Schools

Split Schedule for Little Silver Schools Monday

Point Road School remains closed following electrical issues this weekend.

Living in a post-Sandy world has required a large degree of flexibility, as we've learned to read by flashlight, wait on long gas lines and subsist on peanut butter sandwiches. Now, Little Silver students get to add one more item to that list: split sessions at Markham Place starting on Monday.

Plans to reopen both schools Nov. 12 were waylaid when a smoking electrical panel at Point Road School early Saturday morning forced district administrators to keep the elementary school closed and move all students to the middle school on a split session, according to Little Silver Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carolyn Kossack.

"I understand the frustration of having to resort to a split schedule, but the children have been out of school for two weeks, and we must return them to an instructional program, even if it is a modified day," Kossack wrote in a letter to parents on Sunday.

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Repairs to underground wiring at Point Road will require a crane  and a follow-up inspection by the power company, according to Kossack, who holds out hope that students can resume schedules at both schools as early as Tuesday.

Other details outlined in Kossack's letter are as follows:

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Duration of School Day

  • Markham Place students will attend school from 8 a.m. – noon
  • Point Road Students in grades 1-4 will attend school from noon – 4 p.m.
  • AM Preschool and AM Kindergarten will attend school from noon – 2 p.m.
  • PM Preschool and PM Kindergarten will attend school from 2  – 4 p.m.
  • All Point Road Students will enter the Markham Place School directly into the gymnasium. There will be two doors open for entry.

Lunch

  • Lunch will not be served. If students typically bring a snack, they can do so.

Drop-Off/Pick-Up Locations & Traffic Patterns

  • The teachers who typically park in the lower lot near the tennis courts are being relocated. Therefore, that parking lot will be used for drop-off and pick-up.
  • Markham Place will be open for one-way traffic only heading west-bound (from Prospect to Branch Ave). Parents will be permitted to park on both sides of the road for drop-off and pick up but students MUST cross in the crosswalks only.
  • North Lovett will also be one-way traffic (from Markham Place to Rumson Road). Teachers who have been displaced from the lower parking lot as well as Point Road teachers who are carpooling from the Point Road lot will be permitted to park in no parking zones on North Lovett.
  • Parents PLEASE don’t park on North Lovett as our teachers need to park there and on Cross Street. There will also be drop-off and pick-up in the designated spots directly in front of Markham Place as usual.
  • There will be no drop-off or pick-up in the horseshoe.

Transportation

  • There will be no transportation for Markham Place students.
  • All Point Road students who typically have transportation will have transportation. That is, Students in grades 1-4 who typically ride the bus will be transported to and from school.
  • AM Kindergarten will have transportation in and parents will pick up at 2:00 PM. PM Kindergarten will have transportation both to and from school.
  • Parents are asked to please have their children at their bus stops at the same time intervals they would normally wait (i.e. if they are outside 30 minutes before the start of school – have them outside 30 minutes early tomorrow).
  • For students that walk, crossing guard schedules are being adjusted accordingly.

Municipal Cleaning

  • The Borough has been working hard to clean up brush. Tomorrow, they will begin having trucks pick up large debris that is piled curbside. Please keep that in mind if your child walks to school.

Emotional Support for Students

  • The day has been planned to allow for an extended CPR (Circle of Power and Respect) at Markham Place and an extended Morning Meeting for the Point Road students. The Guidance Counselors and Child Study team have created a plan to assist teachers and a plan is in place to provide additional counseling to students as needed.

After Care

  • Point Road typically has aftercare until 6 p.m.. The YMCA will provide aftercare from 4 - 6 p.m. in the cafetorium at Markham Place for those students that typically attend. Parents can enter through the front door at Markham Place to pick up your children.

School Schedule this Week

  • The school published calendar indicated that we would have full days Monday-Wednesday this week followed by early dismissals on Thursday and Friday because of Parent-Teacher conferences. I’m assuming that parents anticipated that schedule and at this time we plan to proceed with that schedule. We absolutely need to push back the close of the first marking period and report cards, therefore, conferences will be held prior to report cards. Information regarding Tuesday’s schedule (full or split schedule) will be forthcoming on Monday.

School Calendar for the Remainder of the Year

  • I will be meeting with the other Superintendents on the peninsula on Wednesday. Our calendars are quite similar so we will begin to coordinate our revised schedules for the year and a letter will be forthcoming this week.


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