GLCPS was preparing to begin the transition to Hybrid Learning at the beginning of April but the mandate by Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley announced on March 10th has resulted in a change of plans. Instead, the school will begin in-school learning for all students. Families can choose to allow their children to continue learning remotely but teachers will be in the classroom with students' whose families are opting for in-school learning.
GLCPS and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River have agreed on a 25-year lease that expands the current school's footprint to allow the middle and high school to thrive under one roof - almost. The school has agreed to lease the building adjacent to the school and create a state-of-the-art STEAM campus.
GLCPS will return to in-person learning on April 5, 2021 with the launch of the school's Hybrid Learning Plan. Parents have been notified and are asked to complete the Hybrid Learning Survey for each of their students. The survey asks families if they will send their students to school or will continue using the Remote Learning Model.
Global Learning Charter Public School will tentatively begin its Hybrid Learning Model on Monday, March 22, 2021. Executive Director Stephen Furtado, Ph.D., shared the new information with parents in a letter, a day after discussing the plan with GLCPS staff. In the letter, Dr. Furtado noted that the number of Covid 19 cases continues to decline across the state. He emphasized that the school would launch its hybrid plan only if the staff has had sufficient opportunity to receive both doses of the vaccine or New Bedford remains in the "green" range for four consecutive weeks.
"Therefore I am cautioning everyone that the projected date could change if the above criteria do not occur," Dr. Furtado wrote in the letter.
A team from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will attend the February meeting of the Secondary Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC). The state education officials will provide an overview of the Tiered Focused Monitoring progress for parents. The SEPAC meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 24th from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. It will be held virtually on Zoom. GLCPS Parents will be sent the link prior to the meeting via the Remind application. For more information, contact GLCPS Special Education Director Amie Fernandes at afernandes@glcps.org.
Thursday, January 28th, 2021, GLCPS will be hosting a Virtual Enrollment Open House. All current and prospective students and their families are invited to attend this hour-long program which begins at 6:00 PM. During this event, our staff and students, led by Executive Director Stephen Furtado, Sr. and Principal Pires, will give an overview of the school, provide a student’s perspective of what it’s like to attend GLCPS, and present student work.
Due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases, GLCPS will remain in the remote teaching and learning model at least through February 28, 2021, Executive Director Stephen Furtado announced today. "It was our hope to begin the hybrid model at the end of January but unfortunately the number of Covid cases continues to increase in New Bedford and the surrounding towns," said Dr. Furtado. "We have been told by medical authorities that the number of cases will continue to increase as a result of holiday gatherings and traveling that occurred outside of our State."
(This letter was addressed to GLCPS staff on the eve of the attack on our US Capitol on January 6, 2021 by supporters of President Trump as Congress was moving toward ratifying the election of Joseph Biden as the next president of the United States.)
As a political science major and student in Constitutional law, I have tried to capture my emotions over today’s events. It is easy to cast blame and to point fingers. I, too, want to vent and allow my temper to get the best of me. We have witnessed a display of violence against our institutions that has not been seen since 1814 when the Capitol and the White House were burned to the ground. Unfolding before our eyes was an attack, not against buildings, but against the Constitution; a document that clearly states the process of validating a presidential election. That same Constitution gives all of us the right to protest but not in a violent way.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health Immunization Division has extended the deadline for students to receive the mandated flu vaccine. The deadline is now February 28, 2021. GLCPS families can email documentation of the flu vaccination or reach out with any questions or concerns to the nurse's office for the school. Families can email documentation of the flu vaccination or reach out with any questions or concerns by emailing Nurse Tomlinson at rtomlinson@glcps.org, or Nurse Aguiar at saguiar@glcps.org or by fax using 774-328-8694.
First, the Board of Trustees and I have decided to begin winter vacation earlier than scheduled. Therefore, the last day of school before the winter vacation is Friday, December 18, 2020. We will return to our normal academic schedule on Monday, January 4, 2021.
Second, as we approach the next remote learning deadline I want to update you regarding our next steps. Our decisions are based on the data we receive from the Department of Public Health and the Center for Disease Control. We have watched the number of Covid-19 cases increase significantly in New Bedford and throughout the State. This second surge is troubling and the number of cases could continue to increase throughout the holiday season. New Bedford continues to be in the “red zone”. Given this information GLCPS will remain remote through January 31.
