Closter Public Schools

Dear Parents and Closter Community,

We are in the home-stretch of the school year. Our last school day will be on June 19, 2020. Virtual learning will continue through June 19 and teachers are planning some end-of-year virtual activities for students.  

Our virtual fourth-grade moving up ceremony will be on Tuesday, June 16, 2020, at 4:00 p.m. The eighth-grade virtual graduation will be on Thursday, June 18, 2020, at 7:00 p.m.  The latest NJDOE guidance on in-person graduations, released last night, now allows drive-by car parades to take place anytime.  Our moving-up and graduation committees have been planning to have a drive-by parade for graduates and we will announce those plans soon. 

The NJDOE will be releasing by the end of June the requirements for reopening school buildings in September. We are not waiting until the end of June to begin making our plans. I have created a Closter School Building Reopening Committee and Sub-Committee. The committee's goal is to create a plan to address: various scenarios for delivering instruction; assessing student progress toward academic standards; keeping staff and students safe and healthy; and what professional development may be needed for staff. Once the NJDOE provides its guidance document, we will then adjust our plan based on their requirements. During the planning, the Closter School Building Reopening Committee will survey parents to gather their input, particularly about preferences for scheduling scenarios due to any mandates that require fewer people to be in the school building. Please know that if there are requirements for reduced building capacity, we may have an A/B day rotating schedule during which only half of the students in a class report to school and the others remain at home for virtual learning. Our district was eligible for a CARES Act grant. We submitted our proposal and received approval to use the funds to provide a summer supplemental instructional program and for the purchase of additional Chromebooks for use by students. We are in the process of planning the instructional program, which we will offer during the summer in a virtual format for students for four weeks (up to three hours per day). The eligibility criteria: students have not successfully met grade-level standards in language arts and/or math, struggled during virtual learning, and teacher recommendation. Students who are eligible for the program will receive notification in June.

Once again, I remind everyone that the 2020 census is underway. Our Census 2020 page has more information about the importance of every Closter resident completing the survey. The amount of federal funding provided to the district is calculated from the census data. They will use that data for the next ten years! Please complete the census if you haven’t already done so.

Please continue to stay safe and healthy.

Sincerely,

Vincent McHale

Vincent McHale
Superintendent of Schools
(201) 768-3001