Fort Hamilton Community,
Thank you for continuing to work together to ensure our community remains safe, positive and productive. The non-credible threat and police incident near campus on 10/5 was cause for concern, but I am confident in our team’s responsiveness and collaboration with NYPD and DOE safety supports. We will continue to keep the community apprised as needed, and safety remains a top priority.
We had 2 positive cases of covid-19 this week within the community that prompts me to clarify quarantine requirements. In one case, a staff member who works directly with students in the classroom required a partial classroom closure. Unvaccinated students who were in close contact with this staff member are required to quarantine for 10 days and participate in classwork from home. If students are tested 5 or more days after exposure, they can return to school with negative test results as long as they don’t have symptoms on the 8 day. In the current example, students could test on 10/9 or later and return to school with negative results on 10/12. Teachers are notified of students on quarantine, but we encourage students to confirm when they are required to quarantine at home.
Instructional Assessments administered in ELA/ENL week of 10/12:
All students in grades 9 and 10 English or upper levels of ENL will be taking digital assessments from Map Growth this coming week, primarily 10/12-13. This is a city-wide assessment program, and the assessments will be administered 3 times this year in both English/ENL and Math. These assessments are not graded and will assist instructional planning only. Teachers will be working together to analyze the results by grade as well as individual classes and students, and instruction will address skill gaps. The second administration will be early in 2022. The Math assessments will be administered next week, primarily on 10/18-19. To facilitate the classes taking these assessments on 10/12-13 and 10/18-19, no other classrooms will use computers.
Full Online Classes: Teachers supporting students with full online electives and/or core classes required to make up for graduation will be following up with students who began the online coursework last week. For seniors who have Health online, a required course for graduation, there will be dedicated space in the library each period for students to progress. Ms. Lamacchia, AP PE/Health/JROTC, will be sharing additional spaces during the day for students to complete the work with teacher support.
NX Online Classes: Starting Saturday, October 16, students with NX courses remaining from Spring 2021 will be able to use computers with content teacher support to complete coursework to earn credit. This NX Lab will be available during Saturday Academy from 9-11am, and additional days after school starting week of 10/18. Students already have access to begin the work on their own at home, but we encourage students to participate in the NX Lab so they commit to a schedule and have assistance as needed. Assigned teachers will be following up as well, and it’s critical that students complete the work no later than January 15 to avoid having to make up the full course.
Weekly Covid testing is ongoing and we urge all parents of unvaccinated students to give consent on the NYC School Account so that we have a variety of students tested each week.
Marking Period 1 Report Cards and Parent-Teacher Conferences:
MP1 ends Friday, October 22. Student progress will be reflected with letter grades on Pupilpath by November 2, 2021:
E – Excellent with numeric range 90-100
G – Good with numeric range 80-89
S – Satisfactory with numeric range 70-19
N – Needs improvement with numeric range 65-69
U – Unsatisfactory with numeric range 64 and below
Parent Teacher Conferences will be conducted virtually on the evening of Wednesday, November 10 and the afternoon of Friday, November 12. Information about how to schedule one-on-one conferences will be shared after MP1 ends.
Please check our website at fthhs.org for updates and links to Pupilpath, NYC School Accounts, and other etc.
Enjoy the long weekend and we’ll be at school together on Tuesday, October 12 for another positive and productive week. Thank you for your cooperation and best wishes that you and your family stay healthy.
K Houlihan