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With the start of blended learning on March 1, Dearborn Public Schools will change how it distributes free student meals.

Weekly meal pickup will move to Wednesdays starting on March 3 and will be provided at all of our traditional middle and high schools. Pickup will continue to run from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Pickup will be available at Bryant Middle, Dearborn High, Edsel Ford High, Fordson High, Lowrey, McCollough-Unis, Salina Intermediate, Smith Middle, Stout Middle, and Woodworth Middle schools.

View the attached video for more information on our Hybrid Return to School. We can’t wait to see everyone!

Long Hybrid Information

More than 1,400 Dearborn Public School staff were able to get their first COVID vaccination shot on February 11 and 12 at one of two locations. Depending on which vaccination they received, all those staff will need their second shot either three or four weeks after the first dose. Realizing that scheduling the second dose of the vaccine will lead to staff shortages, the district is being proactive and planning four online learning days.

The first two Thursdays and Fridays in March (March 4, 5, 11, and 12) will now be remote learning days where students remain at home. Students should still expect to have mostly live instruction over those four days. Teachers will provide more specific information about their classes closer to that time. Students will still be expected to log into Schoology each of those four days and attend classes and complete assigned work.

The Mondays and Tuesdays of both those weeks will still be hybrid with some students in school. Wednesdays were already scheduled to be remote learning days.

Hybrid learning will still start on March 1 for students in kindergarten, first, second, sixth and ninth grades. On March 8, students in preschool, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and 10th grades will start hybrid learning. Grades eight, 11 and 12 will return for hybrid learning on March 15.

The first two weeks of hybrid learning, students will attend face-to-face class one day that week, either Monday or Tuesday depending on if they are group A or B. Their second day that week now will be replaced by remote learning.

Superintendent Glenn Maleyko announced earlier that the district would likely need to add some remote learning days after the district found out we would be able to mass vaccinate willing staff over two days.

“We appreciate the community’s patience as we work to keep staff, students and families as safe as we can in the current environment,” Dr. Maleyko said. “Learning remotely for these additional days will provide more continuity to students and allow teachers to work around the vaccination schedule.”

“Please know that even after staff are vaccinated, they will continue to follow CDC guidelines including wearing masks in schools, and we will encourage our community to continue to use social distancing and to #MaskUpDearborn until the country is able to get COVID under control,” Dr. Maleyko added.

Attached is the flyer with Zoom links for our virtual STEAM Night happening Wednesday, Feb. 24 from 5:30-6:30. If you have not yet picked up a project to make, there’s still time. They are available in the school lobby. We hope to “see” you there!

Long STEAM Night

We are so excited to see students returning to school buildings! In our continued efforts to keep everyone safe and healthy, we ask that you monitor your child’s health daily using the attached screening tool. This process is completed at home prior to school and nothing needs to be turned in at school.

By now many of you have heard that our community has met the health criteria set by our Board of Education and we can start our plan to bring students back to in-person learning through a phased in approach. Please see the timeline below that shows when your child’s grade level will be coming back.

We have worked very hard to develop a plan that will allow us to safely resume a hybrid model of face to face learning. When we start to bring students back, you will notice that we have added signage and other safety measures to our school, stockpiled PPE’s, and enhanced cleaning procedures. Also, by the time students start coming back for instruction, all staff members who have chosen to receive the COVID-19 vaccine will have had the opportunity to get at least their first dose.

The District plan is a phased in approach that will allow us to work through the process slowly and cautiously to ensure the safety of our students and staff. Of course, each school will face their own unique challenges and we will be working with our staff, students, and parents to make sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible. We will continue to provide additional information as we move ahead.

In order to maintain a social distance between students during entry and exit times, we have assigned specific doors to each class. These doors will also be used as we begin Learning Labs next week.

Newsted/Bartolomei – Kindergarten porch door #3
Denison/GSRP – Door #4
Nettlow/McShane – Door #5
Little – Door #1
Ankouny/Chesney – Door #11
Jones/Kaye – Door #10

Moving to this next phase is exciting news and we look forward to seeing your children in our classrooms. We also know that for some it may bring about uneasy feelings or even concern. Please know that all of us here at Long School are working to create the very best learning experience for your child while maintaining the safety of all students and staff.
Be safe and continue to Mask UP!
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General Overview of the Safe Start To School Plan
Our plan will start with face-to-face learning labs for special education students who are part of the Act 18 program starting on Tuesday, February 16. Learning labs for other students will start later next week. Many staff members will report to their buildings starting February 16.
The second week after learning labs start, schools will start reopening to all students for blended learning. With blended learning, students will be in school two days a week – either Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday – and will work from home the other days. Wednesdays will be live online classes for all students.

The reopening schedule will go as follows:
Thursday, February 11th
Async day all students. (Teachers may connect with students if they wish) (Teachers may come to the buildings if they want to prepare their rooms)
Staff appointments for vaccination (DMC and Wayne County)

Friday, Feb 12th
No School-Midwinter break
Staff appointments for vaccination (DMC and Wayne County)

Monday Feb 15
No School-Midwinter break

Tuesday, Feb 16th
Asynchronous AM only for students/Duty Day for teachers- PM
ACT 18 Learning Labs start face-to-face

Wednesday, Feb 17th
General Education Learning Labs are virtual

Thursday, Feb. 18th
General Education Learning Labs begin in-person

Monday, Feb 22
All learning labs continue this week.
Schools prepare for student hybrid return based on the schedule

Friday, Feb 26
Regular full day for General Education
ACT 18 Learning Labs in AM
½ Duty day for Act 18 staff in the PM

Monday, March 1: Hybrid schedule begins Pk-12
K-2, 6th, and 9th grade students start in-school hybrid schedule
All grades begin the new time schedule even if they are not face to face this week
All categorical classroom schedules begin (tentatively pending transportation)

Monday, March 8th
Grades preschool, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and 10th start in-school hybrid learning.

Monday, March 15th
Grades eighth, 11th and 12th start in-school hybrid learning.

February 5, 2021


Greetings Parents, Students, and Community Members,

Ever since the announcement of a COVID-19 vaccine there has been an on-going and somewhat confusing discussion on where and how to receive the vaccine. However, I’m happy to share very positive news regarding our efforts to get our staff vaccinated.

We have built an outstanding relationship with the Wayne County Health Department and continue to work directly with them and Wayne RESA to secure appointments for staff members. On February 1st, the County began notifying select school districts to schedule vaccine appointments for their employees. The District was contacted by the County and it looks very promising that our turn could occur as early as next Thursday and Friday, February 11 and 12. This means that we will plan to make February 11 an asynchronous instructional day across the district. Feb. 12 is already a vacation day for mid-winter break. The more staff that are able to get the vaccine, the safer it will be for our students, staff and community.

The County is the primary source of vaccine distribution for school employees. We know they have a huge task in front of them in their efforts to vaccinate more than 20,000 school employees working in Wayne County. Therefore, we have been in discussions with other healthcare providers to secure vaccines for our staff. Those efforts have been beneficial as almost one thousand vaccines will be given to Dearborn Public School employees by a hospital in the Detroit area. The distribution of these vaccines is also scheduled for next Thursday and Friday.

In addition, we have been encouraging all staff who may be eligible to be vaccinated to pursue any and all options to make an appointment with outside organizations. We have provided staff with a list of resources to aid in their efforts and to date we are aware of almost 400 staff members who have already received the vaccine.

The work of our District Vaccine committee, the incredible work of Wayne County Health, our partnership with a local hospital, and the efforts of individual staff members will very likely result in all 2,700 staff members in the Dearborn Public Schools who want to receive a vaccine having that opportunity by the end of next week.

Looking ahead, our new message is one of continued patience, unwavering perseverance, and never ending hope. We have weathered a great storm for almost a year, and although the winds may have calmed, the sun shining through the clouds, the storm is not over. The vaccine brings great hope to a return to normal and adds one more layer of protection in our efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and keep our community healthy.

Stay safe, be healthy, and remember to Mask Up!
Regards,

Glenn Maleyko, Ph.D.
Superintendent
Dearborn Public Schools

Dearborn Public Schools is canceling the four remaining late starts scheduled for this year and will replace them with one half day on a Friday still to be determined.

The late starts scheduled for Feb. 10, March 10, April 21 and May 5 are canceled, and students and staff will have a regular day of school those days in whatever format the district is conducting class at that time.

Instead of the late starts, students will have a half day of school on the Friday before the district restarts learning labs. Teachers will use the afternoon to prepare for students returning to the classroom. The district does not yet know what day that will be.

The Board of Education has set two measures for when the district will reopen schools. Both are based on reports from the Wayne County Health Department. Dearborn has already improved to at least a D grade on the COVID risk matrix, which is the first requirement. The second requirement is that Wayne County, outside of Detroit, falls to a 5 percent or lower positivity rate on the weekly report. This week’s report showed the area down to a 6.2 percent. The most recent reports are available on the district’s COVID page.

The district expects to tell staff on a Tuesday and the public on a Wednesday when both conditions have been met. The half day would be that Friday to allow teachers to prepare to return to working in the school buildings. The Monday after the announcement, learning labs would restart, including those for special education programs funded through Act 18. Students would start returning to class in buildings for blended learning two weeks later. The board-approved reopening timeline is posted on the district’s back-to-school website.

This year’s school calendar originally included seven late start dates. Late starts are Wednesdays about once a month where students report to class an hour later to allow the staff time for professional development before school. This year, the three late starts in the first semester were cancelled after the district opted to have a soft start to online school. With this announcement, the district has eliminated all the late starts for this school year.

“In a typical year, late starts are a great tool to allow staff time to come together with their peers for teambuilding and professional development,” said Superintendent Glenn Maleyko. “However, this is not a typical year, and teachers and administrators feel the time would be better used to help make a smoother transition to restarting in-school learning.”

Just a friendly reminder that this Friday, February 5th, there is no school for KINDERGARTNERS ONLY! All other grades will report as usual.

Thank you and stay safe!

Do you need Kids Club during our Hybrid Learning? We now have total ONLINE Enrollment through our new Eleyo System.
Just go to our Eleyo Web Page https://dearbornschools.ce.eleyo.com/child-care/3/school-age-care Parents will need to create an account and then begin to enroll their children. It is OK if you don’t know your Cohort schedule at this point. Go ahead and choose a schedule. When you are given your schedule by your teacher just drop us an email at billingech@dearbornschools.org and we can make that correction for you!

Kids Club is from 7:30 a.m. until the beginning of school and the flat fee is $13 for each a.m. session. The p.m. session is from the end of school until 5:30 p.m. and the flat fee is $15.60 for each session.

You will see sections for Kids Club and for School Age All Day Child Care. We do offer care at DuVall and Lindbergh. The hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The cost per session is $36/8 hour, $38/9 hours and $40/10 hours. Registration is on a first come first serve basis. A minimum number of students are required to offer our tuition based programs.

Questions? Call us at 313-827-8350