Belmont Public Schools: Back To School Fall 2021 - A Message From The Superintendent

Belmont MA

17 August, 2021

1:36 PM

Description

Press release from Belmont Public Schools: 8/17/2021 Dear Belmont School Community: We hope you are enjoying your summer. While there are still great summer weather days ahead, the beginning of school is on the immediate horizon with questions of how we all will be participating in the fall. Although we hoped the pandemic would be well behind us at this point, and we would like to return to school and our daily lives without masks, we are not there yet. Our priorities as a district are the health and safety of our children and staff, as we plan to open schools safely and continue the school year with minimal disruptions to teaching and learning. Belmont Public Schools will require universal mask wearing for students and staff in school spaces. This decision follows the August 10 School Committee vote, the indoor mask mandate from the Town of Belmont effective August 9, and recommendations from leading health organizations: (American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MA DPH). Please see the School Department presentation outlining recommendations and information from public health departments to the School Committee at the August 10 meeting. Amid these obvious challenges ahead, please know the School Committee and School Department are committed to opening school fully in-person this fall as safely as possible. We are confident your child will have a wonderful start to the school year with their peers and their dedicated teachers and staff. Please see our Back to School FAQs located in the School Opening 2021 page on the BPS website for more information. Please also know our nursing team and your principal will be communicating with you closer to the start of the new school year. We look forward to seeing everyone back! Respectfully, John. P. Phelan Superintendent of Schools Town of Belmont This press release was produced by Belmont Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author's own.