Belmont Public Schools News

A Story Walk

THE BELMONT YOUTH COMMISSION AND BELMONT PUBLIC LIBRARY PRESENT: A Story Walk! December 9-23, 2020, Daily, 9 AM TO Dusk, Memorial Garden - Next to Library Take a walk from page to page with your family. A fun way to read a great story while getting fresh air and exercise! The total loop will be on flat land and about 0.5 miles total.

Week of December 7 Important News - School Opening Fall 2020 Superintendent's Bulletin #20

Week of December 7 Important News - School Opening Fall 2020 Superintendent's Bulletin #19. Dear Parents, Guardians, and Staff: This communication is to inform you we are returning to our hybrid in-person learning schedules for grades K-8 on Monday, December 7. In addition, we are happy to report BHS grades 9-12 will start in-person hybrid on Thursday, December 10. Each building principal will send out a communication today with more details. We appreciate the patience of our students, parents, faculty, and staff in pivoting to remote learning after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. We feel these proactive measures help keep the school community safe and gives us a chance to assess and “reset” the buildings for a healthy return to hybrid in-person learning.

An Important Message from the Superintendent

I write to inform the community of an important decision that will impact how school will reopen following the Thanksgiving holiday. Like all school districts, we are responsible for making a decision regarding the safety of students, educators, and families. After thorough consideration of the elements involved, it is our conclusion that the appropriate course of action is to transition all students to a remote schedule for the entire week following Thanksgiving, 11/30 - 12/4/2020.

Understanding the Override

Public Meeting - December 9th @ 7 PM. The town is faced with a structural deficit which requires an increase in funds to provide the same level of services to the community. This meeting is geared to help residents to understand the financial condition of the town. Future meetings are in the planning stages for early January.

Belmont Wellness Coalition: Parenting Group Meetings

The Parenting Group is led by the Belmont Wellness Coalition, through Wayside Youth and Family Support Network and facilitated by Lisa Gibalerio and Sophia Suarez-Friedman. The primary goal of the Parenting Group is for Belmont caregivers to talk about parenting teens and tweens with various monthly topics and concerns that parents have in common.

Return to School Update

Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 28, 2020 our elementary school buildings will open for our students to return to hybrid in-person learning. Please see the schedule below: Wednesday, October 28: All students PreK-4 will return to school hybrid in-person at our four elementary schools. This will be a Cohort B day. Thursday, October 29: Chenery Middle School begins their hybrid model.

Belmont Food Services: Update #3

First off, thank you to all participating families who have been coming by our meal pick up over the last month. The turnout has been tremendous and truly supports our children as well as our program. In the last four weeks, we have seen over 70,000 meals go out the door! We have determined that meal pick up and home meal kit delivery is the SAFEST and most efficient way to get meals to our student body. Please note we will continue through the upcoming models and until guidance is released to safely feed students in an unrestricted setting in our cafeterias.

Remote Learning for Grades PreK-8 Continue into Next Week

Superintendent's Bulletin #18 - School Opening Fall 2020. Dear Parents, Guardians, and Staff, We are writing to inform you remote learning for grades PreK-8 will extend to Monday, October 26, and Tuesday, October 27. Our expectation at this time is for hybrid in-person learning to resume at the elementary level on Wednesday, October 28, and at the middle school level on Thursday, October 29. The October 20 email sent to families initially informed you of this delay. Your principals will communicate if there will be any impact to cohort schedules. The reason for these additional days is to ensure the accuracy of the data. This is a time consuming process, and we do not want to rush.

Superintendent's Letter: Remote Learning Wednesday through Friday

Dear Belmont Public Schools Community, I write today to inform you that all students and staff, PreK-12 will remain home and pivot back to remote learning on Wednesday, 10/21/2020 through Friday, 10/23/2020.

FBE Virtual Spelling Bee & Trivia POSTPONED

We are sorry to say we have made the difficult decision to postpone this fun fundraiser, originally scheduled for Saturday, November 7, 2020. We concluded this is just too busy a time for too many in our community, and we would love to save this really fun event for a more manageable time in the near future. We apologize for any inconvenience. Any registrations already made for the original date will be honored for the rescheduled event, or refunded at your request. Please email the Bee Keeper at beekeeper@fbe-belmont.org for a refund. Please keep a look out for our rescheduled date announcement!

FBE Virtual Spelling Bee & Trivia - Calling All Bee Teams

CALLING ALL BEE TEAMS! KIDS, TEENS & ADULTS. Register today our first FBE Virtual Spelling Bee & Trivia For ALL AGES! Game Night is SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, at Your House. FAMILY BEE: 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm / TEEN & ADULT BEE: 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Appropriate Technology Use During Virtual/Remote Learning Activities

Belmont Public Schools is dedicated to providing engaging and effective remote learning opportunities for our students.  As part of our remote learning opportunities, BPS is offering many learning activities, classroom presentations and student meetings via a virtual platform. Prior to engaging in these virtual learning activities, presentations and student meetings, the District seeks to clarify guidelines for appropriate technology use during virtual/remote learning activities.

FBE Virtual Spelling Bee & Trivia 2020 - Registration is Open!

This year’s Spelling Bee is a spelling and trivia competition, and this year marks the 20th annual FBE Bee, but the first Virtual Bee for ALL AGES! The 2020 Virtual Bee will be divided into two segments: a Family Bee and a Teen & Adult Bee. Teams in both categories will be eligible for an assortment of prizes. While there will still be spelling, both Bees will now include trivia questions too! We will be using a combination of Kahoot!, which is an interactive game tool (either mobile app or website), and Zoom to enable teams to participate from wherever they are located.

First Day of School Communication K-4 and SC Presentation

School Opening Fall 2020 - Superintendent's Bulletin #17 - First Day of School Communication K-4 and SC Presentation. School begins on Thursday, October 8, for hybrid-in person learning for grades K-4 beginning with Cohort A. The following communications will be sent by your schools.

Move to Hybrid for Grades K-4

School Opening Fall 2020 - Superintendent's Bulletin #16 - Move to Hybrid for Grades K-4. Per the School Committee request, and subsequent vote on September 22, we are moving to our hybrid in-person learning phase for grades K-4 the week of October 5. At this time we anticipate the first day of hybrid learning will be on Thursday, October 8. This start follows phase 2 of the Accelerated Phased Plan, as noted in the full Return to Learning Fall 2020 presentation submitted to the School Committee on September 22.

Belmont Meal Pick-Up Update

We had an incredible turnout the past few days and wanted to share that we served over 10,000 meals via our free meals pick up service! We’re sorry for any of you caught in our traffic jam on Wednesday, but we were so happy you were able to participate! Here is some guidance and key points so our program can run smoothly in the weeks to come.

School Crossing Guards - Availability in the 2020-21 School Year

The Belmont Police are responsible for covering 16 crossing posts twice a day in the mornings and afternoons. Crossing Guards are assigned to each post, and we have reserve crossing guards to fill in when a permanent crossing guard is absent. We currently have three full time crossing guard vacancies as well as three reserve vacancies. We are attempting to fill both positions.

Accelerated Phased Plan

School Opening Fall 2020 - Superintendent's Bulletin #15 - Accelerated Phased Plan. On Tuesday, September 22, the School Committee accepted the updated accelerated Phased Plan for grades K-4 to return to hybrid in-person learning during the week of October 5. Please see the Return to Learning Fall 2020 presentation. You will receive further communication with more detail while we continue planning to achieve that accelerated start.

Belmont Food Service Updates

While the start of the school year looks a little different for everyone, I wanted to share with you some good news that schools nationwide recently received. The USDA extended a waiver that allows schools to serve free breakfast and lunch to ALL students, as late as December 31, 2020 or as long as funding is available. We are thrilled with this news as it means that we will be able to provide all Belmont students with nutritious and nourishing food for free that will support them, both in school and at home. Here are the multiple methods in which meals will be available.  

Becca's Feat on Feet Virtual Book Launch

Join us for the Virtual launch of Becca Pizzi's new book, Becca's Feat on Feet! She'll be in conversation with Joanna Tzouvelis. Sign-up required. Event date: Wednesday, September 23, 2020 - 6:30pm