Hyde Leadership Charter School serves approximately 970 students, under one charter, in grades kindergarten through 12 at two sites, one private and one co-located, in Hunts Point, South Bronx, NYC. Hyde’s plans for the 2020-21 school year enable the school to achieve its chartered mission in three modes of operation: all remote, all-in person, and a hybrid of remote and in-person. Our plans enable us to move from one mode to another, enabling us to deliver the chartered mission sustainably through continuous educational, nutritional, and family support programs throughout the school year. Student IEP’s and other educational plans are written with consideration of all three modes of instruction so that students with IEP’s receive required services under all three operational plans. The school calendar will be consistent with years past, and the academic programs, student support services, nutrition, and family supports also will be similar to years past with modifications to comply with the CDC guidelines, the NYS DOH requirements, and the NYSED requirements. The detailed plans for the three modes of operation, including new protocols for maintaining health and safety for all constituents, were created by administrative staff with input from families (summer survey), staff (summer survey), and students (student feedback from remote learning experiences in spring of 2020), legal counsel, as well as the guidance and requirements of NYSED, NYS DOH, and our authorizer SUNY CSI. Additionally, Hyde leadership has closely monitored the reporting and real-time guidance of the leaders of NYSED (David Frank), SUNY CSI (Susie Miller-Carello), the NYC Charter Center (Randall Iserman), and NYCharter Schools Association (Yomika Bennett).
Conforming with Hyde’s calendars of years past, the first day of teacher pre-service will be August 17th, and the first day of classes will be August 27. We will conduct the first two weeks in a remote-only mode, as we will not have access to the K-8 building, until at least September 10. We will comply with the Governor’s rulings (and the State/City Department of Health) for when we can re-open to in-person activities, and we will follow our written procedures for determining when or if we shift from one mode of instructional operation to another. Overall, our plans enable us to deliver our chartered mission and serve the needs and educational development of our students, families, and staff, while we work through the current health crisis.