Half of Worcester Public Schools students opt-in for hybrid learning starting in March
Updated Feb 25, 2021;
Members of the Worcester School Committee on Thursday night listened to a highly detailed plan from Superintendent Maureen Binienda covering health and safety protocols for the district’s hybrid learning plan.
The superintendent listed process of ensuring students are safe from the moment they get onto the bus until they leave school for the day.
Worcester students are preparing to return to school next month to start hybrid learning after just about a year of learning online only during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As voted on by the committee earlier this month, students with the highest level of needs and New Citizens Center Program students are slated to return to classrooms on March 15. Then March 29 will be the return date for all other students.
More than 900 Massachusetts schools participating in COVID-19 pool testing Share Updated: 12:21 PM EST Feb 26, 2021
More than 900 Massachusetts schools participating in COVID-19 pool testing Share Updated: 12:21 PM EST Feb 26, 2021
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Show Transcript NOW TO DHE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS. DOZENS OF SCHOOLS ARE USING POOL TESTING AS ANOTHER TOOL TO PROTECT STUDENTS AND STAFF AND KEEP KIDS IN CLASS. GOVERNOR BAKER GETTING A FIRST HAND LOOK AT HOW IT WORKS. NEWSCENTER 5’S MATT REED IS LIVE IN NEWBURYPORT AT A SCHOOL TAKING PART IN THE PROGRAM MATT: THEY ARE HOPING THAT OTHER COMMUNITIES WILL FOLLOW SUIT. GOVERNOR BAKER VISITING NEWBURYPORT THIS MORNING, ONE OF APPROXIMATELY 159 SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE STATE THAT HAVE SIGNED UP FOR COVID POOL TESTING. GOVERNOR BAKER: WE’RE LOOKING TO FIND A RELATIVELY UNCOMPLICATED WAY FOR SCHOOLS TO IMPLEMENT WEEKLY SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM. MATT: UNDER THE PROGRAM, SWABS ARE COLLECTED FROM A GROUP OF STUDEN
Watch: Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker to speak Friday on return to in-person learning
Updated Feb 26, 2021;
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and two of the state’s top education officials will visit a middle school Friday as they push to see more schools shift away from remote or hybrid learning.
Baker will be joined by Secretary of Education James Peyser, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley and Newburyport Mayor Donna D. Holaday in a tour of Nock-Molin Middle School in Newburyport, which offers in-person learning.
Students at the middle school participate in a pooled COVID-19 testing program.
While at the school, Baker, Peyser and Riley will speak to reporters. The press conference is scheduled to begin at 8:30 and can be watched via livestream below.
Baker Pushes Districts To Ramp Up Virus Screening While Reopening Schools
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker tours a pooled COVID-19 testing program during a visit to the Nock-Molin Middle School in Newburyport, Massachusetts on Feb. 26, 2021.
Nicolaus Czarnecki/Boston Herald/Pool
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is pushing for more school districts to adopt in-house COVID-19 screening as they bring students back for classroom learning this spring.
Baker appeared at the Nock-Molin Middle School in Newburyport to tour the school s pool testing operation and reopened in-class learning Friday morning.
Baker s pool testing program, launched in January, allows schools to test samples from groups of students and teachers for infection. When a positive result is found, each member of the group is then tested to find any infected individuals The method is seen as a way to screen groups like school pods and whole classes using minimal laboratory resources.