Reopening Plan 2020-2021
As we enter the academic year 2020-2021 the COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all in a variety of ways, and yet, we know that the geopolitical context of our community of Lawrence, MA has left our residents deeply impacted in ways that other communities have not felt. The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified and intensified many structural barriers that our students and families, as a collective, face daily. Some of those barriers are higher infectious rates, higher unemployment cases, higher rates of deaths and hospitalizations, and lack of access to quality education for students. At Esperanza, we pride ourselves in not only teaching the whole child but also creating an educational environment that takes into consideration the role that structural inequality plays in the lives of our young students and their families. More importantly, we pride ourselves in our grounding belief that communities like Lawrence are made of people who have an immeasurable amount of skills, strengths, and cultural values that often get overlooked by the general society.
This summer the administrative team came together to create an action plan for reopening. Before we designed a plan, we engaged in a very involved thought exercise answering the question “why does Esperanza exist?” We distilled those rich conversations into a mission statement, core values, and guiding principles that will ground our work for this coming year. This mission statement and core values will anchor us as we all navigate the uncharted waters of the academic year 2020-2021.
Academic Year 2020-2021 Mission Statement
Through the academic year, 2020-2021 Esperanza will deliver a holistic program focused on addressing the academic and social disparities that impact our students and their families as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
We will continue to be a school that focuses on the growth of each student through culturally responsive teaching and prioritizing restorative justice practices. We will maintain our relationship-centric ethos and our commitment to our program that honors and celebrates the cultural, linguistic, familial, and navigational capital of the families from Lawrence, MA.
Core Values for Academic Year 2020-2021
COMMUNITY: We strengthen and support our COMMUNITY. We believe in the power of community as an existing resource to support and lift our students and their families. And we will harness the power of our internal Esperanza community to continue to spread joy, love, and inspiration.
LEARNING: We prioritize LEARNING and the development of the whole child. We will support the social-emotional needs and growth of all of our students while addressing any learning gaps that may occur because of the societal disparities reinforced by the global pandemic.
JUSTICE: We make every decision through the lens of JUSTICE. Now more than ever we will make sure that equity is at the heart of the delivery of all aspects of our educational program. We will not lose the extenuating circumstances that our families are facing during this global pandemic.
FLEXIBILITY: We embrace FLEXIBILITY in times of change. Understanding that no one can predict the obstacles that students, families, and we as a society will face this coming year we will remain and expect flexibility as we adapt to the emerging needs of an academic year in a pandemic.
Esperanza Academy School Re-Entry Planning Process
The Esperanza Academy Administrative Team, in concert with the 365 Committee and the Faculty, have developed a re-entry strategy that recognizes that the School must remain flexible, not only to support the diverse needs of students and families but to be able to respond to the changing situation that continues to evolve due to COVID-19. This Re-Entry Plan reflects our thinking as of August 20, 2020. Our goal is to provide the very best educational experience possible for our students while also ensuring the Health and Safety of all members of the community.
Esperanza is at its best when teachers can work as closely with students as possible; however, given the current classification of Lawrence, MA. as a “Red” High-Risk community by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in their August 13, 2020, Department of Public Health Report, we have decided to open the school fully remote for the first four weeks of school. On October 8th, 2020 with the consultation of the administrative team, 365 Committee, and the Board of Trustees, we will reevaluate whether it is safe to open school for in-person learning. We have worked with medical professionals to address what we must do to provide in-person instruction. As long as that remains unfeasible, we will provide remote instruction opportunities for students with a commitment to fostering the health and well-being of each student while promoting high academic achievement and engagement and providing individualized support.
This chart highlights the classification of Lawrence as a “high risk” area for COVID-19 transmission by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Health and Safety
Esperanza’s Administration and 365 Committee have been actively and strategically working together in our responses to COVID-19. This team has created a Health and Safety Reopening Plan, designed to protect the health and safety of the entire Esperanza community — students, families, faculty, staff, and visitors. This plan includes our strategy for opening remotely, hybrid, or fully in person. This plan follows the guidelines of the CDC and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to guide our operations for all three reopening strategies.
Essential Questions
What conditions would cause Esperanza to close facilities and move to all-school remote learning? Esperanza will transition to 100% remote learning if mandated by the Governor or recommended by the CDC or MDPH. According to the current classification of Lawrence, MA. as a “Red” High-Risk community by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in their August 13, 2020, Department of Public Health Report, we have decided to open the school fully remote for the first four weeks of school.
What conditions would allow Esperanza to open in-person, on-campus? Esperanza Academy will follow all CDC and MDPH guidelines for opening in-person, on-campus for the 2020-2021 school year. Once the MDH classifies Lawrence as “green” or low-risk, the community will consider moving to a hybrid model.
What happens if/when there is a confirmed COVID-19 case within the school community? If we are notified of a positive case of COVID-19 by a parent or staff member, our first call will be to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for direction. If we are in person, Esperanza will follow all CDC and Health Department protocols to send infected or exposed individuals home. The CDC recommends 14 days of quarantine after exposure based on the time it takes to develop the illness if infected. Esperanza will follow all CDC and Massachusetts Public Health Department protocols to sanitize or temporarily close any at-risk areas of the school. The Health Department will guide decisions regarding the closure of a classroom, an office, or the school.
Academic Plan
This plan outlines our guidelines and methods for prioritizing learning and whole-child development amidst this year’s uncertainties, and its relationship to Esperanza’s 2021 mission and core values.
Instructional Model
Esperanza will utilize an instructional model that:
Follows best practices and models for blended and remote learning
The TPACK model provides our framework for the ideal relationship between technology, pedagogy, and content, where teachers use technology to support and enhance their content and pedagogy.
The three forms of interaction for remote learning provides a guide for effective planning and instruction
Learner to content
Learner to instructor
Learner to learner
Based on our core value of FLEXIBILITY, adapts between in-person and remote learning
Chromebooks will be the primary medium of instruction, whether remote or in-person. The benefits of this include:
Google Classroom as a hub for all classes and assignments to provide structure, coherence, and facilitated movement between remote and in-person modes
Avoiding shared physical materials and supplies
Group work in remote and socially distanced environments
Minimizing start-up costs and time in case of switch to full remote learning
Prioritizes critical skills
As middle schoolers, our students are engaged in learning to learn. Cross-curricular skills including critical reading, analytical writing, discussion, and arguing from the evidence, problem-solving and reasoning, and analyzing and interpreting data are the first priority. It is especially important to plan and instruct primarily for practicing and strengthening these skills in a remote or hybrid environment, which might cover about 50% of the content as an in-person course.
In addition, in “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain,” Zaretta Hammond explains the crucial importance of developing students from marginalized communities as “independent learners” to develop their intellective capacity. Traditional schooling often relegates these students to rote learning, which does not prepare students to access opportunities and personal and career advancement. Supporting students as “independent learners” is thus a critical part of our equity work.
Honors and supports students’ creativity, agency, and individuality through principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Restorative Justice (RJ), and Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT), and Music Therapy
Our students will enter this academic year with an even wider spectrum of skills, needs, and strengths than usual. We know that each of these students is capable of reaching high academic standards, and of enjoying and succeeding at challenging academic work. Universal Design for Learning is a method to ensure that all students can access and engage with the curriculum. Because it allows each student to select and utilize the tools they need to succeed, it develops “independent learners,” requires less pre-work for teachers and respects individuals’ agency more than traditional differentiation.
CRT means not only recognizing the value of students’ home learning strategies, but also building on those strengths in the classroom, through storytelling, music, drama, debate, cognitive routines and more, to increase students’ information processing and independent learning abilities.
It, along with RJ, emphasizes the importance of building a warm and supporting learning community where students feel safe and welcome
Supports teachers’ continued growth and improvement in the model
The Lesson Planning Process Guide distills these principles into a usable process for teachers to use in lesson planning.
The Hybrid Teacher’s Guide is another excellent resource
The week of professional development will include:
Ongoing support will include:
Weekly feedback on lesson plans
Weekly individual meetings with the Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Creation of student-centered goals for academic growth, with CRT, RJ, and UDL embedded in action steps, along with progress monitoring and formative assessment checkpoints for students
Expectations and Accountability
A hybrid or remote learning environment offers unique challenges and opportunities for students. As we move from our first forays into remote learning towards a long-term model, it is critical that expectations and accountability provide:
Clear systems and structures of communication and support for students, faculty, and families
Both flexibility and structure to take advantage of remote learning’s opportunities and to mitigate its challenges
Our student survey suggests that students really appreciated working at their own pace and improving their ability to solve problems independently
It also suggests they struggled with time management and feeling connected
Thus, the primary expectations for students working remotely are:
Students are expected to be actively engaged in remote learning throughout the academic day, from 7:30-3:00pm
Students should be present for and during any live classes (three times a week during remote learning)
Students may have their cameras off, but they need to be able to respond orally or via chat during discussions or when asked a question
Teachers will take attendance during live classes
During a class block, if there is no live class, students are expected and required to work on assignments for that subject area. Teachers will take attendance. Teachers will be available during that time for questions and support. If students have completed their assignments, or are engaged in work in another subject area, they should check in with their teacher.
If students cannot be present due to an extenuating circumstance, they are expected to communicate with their teacher and advisor via email or Google Chat
If students are absent from one class without communicating, then the teacher will communicate with the family and student. If students are absent from more than one class, then the Front Office will call the family.
Transitions, remote flex and fun/flex periods, breakfast, and lunch offer opportunities for screen breaks, movement, eating, and relaxation
Expectations for families
Families need to become familiar with the Remote Learning Schedule
Families need to provide a space conducive to learning
Designated space
Ensure appropriate screen breaks and exercise
Protected learning time from 7:30-3:00
Families need to contact the school for support (emotional, technological, and in understanding the academic expectations) Class Schedule
From September 8th (the first day of school) to mid-October, the school will be 100% remote learning.
This schedule includes much more structure and academic time than our learning model this spring. While in the spring, students had a lot of unstructured time and independence, this schedule closely follows the structure of a typical school day. This significant change ensures that students participate in as rich and complete a program that they would during an in-school day. In the spring, we were in an emergency remote learning mode — getting our bearings, adapting to the new realities, and focused on simply engaging and connecting with students. However, as the pandemic continues, the urgency of our students’ academic growth and need for community connection grows. Luckily, our knowledge and comfort with remote learning has also greatly increased, thanks to experience, and bolstered by professional learning and discussion during the summer. Therefore, we are now well able to create a much fuller and more structured learning environment for students, and indeed, must do so to ensure students’ continued academic progress. This new schedule increases healthy accountability and structure for students while maintaining the beneficial independent and self-paced learning of the spring.
The 2020-2021 schedule is designed to:
Adapt flexibly between in-person and remote learning
Teachers have designated blocks for in-person and remote teaching — they will work with one group of students at a time
Therefore, the schedule can remain essentially unchanged for hybrid, fully remote, or fully in-person learning
In case of fully in-person, the remote flex blocks (added to prevent screen burnout and build in flexibility for remote students) will convert to double academic blocks
Prioritize core academic subjects
The schedule maintains the time allotted for each subject of the typical in-person schedule
In Esperanza’s hybrid model, the schedule prioritizes math, English, science, and art for on-campus instruction
Science and art because of the additional challenges of remote work in these areas, and because of art’s healing and joy
English and math as key academic areas
The eighth grade has a double block of high school prep in person, and one remote block. There is the option for additional time from 3:00-5:00 on Wednesdays, and for use of the remote flex blocks
Grading and Feedback
The pandemic’s inequities and extenuating circumstances have required schools to rethink grading policies to enhance motivation, fairness, feedback, and transparency. Esperanza Academy is developing an equitable grading policy based on Joe Feldman’s Grading for Equity.
Social-Emotional Wellbeing
At Esperanza Academy, we believe that students’ social-emotional wellbeing is paramount. We also believe that two other of our core values, COMMUNITY, and JUSTICE, are critical pieces of students’ wellbeing. Thus, to heal, strengthen, and bring joy to our students, we look to our ways of being in just community. There are five programmatic initiatives for social-emotional support during the time of COVID-19: Academic Schedule, Restorative Justice, Music Therapy, Student Support Team, and Greater Lawrence Family Health Center
Academic Schedule
The schedule supports students’ wellbeing in including dedicated time for joy and community
Daily Advisory
Weekly Community Morning Meeting
Three times per week “Fun/Flex” time (remote and in-person) for additional music therapy, Restorative Justice circles, outside play, or other joyful and healing activities (art, games, etc.)
Weekly chapel
During in-person schooling, daily outdoor play at breakfast and lunch
In case of inclement weather, faculty will organize alternate movement activities indoors, utilizing online resources such as GoNoodle as necessary
Restorative Justice (RJ)
What does implementing restorative justice practices at Esperanza look like during a pandemic? Our restorative justice curriculum takes into account our major stakeholders in this cultural shift: our faculty, our students, and our families. Through our RJ program, we will create virtual and physical spaces for students to come together and practice community-building, trust-building, processing trauma, and creating moments of collective joy.
Restorative Justice with Faculty
Faculty will continue to hold weekly circle practice to build and deepen our relationships with each other. Weekly circles for staff will also serve as a practice ground for those who want to grow their circle keeping skills.
Circles can happen both online and in person. The RJ Coordinator will organize relevant formal training and learning opportunities for staff throughout the year for professional development, as well as sharing informal resources (books, podcasts, articles, etc).
The Director of Curriculum and the RJ Coordinator will also work together to support teachers in planning and implementing a restorative framework for our curriculum.
The RJ Coordinator will also be available for non-evaluative observations on restorative practices in the classroom and/or online.
Restorative Justice with Students
Our students are vital co-creators in our restorative justice practices at Esperanza. Since RJ is about relationship building and adapting to the needs of the community, what RJ specifically looks like in every classroom may be different based on the agreements between students and teachers.
Advisors and the RJ Coordinator will hold circles to establish classroom values and agreements and to introduce and practice harm circles (again, this can happen easily online or off).
5th and 6th grade typically begin every morning with circle practice, whereas 7th and 8th grade may use circle practice more sparingly and in response to specific conversations.
Restorative Justice and Families:
Finally, it is imperative that families understand what the shift to restorative justice means at Esperanza, and why we committed to this practice. Families will be (re)introduced to restorative practices at parent orientation and have the opportunity to engage in circle practice.
Relationships with parents will be supported and deepened through informal cafecitos with our principal, prayer with our chaplain, circle practice and restorative justice education for family engagement nights with all staff, and (as needed) family-student restorative music therapy.
Music Therapy (MT)
Through our music therapy program, we will support our students by providing culturally responsive individualized therapeutic support with a focus on resiliency, recovery, and joy during their time at Esperanza Academy. Given that high rates of anxiety and depression are prevalent during times of crises, we are fortunate to offer a music therapy program which research shows engages a variety of brain areas involved in emotion, motivation, cognition, and motor functions. Musical interventions have been used to increase socialization and cognitive, emotional, and neuromotor functioning, which is critical as we respond to the needs of our students and families during COVID-19. The MT program will:
Continue providing support through virtual sessions for students
1/1 phone Check-ins with parents to maintain a pulse on and parents and students well being
Have an open MT group with specific activity every week ex. virtual dance party, song sharing, songwriting/mindfulness
Infuse MT in advisory for each grade
Provide times for parents and their daughters to engage in MT sessions together.
Student Support Team (SST)
The Student Support Team is made up of the: Principal, Director of Literacy and Instruction, Director of Graduate Support, Restorative Justice Coordinator, and Music Therapist. The SST will continue to meet weekly to discuss students’ holistic needs and to plan and strategize to ensure each child’s success at Esperanza. The team will maintain a pulse on student and family needs and create action plans for support. The SST will provide weekly Community Newsletters that will go out to family highlighting internal and external resources that may be available to them. This may include chapel services with Rev. Angel Ayala, open music therapy sessions with Ms. Koskela, food or housing services in Lawrence, and COVID related resources, among others.
Greater Lawrence Family Health Services (GLFHS)
GLFHS aims to improve and maintain the health of individuals and families in the Merrimack Valley by providing a network of high quality, comprehensive healthcare services and by training healthcare professionals to respond to the needs of a culturally diverse population. Through a partnership with GLFHS we have been assigned a bilingual/bicultural caseworker to assist our families when they are in need in response to COVID-19 related questions or illness. Esperanza Families will have direct access to our caseworker through the academic year 2020-2021.