Maplewood's Updated School Reopening Guide: No Distancing, More

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange-Maplewood School District Board of Education released a fall 2021 Return to School Guidebook on Wednesday, noting that classrooms will return to "full capacity" without last year's social distancing mandate, in order to accommodate the state requirement for on-site learning.

Schools reopen in Maplewood on Sept. 9 and 10, depending on grade level.

Some details of COVID precautions in the plan were released last month. READ MORE: Masks Required And No Remote Option For Most Maplewood Students

Highlights Of The Reopening Plan

Among highlights of the plan: Extracurricular activities will return, students will eat outdoors when the weather meets certain standards, and students will otherwise be masked as per the state mandate.

Last year, Maplewood parents were frustrated as the district returned to on-site learning much later than originally promised. READ MORE: All Maplewood Students Set To Be Back In School In May

The new guidebook can be found here.

It was released with this note:

All schools will open at full capacity for in-person instruction with a teacher in every classroom, a visionary administrator leading every school, and support staff providing critical wraparound services and support for our students and communities. Schools will return to their pre-pandemic times, class schedules and extracurricular activities.

Our schools will open in the fall with critical precautions to reduce the spread of COVID-19 without some of the previous constraints on building capacity as a result of physical distancing guidelines.

This guidebook provides more details on: Operations & Logistics; Health & Safety Procedures; Meals; Contingency Plans; What to Expect for Curriculum & Instruction, Technology and Special Education; Chromebook Usage & Distribution by grade levels, and more. The guide also summarizes the District’s contingency plans should the County’s health conditions require operational and instructional adjustments.

We look forward to seeing all of our students back to school. Best of luck to our students, staff and families as we begin the journey together for the 2021-22 school year.

South Orange & Maplewood School District

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