Police Ask Drivers to Avoid Crowded Darien School Pickup/Drop-off Times and Spots

Darien YMCA to Host ‘Y Hybrid Learning Lab’ For Elementary School Students Doing Remote Learning

Darien Schools to Open Sept 3-4 ‘Hybrid’ Virtual/In-School, Then Full-Time In-School on Sept 29

Superintendent Says Budget Cuts Would ‘Significantly Affect’ Education, Updates Parents on District News

Darien Public Schools 2020-2021

By DARIENITE.COM | November 4, 2020

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By DARIENITE.COM | August 30, 2020

Coronavirus 2020

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Education

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Middlesex Middle School wikipedia 5-25-16

“Extensive traffic delays continue to be problematic in and around Darien schools during drop-off and pickup times,” said a Darien Police Department announcement issued Wednesday afternoon.Anyone
Police are asking drivers to avoid the areas where cars line up, whenever possible. Here’s the rest of the announcement:
Numerous strategies to mitigate this problem have been applied with marginal success. We continue to work and meet with school officials, town boards, and other town officials but simply stated, there is no easy solution or obvious remedy. We will continue to monitor and analyze the existing issues and collectively work toward alleviating the backups. COVID-19 restrictions governing drop-off/pickup and schools positioned in residential areas that can’t accommodate the volume of cars, continue to be the predominant factors causing the delays. For the foreseeable future, major traffic delays should be expected around Darien schools before and after the below posted “opening” and “dismissal” times.

To help families and students during the transition into a new school year, the Darien YMCA has developed the “Y Hybrid Learning Lab” for elementary school students in town. The Learning Lab is a safe and structured environment at the Y that will allow students to attend virtual classes and have peer interaction under the supervision of YMCA staff and volunteers as the district follows a Hybrid Model in September. — an announcement from the Darien YMCA

The Y Learning Lab will operate from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for Hindley, Tokeneke and Royle Schools and 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for Holmes and Ox Ridge, which coincides with their regular school hours. Students will be grouped with similar grades with a maximum of 16 students per group, as per state guidelines. Each group will be separated from other groups.

Darien schools will open Sept. 3 and 4, with students going to school two days a week and being taught online for other days, schools Superintendent Alan Addley told the Board of Education on Monday night. Then, Addley said, on Sept. 29, about three weeks later, the schools will be open “full-time,” with students going five days a week. Fridays will be half days throughout the school year, with students learning remotely, on-line.

« August 2022 »

Schools Superintendent Alan Addley, in a message to parents updating them on various developments in the district, said the budget cuts he’s been forced to recommend to the Board of Education would “significantly affect” the education of Darien students. Darienite.com has published the full message below and numbered the sections in Addley’s message to make it quicker for readers to find out more in the numbered topics below. Here are the other six topics covered in the long message:

—what the district will do in helping students better deal with concerns revolving around the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (7)

—how the district is going about planning for school reopenings and closings (6)

— how the district is regulating use of school campuses by summer school programs (4)

— regulations on other organizations may use school facilities (4)

—the coming end of grab-and-go meal distribution (2)

—summer school and extended school year plans (3)

—a short, general message with no details about graduation and moving-up ceremonies (1)

Regarding budget cuts (5), Addley said:

At the last BOE meeting, the Administration made recommendations to the Board of Education for consideration to close this gap. These included some very difficult choices that would significantly affect the quality of education.