Administration

Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Joseph Giani

August 31, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians and Students:

Welcome to the 2020-21 school year, a school year that will begin like no other before. I hope this letter finds you healthy and enjoying the final days of summer vacation with family and friends.  Whether we are greeting you in person or virtually, we eagerly anticipate another successful year here in South Country School District, and look forward to “seeing” you all on the first day of school, which is Tuesday, September 8, 2020.  On Tuesday, cohort MT will be in-person at school and Cohorts HF and RL will be remotely at home.  

Once again, I would like to thank you for joining me during our district-wide parent meetings via Zoom to discuss the reopening plan for September.  Our virtual meetings gave me an opportunity to connect with many more folks than my in-person meetings in the past.  I enjoyed hearing your thoughts and sharing information at these meetings and will continue to use this mode to share information moving forward.  As a reminder, a copy of the reopening plan for September may be found on our district website at the following link: https://www.southcountry.org/district/Preliminary_Reopening_Plan.

This is a fluid document and will be updated as needed as we implement the plan.

Effectively communicating with you is important to us.  In continuing our effort to maximize school to home/home to school communication, we will communicate with you through email and the Parent Portal.  This will maximize our use of technology and get information to and from school quickly and efficiently.  As a result, all summer mailing material has been posted on our district website, rather than mailing hard copies.  All affirmations will also be confirmed on the Parent Portal, rather than sending and handling paper copies.   These materials may be found on the home webpage of your child’s school.  

Please note that as per our Reopening Plan, a temperature affirmation has been added and must be completed in Parent Portal by September 4, 2020, with the parent/student affirmation due by September 15, 2020.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding these materials, please contact the principal of your child’s school. In addition, face coverings/masks that completely cover the nose and mouth will be required for all students and adults entering our schools and buildings.  The district recognizes families may wish to supply their children with their own face covering/mask.  Acceptable face coverings/masks will include cloth-based or surgical masks that are fitted and worn in the manner designated by health authorities.  Gaiter-style masks, bandanas, knitted masks and masks with one-way valves or vents are not permitted.  Face coverings/masks may not contain messaging or designs that may disrupt the educational environment.  Students who do not have their own face covering/mask will be provided one.    

The District has designated a COVID-19 Safety Coordinator to serve as the resource person for continuous compliance with the plans for reopening schools.  In addition, points of contact at the building level will oversee health-screening activities and serve as the main contacts for the identification of positive COVID-19 cases.  These individuals will be responsible for communicating pertinent information to the COVID-19 Safety Coordinator and/or the Superintendent of Schools.  The contact information for those individuals is as follows:

In addition, the District has established procedures to respond effectively to questions and suggestions from parents and residents. The procedures start with the person closest to the situation, as it is that person that will have the most information. Because situations sometimes require that additional staff become involved in the conversations, we have categorized the major areas of interest, with a list for each area of those responsible. This information may be found on our district website at the following address:   http://www.southcountry.org/district/have_a_question      

Finally, there may be times when the weather will cause schools to have a delayed opening or close for the day.  These decisions will generally be made by 5:30 am.  All delays and closings will be posted on the district’s website at www.southcountry.org, and the district will place a phone call through ConnectEd to your home or cell phone notifying you of any closings or delayed opening.  The information will also be broadcast on the following stations: WALK 97.5 FM; WBAB 102.3 FM; WBZO 103.1 FM; WRCN 103.9 FM; WBLI 106.1 FM; and Channel 12 TV News.

I look forward to working with you to ensure that all of our children have a very successful, safe and enjoyable school year.  On behalf of the Board of Education and our faculty and staff, welcome to the 2020-2021 school year!

Sincerely,

Dr. Joseph Giani                 

Superintendent of Schools