It’s been 48 days since Friday, March 13th, the day students last attended NYC public schools before they were officially shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Private schools closed on Wednesday, March 11th just prior to their scheduled two-week spring break). Not that anyone’s counting. Oh, who are we kidding? EVERYONE has been counting, Parents and caregivers certainly have.
Families suddenly faced the daunting task of balancing working from home while schooling their children under lock-down. This unprecedented situation produced a variety of reactions, everything from screen time limits being tossed out the window, finding newfound, deep appreciation of teachers, mixing up a Quarantini, and ranting on YouTube, like this now infamous Israeli Mom. (She’s not wrong!) For those families whose children have special needs, the disruption of schedules, and much-needed, hard-won services, being “on pause” has been an uphill battle.
That said, on Tuesday the NYC DOE announced a revised grading policy that will take some of the pressure off. The nuts and bolts are outlined below. You can read the full announcement HERE.
The grading policy outlined below is in effect for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year only. Teachers will base students’ final grades on a holistic review of their progress before and after we started remote learning. Attendance will not be a factor in students’ grades. No student will receive a failing final grade.
- 3K and Pre-K: No change. Students in 3K and Pre-K do not receive report cards or grades
- K – 5th: Students receive final grades of either “Meets Standards” (MT) or “Needs Improvement” (N).
- 6th – 8th: Students receive final grades of “Meets Standards” (MT), “Needs Improvement” (N), or “Course in Progress” (NX), if additional time is needed to complete the course.
- 9th – 12th: Your school’s existing grading scale applies, but no failing grades will be issued. A “Course in Progress” (NX) will be issued instead, providing students with additional time to complete the requirements for the course. After final grades have been issued, students and families have the option to convert any or all passing Spring Semester 2020 final grades to ‘CR’ which indicates the course was passed and credit was earned but does not have a value in the student’s GPA.
There’s no official word, yet, on whether schools will re-open this academic year. Governor Cuomo said during his Thursday morning briefing he would make an announcement by the end of this week (meaning by Sunday). Though, in truth, it seems unlikely that kids will see the inside of a classroom anytime soon. Be safe everyone. Be kind to your neighbors, stay home, wear a mask if you venture out, stay six feet away from everyone and everything. And if you must drink, drink responsibly.
The blog would like to send a huge THANK YOU to all of the essential workers.
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