March 12, 2021

Dear Teaneck Parents/Guardians, Students & Staff,

Our country just marked a somber one-year milestone. But spring is only eight days away; and I am already sensing a very positive turn of events.

For one, earlier this week, we learned that the State of New Jersey moved up their eligibility timeline and began vaccinating preschool through grade 12 teachers, support staff, and childcare workers. I immediately shared this information, along with a list of vaccination locations throughout New Jersey, with our staff members. We are also working on securing a specific site where our employees will be able to easily get vaccinated. But in the meantime, I have made a personal commitment to provide our staff with the necessary time needed to get their vaccine. If a staff member is only able to make an appointment during the school day, then we will provide that flexibility and take appropriate steps - including virtual instruction - to enable this critical step towards our full return to schools. I appreciate our parents' support of this initiative.

That brings me to my second point - which is how we plan to proceed for the final three months of this school year, and potentially add more “in-person” school days. As you know, our spring break will take place from April 2 - April 9 - with my promise for no homework assigned during this timeframe. While this is one way to enjoy your time off, I am sure that many of our families and staff are also looking to take advantage of much-needed time away from home. With that in mind, I want to ensure that upon our return, we do not have a surge in COVID cases. I believe the best course of action is to remain virtual (synchronous instruction) for that following week (April 12 - 16). After that, there are still 8+ weeks until the last day of school and I would like to see us bring certain students back for more than 2 days per week. I hope to release more information about this by the end of this month. Until then, please know that we have updated our COVID-19 protocols, and you can find that information here: Updated COVID-19 Response Guidance.

I know that we have many parents who are concerned that their children are falling behind academically. This week, our school principals are reaching out to parents who have children who are low performers and offering them additional in-person instructional time. If you want more information about this, please contact your child’s school principal. We are also working on specific summer programs and other support services to help “bridge the gap” due to this pandemic. The Board and our community will hear more about this next month.

Additionally, I want to remind everyone that there’s still time to sign-up your 3 or 4 year old child for our 2021-2022 preschool. Being able to offer free, full-day preschool is a source of great pride in our district; and I hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity for your child or please share with other families that you know who may be interested. For more information and an application, visit our website: Grades Preschool (PK3, PK4) and Kindergarten 2021-2022 .

Lastly, I would like to invite everyone to join our March 17 Board Meeting where I will be providing an update on our five-year District Strategic Plan (Teaneck Public Schools Five-Year Strategic Plan ). This will be a virtual meeting that begins at 8 pm. The link to the Zoom webinar will be on the District website (top of the page) the day of the meeting.

As I said, there are many positive signs ahead. I will continue to keep you updated as we move forward. Enjoy the early start to a “no homework weekend”.

Sincerely,

Dr. Christopher Irving, Superintendent of Schools