The Williamsport Area School District kicked off its week of virtual town hall meetings with Jim Ellis, principal at Stevens Primary School, outlining some of the changes that students and parents can expect in the upcoming school year. Ellis also answered questions that parents had submitted via ZOOM.

Ellis reassured parents that every student in the district will receive a Chromebook, whether they have chosen the hybrid model of instruction or the fully remote option — the only two options that the district is offering at this point.

“The one thing is that all students, no matter what program that your family has chosen here, will be getting a new Chromebook,” he said.

He noted that the type the district has acquired are convertible models which can be flipped over to become a tablet.

“I think this is going to be a great thing for our kindergarten through third grade kids because we’ll be utilizing a site called Epic quite a bit,” he said.

“It’s a site where they can get just about any book imaginable. So, having something that can be folded into a tablet, I think, will be fantastic,” he added.

Stevens Primary School houses grades K-3.

An important difference between the remote program that had run in the spring, after school closures took effect, and the remote instruction offered in the upcoming school year is that what is being offered is all new instruction, Ellis said.

In the spring, students were given review and enrichment, but the remote learning incorporated in both the hybrid and the fully remote options will be new instruction every day.

“What I can say is that it’s going to be completely different than the spring in that each day is going to be new learning,” he said. “Review is out of our vocabulary.”

“We’re going to work really hard so that, each day, whether the student is in front of us or at home, we’re going to be trying to do new learning with them,” he stressed.

He explained that the way teachers will be able to do that is by offering some recorded lessons that students can watch and respond to. He added that it is hoped that later in the year, some teachers might be able to livestream lessons so that students at home would be able to see the same things that students in the classroom are viewing in-person.

Another important aspect of the remote learning program is that students who select this option will be taught by district teachers, Ellis added.

“We are not partnering with any other programs. We’re not partnering with any other educational agencies. Students who select remote learning will get to work with a Williamsport Area School District elementary teacher,” he said.

“We’re really promoting the idea that these are our teachers, our curriculum and it’s our program, which I think is fantastic,” he said.

One benefit of this is that, if parents wish to switch their student from remote to another option, the transition will be much smoother, he noted.

The principal reviewed new protocol for students concerning sick days in the age of the pandemic. He noted that if a student feels sick, parents are asked to not send them to school and that the district will have a more liberal policy concerning sick days. Students who are doing either remote learning or who are on the remote day of the hybrid option will have to notify the school if their child feels too sick to do their work.

Ellis outlined the protocol for students entering and exiting the Stevens building. He reminded parents they will not be allowed to accompany their child into the school building, which he admitted might be especially difficult for first-time students in kindergarten.

“To me, this is a little heartbreaking. This is something we’ve always allowed for and we’ve always worked with parents,” he said.

“But, this year, that’s something we just cannot do,” he added, citing recommendations from the state’s Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control.

Meals will be provided for students, although Ellis noted logistics of what locations will be used for picking up the meals are still being discussed.

As the district has decided to begin the new school year in a hybrid model, Ellis pointed out that the school calendar for the beginning of the year only goes to December.

“Our hope is that we are not doing hybrid all year long, which is why we only have it out through December,” Ellis explained.

Questions from the community focused on specific topics such as how the new online platform, Schoology, will be used and the protocol for students who walk to school. Ellis was asked if students would have to wear masks on the playground during recess.

“Here’s what we’re faced with as schools in the commonwealth right now,” he said. “Every day, there are new mandates, new recommendations that come from the state Department of Health or the governor’s office.

“So I do not have the answers for you as to what that’s going to look like for our kids here right now, even coming in on hybrid…the plan is that they would have to wear masks,” Ellis said.

He added that the district is trying to create breaks where students could take off their masks at different times during the day.

“I’m not exactly sure what that’s going to look like,” he admitted.

Ellis reassured parents that although there have been a lot of changes for the upcoming year, things will come together.

“I recognize that this will be a very difficult year. We’re all very uncomfortable right now, but I can promise you that we’re going to rock those things that we can control,” he said.

The town hall was recorded and can be viewed by visiting the district’s website.