January 10, 2021

Dear Morse Students and Parents: 

As I am sure you are aware by now, the Maine CDC has classified the Morse/Bath Tech campus into their outbreak status. An outbreak means that there are three or more cases of COVID-19 within a 14-day period. While these are not epidemiologically linked, based on discussions with the Maine CDC, we are cleaning the school/classrooms and closing Morse for 10 days. 

Since our last school day was Friday, January 8th, Morse will return to in-person learning on Tuesday, January 19th.  Given the Monday holiday on the 18th, Morse students will participate in fully remote classes from Monday, January 11th - Friday, January 15th.

As is the case with every course, the daily distance learning routine will look a little different in each course. However, the following general guidelines and expectations should be reviewed by students and families at this time: 

Students will continue to attend their classes on the in-person daily class schedule. These classes will be held using Google Meets, with the link posted on each course’s Brightspace page: 

Block

Start Time

End Time

Total Minutes

1

7:40

8:55

75

2

9:00

10:13

73

3

10:18

11:56

73 + 

25 min lunch

4

12:01

1:15

74

  • This daily schedule will occur on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. 

  • Since this closure is for one week, we will keep the cohorts separate for A and B groups online. ‘A’ group students will continue to meet with their teachers on Monday and Thursday and ‘B’ group students will meet on Tuesday and Friday. The distance learning days will keep the same format as is currently occurring using Brightspace Learning Environment, pre-recorded films, or even google meets, if that is what is currently occurring during distance days.

  • If the closure were to extend longer than two weeks (please, no!), the two cohorts of students (A & B days) will reunite as one class during the distance learning period. Therefore, each student will have 4-days of class/week.

  • Each in-person class will begin with a Google Meets session. This portion of the class can last as long as the teacher deems necessary (within the scheduled class time). The balance of the class will be occupied by work that is assigned by the teacher and distributed via Brightspace.

  • In order to be most successful, students need to have access to the internet during school hours. Hard copies of assignments are not practical for this workflow and we will provide them in only the most necessary situation. If such a situation shall arise, students should contact their school counselor or administration. 

Wednesday will continue to follow the similar schedule as during the hybrid model. There will be no student call-backs this week. Distance learning work will continue during Wednesdays as occurred during the hybrid model. 

Time

Wednesday Scheduled Events

7:30 - 9:00

Late Start Wednesday Teacher meetings

9:00 - 10:00

English Office Hours (via Google Meets)

10:00 - 11:00

Math Office Hours (via Google Meets)

11:00 - 12:00

Science Office Hours (via Google Meets)

12:00 - 1:00

Social Studies and World Language Office Hours (via Google Meets)

1:00 - 2:00

Office Hours for Fine Arts, PE, JMG,  Health (via Google Meets)


Students who are currently in the 100% Distance Learning model will not have any changes due to this closure. 

Students who are engaged in athletics or other extracurricular activities will not be able to meet in-person as long as the CDC categorizes Morse under the outbreak status. Morse coaches and club leaders will be reaching out to their teams or clubs with information regarding their next steps. 

Students with IEP’s should expect further communication from their school-based team on added supports this week. 

Parents, please review these expectations with your students and have them log-into their first class tomorrow morning. Again, they will find the link to the google meets class invite on each class's brightspace page starting tomorrow morning. 

I will reach out with more information as necessary. Please feel free to reach out to me with questions or concerns. 

Sincerely, 

Eric Varney

Principal

Morse High School

evarney@rsu1.org