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Tradition of Spring Break is broken

Schools are told to keep up remote instruction of students

New York is putting the brakes on Spring Break this year, telling schools to keep up their remote instruction of students during the coronavirus pandemic so they stay up on their studies.

Districts that don’t comply may lose state aid.

Saranac Lake

Superintendent Diane Fox said this district’s students will be completing a program called the Adirondack Tri-Lakes Trifecta during the break.

“We thought we might be able to deliver it in a way that might be a little more engaging and a little less stressful for families,” Fox said.

Students will be given a grid with the 18 peaks involved in the Saranac Lake Sixer, Tupper Lake Triad and the Lake Placid Niner. Under each mountain will be an educational or physical activity. By the end of the break students will be required to complete each “mountain.”

Any activity can be substituted by hiking one of the Trifecta mountains, too.

Fox said she hopes the weather stays dry so kids can have fun climbing mountains without too much mud. She said students will receive prizes instead of a number grade.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended the time schools will conduct remote learning by two more weeks last Friday, which included dates during many districts’ spring breaks, but administrators did not know whether they would hold classes during break until Monday night.

“We were all told, ‘Oh, don’t worry. That was just a mistake,'” Fox said. “That was until last night at 5:30 when the new email came out and said, ‘Oh, by the way, that was absolutely what he meant.'”

Fox said things move fast now, and that though this caught her off guard, it is not a huge problem.

Fox also said students should plan for some sort of graduation ceremony as usual.

“If you are going to give a speech you should plan on giving a speech, and if you are going to graduate you should plan on walking across the stage,” Fox said. “We’re not sure we’re going to have anybody in the audience but we’re going to make it memorable.”

Lake Placid

Superintendent Roger Catania said he was prepared for this spring break switch-up.

“The governor’s order was really clear that we had to continue with remote instruction every weekday between April 1 and April 15,” Catania said. “That includes a large chunk of spring break.”

He said his district’s spring break plan is a “work in progress.”

“What we’d like to be able to do is provide students and teachers with an opportunity to do some things that are more project-based, that provide and promote additional creativity, that are more application-based than say a traditional subject instruction,” Catania said.

Asked what project based learning will look like, Catania said he couldn’t give any specifics because they are still planning it out, but mentioned performances and videos.

Tupper Lake

Superintendent Seth McGowan said his district will have their spring break plans ready by Wednesday afternoon.

AuSable

Superintendent Paul Savage said his students will return to the full schedule they had prior to closing.

Keene

“We are working on a plan to address Spring Break, but I do not have anything concrete to share yet,” Superintendent Dan Mayberry wrote in an email.

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