Summer Series Recap...update! SB 8-14-2020

This has certainly not been the summer that any of us would have imagined at the beginning of 2020.  The world is a very different place indeed.  

For those of you joining us for the first time for one of my attempts at creating an entertaining update, welcome!  If you have not already signed up for the SB Principal Communications emails, please do so on the district website in order to continue receiving these missives as we move along through the year.  I do not typically send updates out through this Blackboard Connect system as we reserve that for emergency communications to our entire school community or for specific subgroups requiring some targeted information...such as a specific grade level information or an update regarding a specific bus route.

If you haven’t been paying attention, school is going to look very different this fall.  If this comes as a surprise to you, then I might suggest not admitting that publicly at this time.  We will help you catch up…

Previously seen on Our Little Stony Brook ( in the event you didn’t get to read the thrilling 96 p document submitted to DESE):

Stony Brook is opening with a Hybrid model which can be found here: MS Hybrid Info

Students have the option of enrolling in the Remote Learning Academy with more specific information available here:  MS RLA Info

I stated publicly that an FAQ document would be created to help communicate with families...sorry about that :-)

Which brings us to tonight’s episode…

[ Zoom in on Dr. Chew feverishly typing on his WPS issued MacBook in his office at Stony Brook]

[The only sound other than typing is the foreboding ticking of the clock on the wall]

[Letters appear on the screen]

MS FAQs

How are the Pods going to be created? 

 All students will be placed into one of two “Learning Pods” ( A or B)...they will first be organized geographically in order to keep families on the same schedule even if siblings attend different schools...once those are established we will be rescheduling all of our classes to balance the numbers between each pod.  RLA students will also be included in the learning pods and follow the same schedule as students in the Hybrid model.

How many teams will there be at SB this year?

The team organization from last year will remain the same:  3 teams in Gr6 (Discovery, Imagination, & Curiosity), 3 teams in Gr7 (Plato, Socrates, & Aristotle), and 2 Teams in Gr8 (Victory & Valor).  There will be 6 sections of students on Victory and 4 sections on Valor as we have also been doing in recent years.  So, each grade will continue to have 10 sections of students.

Will the PBL teams still exist?

Yes, all of our teams will still exist and the PBL focused teams will still be utilizing those strategies in both the in-person Hybrid model and the full Remote Learning Academy if students who previously selected PBL choose the RLA.  The gold standard elements of Project Based Learning that we have been using at Stony Brook translate very well to the remote environment as they are driven by student inquiry and authentic learning experiences.  The in-person physical collaboration is limited but it does not prevent students from collaborating digitally and at a safe distance.  

How will RLA students be incorporated into the teams?

Once we have the final numbers of students enrolling in the RLA will be able to appropriately balance them within the current system. It might be possible to still have RLA students placed on each team, but we might need to group them together into specific teams so that we can best maximize our staffing resources.

When we will know which learning pod our students are in?

We are in the process of developing the geographic parameters for the pods and we will look to see how they are balanced and the impact that it will have on class sections.  We will also need to consider the information from the recent survey regarding Hybrid or RLA preference and use that to continue balancing classes.  After we determine those sections, we will be able to share the information with families. 

[Clock ticking grows louder]

[Close-up on  Dr. Chew staring frantically at the moving second hand]

Voice Over: Tune in next week to see if Dr. Chew is able to answer anymore questions and if so what might they be….could he find himself face to face with topics like these:

What door should my student use to enter the school in the morning?

What will Gr6 Orientation look like?

Why is this principal so strange?