority) 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Extended hours)
·          Trinity Elementary School from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
·          Columbus Elementary School from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
·          City Park from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Extended hours)

The District’s food service company, Whitsons Cafeteria Services, continues to prepare breakfasts and lunches each day. (Meals made at the school must be limited to students as the preparation uses District taxpayer money. The other meals are for all.)

“Thank you to the Westchester Community Opportunity Program, Feeding Westchester and the New Rochelle Municipal Housing Authority for helping out while schools are closed for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis,” said Superintendent Dr. Laura Feijóo. “These volunteers are providing the services that people need to get through this difficult time, and they are bringing this wonderful and resilient community closer together while they’re at it.”
The Peduto-Pappas family hitting the books (and Google Classroom) with the Distance Learning Plan.
Teachers and Students
Dive into District's
Distance Learning Plan
Teachers and students may not be able to share the same room for the time being, but they are making up for the distance by keeping structured routines in their days. Their diligence is helping the City School District of New Rochelle’s Distance Learning Plan, launched last Sunday, continue providing a high-quality education while schools are closed for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

“I start my day as if it’s a regular school day,” said Dylan Brown, a seventh grader at Albert Leonard Middle School. He matches the time he spends on each subject with the actual time the class takes place when school is in session. Following that routine, he is keeping up with the work, even if he also allows himself a little flexibility.

“If I want to take a twenty-minute break, I can take that break,” he said.

Under the Distance Learning Plan, described on the District’s homepage , teachers use Google Classroom to provide students with assignments. The District is loaning Chromebooks to middle- and high-school students who need them. (To borrow a Chromebook, email Chromebook@nredlearn.org .)

Students are setting aside the time and the spaces to complete the work while parents enforce routines designed to approximate a regular school day.

“I am grateful for everyone who has been working so hard to make this plan work,” said Superintendent Dr. Laura Feijóo. “We have a strong plan that maintains our mission of providing a high-quality education to all of our 10,520 students. I want to thank the students for taking on the work willingly, their parents and guardians for ensuring that they stay on course, and the teachers for going above and beyond, as they always do, in their devotion to the students.”

In Michelle Peduto-Pappas’ household, the family has set up the kitchen table as the permanent workspace for her five children. They are; Guilianna, an ALMS eighth grader; Evangelina, in fourth grade at Trinity Elementary School; Nicholas and Giordana in second grade and Kindergarten at Henry Barnard Early Childhood Center; and 3-year-old Valentina, a “professional home schooler/distance learner,” Peduto-Pappas said.

They try to maintain a routine Monday through Friday.

“We have been trying to go to bed at the same time and wake up, get dressed, brush teeth, eat breakfast and then get started on our day,” she said.

Each sibling has a designated section of the table “and we try our best to mind our business in order to get work completed,” Peduto-Pappas said.

About 2:30 p.m., they try to get outside for fresh air and exercise before and after dinner.

Teachers, missing their students, are providing more than lessons. Melissa Tarpey, a first grade teacher at William B. Ward Elementary School said she has contacted students to wish a happy birthday, to encourage those who are struggling with being away from school, or just to check in.

She looks for lessons to keep things fun, such as assigning students to walk in nature (even if it’s their backyard) to search for scavenger hunt items – a bird, a flower, the sun and so on.

“We can’t wait to get back to normal soon,” she said.
“But we will do our best to be there for our students.”
March 31 BOE Meeting
To Be Shown on 'Zoom'

While the schools are closed for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, the New Rochelle Board of Education meeting on March 31, will take place as scheduled. In accordance with an Executive Order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, members of the public will not be allowed at the meeting, to avoid the possibility of spreading the disease in large gatherings.

People will be able to watch it live on the video-conferencing platform Zoom. It will also be recorded and posted in the archive of meeting videos on the City School District of New Rochelle website.

Look for further instructions in a future communication and on the District’s website, www.nred.org. 
City School District of New Rochelle | http://www.nred.org/