City School District of New Rochelle
News & Updates
April 9, 2021
More In-Person Learning:
Asynchronous Days to End After Wed., April 14
After next Wednesday, April 14, all schools in the City School District of New Rochelle will open to in-person students five days a week as the District continues to shift toward the “new normal.”

Elementary and middle school students who attend in person will do so full time; Wednesday will no longer be for asynchronous learning. New Rochelle High School will continue operating with two cohorts, the Purple and Gray, but will return to a six-day cycle, ending the “seventh day” that has been used for asynchronous learning and office hours. Each high school cohort will continue to attend school in person three days out of each cycle.

April 14 will be the final asynchronous day for grades K-8, and also happens to be the high school’s final asynchronous “seventh day.”

Ramping up to this full-time in-school schedule, on Monday, April 12, Albert Leonard Middle School will combine cohorts A and B for sixth- and eighth-graders. Those grades at ALMS were the last cohorts among the elementary and middle schools that had not yet combined to bring those students to school four days per week instead of two.

Also starting April 12, elementary schools will welcome additional students to in-person education based on surveys completed by parents last month.

COVID-19 precautions will remain in place, including the wearing of face masks and social distancing. Students who choose to learn remotely will continue to do so, but that number has been steadily declining. As of Thursday, 3,771 students remained on remote learning, a little more than a third of the District’s 10,095 students.

“We are taking major steps in arriving at our new normal,” said Interim Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero. “The more in-person education we can provide, the livelier and more productive our schools become. As the situation continues to change, we will continue to seek more in-school educating while always maintaining safe practices.”

Regularly scheduled COVID testing continues at schools throughout the District. As more students return to classes, some testing operations will be moved to school playgrounds and fields to ensure social-distancing protocols can be maintained. Of the 445 students and staff tested at Isaac E. Young Middle School, Columbus, Jefferson, Trinity and William B. Ward elementary schools and Henry Barnard Early Childhood Center since March 1, just two positive COVID-19 cases have been identified.

Dr. Marrero sent the letter linked here to parents of students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade earlier today. NRHS Interim Principal Steve Goldberg will send a similar message to families of high school students over the weekend.
Announcements
2021-2022 District Calendar Available
The District’s 2021-2022 academic calendar has been approved and posted under the “Community” drop-down menu on the District homepage, nred.org. Refer to it to find out which days school is in session and when holidays are observed. You can view the 2021-2022 calendar here.

Early Look at TheatreWorks Show
The New Rochelle High School TheatreWorks group is hard at work putting together a show like no other. Its upcoming virtual production of “Is There Life After High School?” will show that COVID-era challenges are no match for teacher-director Anthony Stirpe’s creativity. You’ll read more about it in next week’s e-newsletter. For now, you can find out about the show and obtain tickets via this website that the group has put together.

Reminder: Registration is Open
As a reminder: Kindergarten registration is now open. Parents can download the registration form on our District website or pick up a registration packet at any elementary school. Please visit nred.org for more information.

English As A Second Language Test to be Given in Person
The annual New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test will be administered in person from April to June. The test is given to all English Language Learners (ELLs) in grades K-12. The results are used to determine a student’s progress in learning English and the level of English as a New Language service the student will receive during the following school year.

Tulips in Bloom
The tulips of 2020 are here. The 2,020 purple prince and white prince tulips, planted in honor of last year’s New Rochelle High School graduating class, are in bloom at the school. They were donated by Tom and Ally Gallin, parents of a member of the class, to pay tribute to a class that missed out on end-of-year events because of COVID-19 restrictions. Last fall, Trevor Benevento, the City School District of New Rochelle Working Grounds Foreman, led a team in clearing the beds, removing sod and dirt. Volunteer New York! put out the call for volunteers, who were organized by Julie Konvisser, the City of New Rochelle Director of Community Engagement. Kelly Meringolo, a horticultural professional, guided the volunteers in proper planting of the bulbs.

And here they are!