Dear Fellow Parents & Guardians,
You should have received an email from the Parents’ Association this morning with information regarding our Zoom Webinar with Assistant Principals Rachel Hoyle and Andrew Nasser tomorrow, Monday, August 24th at 6PM. Updated link to submit your questions can be found here. We hope you can join us. Until then, we wanted to share with you a more detailed update on the work of the Parents’ Association, the Alumni Foundation and the greater school community.
It has been a busy summer and we want to thank members of the Parents’ Association, our School Leadership Team, the Alumni Foundation and others who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to advance our school’s needs. We know for so many parents and students all of the uncertainty surrounding the fall reopening is hard. It has been equally hard for our school leaders and teachers but we are all working together for Bronx Science.
Collective Goals
We all share a commitment to the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff and the broader Bronx Science community. We believe in the importance of academic rigor at Bronx Science and support the efforts of the administration as it works to preserve as many course offerings as possible. But above all, our goal for the coming school year is to nurture and promote a strong sense of community and friendship even in what will likely be a predominantly virtual environment.
What We Know
At this point the New York City Department of Education (DOE) has announced that schools will reopen on Thursday, September 10th utilizing a blended model; meaning alternating cohorts of students will be attending school in person on a given day while others attend remotely. Families can choose to switch to 100% remote learning at any time. Families that chose remote can switch back to blended learning on yet-to-be-announced quarterly dates.
The DOE has also outlined a variety of scenarios that would trigger a shift for the entire school to 100% remote learning. You can read those metrics here.
Teachers and other school personnel were also offered the opportunity to request accommodations should they have a health need that requires them to remain 100% remote.
Siblings at Bronx Science will be given the same blended schedule.
Approximately 60% of our students and parents opted for 100% remote learning for the fall. Bronx Science faculty prefers a 100% remote learning option as well. At this point however, the DOE is not allowing individual schools to request an all remote learning option.
Uncertainties
Students will either be learning fully remote or in a blended model. The students who have opted for the blended model will have some in-person days and some remote days. At this point we do not know if the same teacher will be teaching in person and remote or if two teachers will be covering each class. The UFT (the teachers’ union) and the DOE are still negotiating that agreement. Once an agreement is reached, which we hope will be soon, the school will be able to complete student programming. We have been given indications though that all Bronx Science students whether blended or fully remote will be taught by Bronx Science teachers.
We know several teachers have applied for health accommodations but many of those have not been officially approved yet. It is possible as circumstances change that more teachers will apply for accommodations throughout the year.
The school applied for a 25% blended plan (as opposed to the DOE suggested 33% or 50% plans) to help maximize the number of course offerings for our students while also maintaining safety in the building. The DOE has now approved that plan. Accordingly, students who opted for blended learning will be able to come in once or possibly twice per week with some students being invited in for an additional day of support.
Community
The Bronx Science Parents’ Association has been working with the Alumni Foundation to make sure elected officials and other community leaders hear our concerns. The Foundation met with Secretary of Education for New York State Daniel Fuller to share what we need for a successful school year. We have also been in contact with our local elected officials at the city and state level.
Our teachers have written a powerful letter on how to safely reopen – we encourage you all to read their letter here. Similarly our students have been partnering with other high schools to advocate for high schools to remain fully remote. We are proud of their activism and the leadership coming from Bronx Science across our entire school community.
We are also eagerly awaiting an announcement regarding our next principal, who will likely be named in an Interim Acting capacity. Parents will have a strong voice in the process of selecting the new permanent Principal. We believe it’s critical to select a school leader who is committed to our school’s tradition of excellence and building a strong community.
What You Can Do to Help
We know the continued uncertainty is difficult but please know that your Parents’ Association, the Alumni Foundation and the school are all working very hard to get clarity from the DOE and to achieve the best possible outcomes for our students.
Support the school by supporting your Parents’ Association. Advocate, contribute, donate, participate.
Parents can also help supplement the school’s supply of masks, hand sanitizer, soap and more.
We want to thank you all for your support and we look forward to working together this year.
Jerome Kramer & Cliff Stanton
Co-Presidents
The Bronx High School of Science Parents’ Association
Eleanor Coufos
Vice President Strategy and External Affairs
The Bronx High School of Science Alumni Foundation
