Alternative Structured Learning Days
A Letter from Dr. Maruszczak
Dear MURSD Families,
Recently the Mendon-Upton Regional School Committee approved a pilot program- known as Alternative Structured Learning (ASL) Days- as an alternative to traditional snow days or storm-related school cancellations. Several districts throughout the Commonwealth have begun to adopt such a system (often referred to as "blizzard bags") where students access their work and the curriculum during a cancelled school day. For students at the secondary level (middle school and high school), it is done digitally through Google Classroom. At the elementary level, students complete traditional paper-based assignments that are sent home in advance. Under the guidelines promulgated by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE), a district that implements such a program would not have to make up storm-related cancellations on the days that an ASL Day was called.
During the fall a committee of approximately 40 MURSD parents, teachers, and administrators came together to develop a pilot ASL Day Program for the MURSD, one that follows DESE's guidelines, is fair and appropriate for all students, and mitigates the interruption to learning that snow days can often bring. I am confident that the pilot plan that the committee developed effectively addresses these needs. I urge you to read about the specifics of the MURSD ASL Program, which may be found here on the MURSD website.
Keep in mind that a traditional snow day- one with no assigned student work- may be still called by me. This ASL Day program is only a tool to ameliorate the effects of multiple snow days in any given school year. Additionally I believe it is forward-thinking, as it is consistent with the reality of many of us, where we work from home through the use of technology. In the event that there is a snow day that will also be an ASL Day, I will be sure to be very explicit in announcing it when I announce that there is no school in the MURSD.
Ironically enough, I am also cognizant that there have been zero (0) snow days during this school year, and as of today, our last scheduled school day is June 13. However, I wanted to notify all families of the potential use of this new structure should we get challenged with some storms in the coming weeks.
Think spring!
Warm regards,
Joseph P. Maruszczak, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Recently the Mendon-Upton Regional School Committee approved a pilot program- known as Alternative Structured Learning (ASL) Days- as an alternative to traditional snow days or storm-related school cancellations. Several districts throughout the Commonwealth have begun to adopt such a system (often referred to as "blizzard bags") where students access their work and the curriculum during a cancelled school day. For students at the secondary level (middle school and high school), it is done digitally through Google Classroom. At the elementary level, students complete traditional paper-based assignments that are sent home in advance. Under the guidelines promulgated by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE), a district that implements such a program would not have to make up storm-related cancellations on the days that an ASL Day was called.
During the fall a committee of approximately 40 MURSD parents, teachers, and administrators came together to develop a pilot ASL Day Program for the MURSD, one that follows DESE's guidelines, is fair and appropriate for all students, and mitigates the interruption to learning that snow days can often bring. I am confident that the pilot plan that the committee developed effectively addresses these needs. I urge you to read about the specifics of the MURSD ASL Program, which may be found here on the MURSD website.
Keep in mind that a traditional snow day- one with no assigned student work- may be still called by me. This ASL Day program is only a tool to ameliorate the effects of multiple snow days in any given school year. Additionally I believe it is forward-thinking, as it is consistent with the reality of many of us, where we work from home through the use of technology. In the event that there is a snow day that will also be an ASL Day, I will be sure to be very explicit in announcing it when I announce that there is no school in the MURSD.
Ironically enough, I am also cognizant that there have been zero (0) snow days during this school year, and as of today, our last scheduled school day is June 13. However, I wanted to notify all families of the potential use of this new structure should we get challenged with some storms in the coming weeks.
Think spring!
Warm regards,
Joseph P. Maruszczak, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools