SARATOGA SPRINGS — With one month of the school year completed, Saratoga Springs City School District held a Board of Education meeting on Oct. 12 to discuss health & safety and academic quarantine plan updates.
Superintendent Dr. Michael Patton announced that across New York State last Wednesday, schools gathered enrollment and employee data as part of Basic Educational Data System Day, or BEDS Day. As of last Wednesday, Saratoga Springs City School District has 5,989 students enrolled and has close to 1,100 employees.
Health & Safety Update
As of Oct. 12, there have been 61 total positive COVID-19 cases between students and staff members since school opened in September. Just a few weeks ago, close to 150 students were under quarantine by Saratoga County. As of Oct. 12, less than 10 students in the district are now under quarantine from contract tracing.
Academic Quarantine Plan Update
Lisa Cutting, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment presented updates and clarifications to the plan made in the past two weeks, since the last BOE meeting. Adjustments have been made in terms of grouping, communication with parents, and iTutor, clarifying the timeline of when a student will begin tutoring and what that entails.
Students under quarantine will access information on Seesaw and Canvas. If it is determined that a student needs to be under quarantine longer than three days, they will be enrolled into iTutor three days into quarantine at the latest. iTutor is live instructional support online to small groups with certified teachers vetted by the school district. The parents of students under quarantine who will be enrolled in iTutor will receive an email, phone call, and a flyer with information about the tutoring when they pick their child up from school.
Cutting also addressed some frequently asked questions. They tested a tutoring pilot with retired teachers from the district; however, those teachers were not able to provide the students with a consistent schedule. Also, teachers can record their classes to be posted on Seesaw or Canvas, and students will receive information from the class in many different forms. If your student would benefit from visual or auditory lessons, please contact your student’s teacher or have your student speak to their teachers directly. A plan for support for students with disabilities is still being worked on.
Maple Avenue Pathways Vision 6-8 Program Report
Principal Scott Singer and administration discussed the goal for the 21-22 school year – increase the number of students performing at or above grade level in literacy and math.
Students already test three times a year in reading and math using i-Ready assessments that show skills mastered, skills ready to learn, and skill deficiencies and gaps needed to address. Teachers have access to this information and an i-Ready tool kit with lessons, resources, and activities. An individual learning path is created for every student to access after their skill assessment.
i-Ready growth from fall to spring of last year shows an 11% increase in students that are at or above grade level.
Additionally, the PLT and TILT committees will be working on a curriculum renewal that includes digital learning standards in addition to social studies, math, art, music, and physical education/health. Digital learning standards will include things like cyber security, keyboarding skills, research and how to search properly.
