Revere Public Schools Ensuring ‘All’ Students Have Remote Learning Access During School Closure

Revere Public School Superintendent Dianne Kelly said this week that RPS is committed to en­suring that all students, including students with special needs, have access to remote learning opportu­nities throughout the school closure.

“All teachers and relat­ed service providers will post resources on the RPS COVID-19 External Learn­ing Opportunities website http://www.reverek12.org/Content2/21338,” said Kel­ly. “Please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher, assistant principal or principal if you need assistance accessing mate­rials.”

Kelly said state Educa­tion Commissioner Jeffrey Riley and the Massachu­setts Department of Ele­mentary and Secondary Education released new guidance to schools to en­sure remote learning is a success for all of Revere’s students.

Kelly said students should be working each day on school assignments for a learning period that is roughly half of the number of hours they would have been in school, roughly 3 hours.

“School work might include everything from online video chats, connec­tions between school staff, students, and parents via email, phone, or video chat, assignments that do not require technology to be completed like reading for a certain amount of time, writing essays, exploring the natural environment near home, etc,” said Kel­ly. “All of these activities would be part of the learn­ing period.”

Plans should include assignments that include physical activity and/or art and music instruction.

“Schools should develop a plan for allowing “credit or no credit” to students for the work they complete,” said Kelly. “Schools need to ensure plans include ac­commodation and services for students with Individual Educational Plans, English Learners, and Social and Emotional wellbeing. With this guidance in mind, we are working with teach­ers and administrators to develop a set of plans by grade, which we hope will help make expectations clear to students, staff, and caregivers. We will be seek­ing input from the School Committee, high school students, and parents before we finalize these plans.”

Kelly said RPS knows that families and staff have different levels of expertise in the use of technology so RPS’s goal is to build a sys­tem that meets the needs of all and can be customized, to some degree, for individ­uals.

“If at any time you feel the curriculum website or assignments are not work­ing for your child, please reach out to your child’s teacher, service provider, or principal so we can work together to solve the prob­lems,” she said. “We also request that you support your child’s teachers and counselors as they navi­gate this entirely different instructional process. They are all working very hard to keep your children engaged and progressing.”

Kelly added that addi­tional service teachers and therapists will be providing ongoing support and re­sources for families to ac­cess these materials.

“If you need addition­al support or assistance accessing these materials please contact your child’s classroom teacher, English learner teachers, special ed­ucation liaison, or related service provider (OT, PT, Speech or Counseling),” said Kelly. “Based on what is reasonably appropriate, Revere Public Schools will be providing additional learning opportunities and/or related services to stu­dents with special needs and English learners during the school closure. Al­though we understand that the frequency and duration of student services may not be able to match the IEP service delivery exactly, what is reasonably appro­priate will be determined on a case by case basis.”

Special education teach­ers, English learner teach­ers, and therapists will be in touch with families to determine which services and supports are able to be delivered remotely.

“If you have any ques­tions regarding services for your child, please contact your child’s school, the En­glish learner office through the Parent Information Center at (781-485-8453) or the special education of­fice (781-286-8240),” she said.