Watkins prepares for more on-site instruction

WATKINS GLEN--Watkins Glen Central School District Superintendent Greg Kelahan sent a letter to parents, Monday, Nov. 23 informing them of upcoming planned changes at the school. There is currently a survey available online to help parents communicate their plans with a follow-up in the next few weeks to commit to an instruction plan.
"If regional health conditions and our appropriate school planning allow, I would like to invite back any students interested [in] on-site instruction for full weeks beginning Monday, Jan. 4, 2021," the statement read. "For elementary students, this means being in the school building Monday-Friday every day; for high school students this means being in school all days except for Wednesdays, which will remain scheduled for remote instruction, only."
There will be an option for children to participate completely remotely and the current cohorts coming in two days a week in-person will be ended. All students will either be on-site learners or entirely remote learners.
In the transition from the old strategy to the new, the letter states "[we] will be shifting the entire district to remote instruction between the Thanksgiving recess and the beginning of the winter recess (Monday, Nov. 30 through Tuesday, Dec. 22). We will use these 17 school days to prepare for the return to daily on-site learning for any students interested."
The classrooms will remain set up in a socially distanced manner and masks will be required at all times for students and staff.
"The addition of an entirely on-site option for students will also coincide with the addition of opportunities for students, including limited interscholastic athletics," the statement said. "As always, we put safety above all else, but we will gradually increase opportunities for students as we believe appropriate."
The preliminary survey about whether a child would likely enroll in-person or remotely at Watkins Glen can be accessed here: tinyurl.com/wgsurvey1.