South Orange-Maplewood Schools To Hold School Town Hall Tuesday

MAPLEWOOD AND SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Maplewood-South Orange schools announced on Aug. 14 that they will open remotely until at least Nov. 12, so how can parents and schools best meet kids' social and emotional needs during that time?

The district will hold a virtual "Academic & Social-Emotional Virtual Town Hall" on Wednesday from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. More details are here.

Participants in the discussion will include:

• Superintendent Dr. Ronald G. Taylor,
• Assistant Superintendent, Special Services, Dr. Melody Alegria,
• Director, Curriculum & Instruction, K-8, Ann Bodnar
• Parenting Center Director & Elementary School Social Worker and Field Supervisor, Karen Weiland

The district announced earlier this month that it will go all remote, but the YMCA will provide some childcare help for those who need it.

• To get complete details of the reopening plans, click here.
• For the YMCA childcare survey and updated virtual learning information, click here.

At least 180 other schools have decided to reopen only remotely because they can't meet the new state health guidelines in time to prevent the spread of coronavirus. While most children will recover from the virus, some have lost a parent, both parents, or siblings to it, which in turn affects their emotional health.

And several districts said they can't open on-site in September because their teachers are taking family leave or have a health condition (the federal government recently said that about half of American adults have some kind of "pre-existing condition").

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