School Reopening

The COVID-19 Pandemic has arguably been one of the most challenging issues to face education. While those of us who have devoted our careers to this field are grieving many aspects of what was, we understand that it is imperative that we lead with open minds to create a safe today and a bright and reimagined tomorrow for our students. Since the decision to close schools in March 2020, members of our school community have supported one another both professionally and personally. We all entered this unprecedented time with our most valuable tools being common sense and compassion for humankind. The spring closure was a crisis that left many of us feeling uncertain and spread thin, with health, financial, and emotional pressures impacting many, if not all of us, in some way. It was important for us, as leaders, to pause and acknowledge the major crisis that was happening in our community, state and nation. As the pandemic continues and we are learning more information, we continue to develop new skills that allow us to adjust, adapt and keep ourselves and our community safe. While the spring was challenging, there is much to learn from it. As with many aspects of our work, critical reflection will be the key to helping us to better serve our students and community moving forward.  

With five months of living under the constraints and challenges of a pandemic, we have all changed in many ways. We have changed our mindsets, our routines and our priorities. Since the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released initial guidance on June 25, 2020, our administrative team has led a major effort to reimagine our educational models, while maintaining proper safety guidelines. This process, as stressful as it has been, has highlighted the resilience, strength and talent that we have within our Wakefield Public Schools Community. We have led our reopening teams with a key priority of safety for the well being of our faculty, staff and students,  however we have promoted flexible thinking when planning schedules and educational models based on what we know to be best instructional practices at each level. We have frequently reiterated the concept that we will not be returning to the schedules we left and no one’s job will look the same as it did before March 12, 2020. We have also asked our leaders and reopening teams to think deeply about educational priorities and infuse these into our models at each level. 

We cannot thank the Wakefield Community enough for the continued support, collaboration and encouragement as we all work through this crisis. We will continue to rely on one another in the coming weeks and months, with a clear focus on the future and a mindful awareness of the present and how we may need to adjust based on public health data. In this document you will find the work of our reopening teams and our preliminary recommendation to safely reopen schools in the fall.