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Schools finalize fall re-entry plans
Parent and member of the NPS Task Force
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Sisters Ellen and Katherine Gifford work on schoolwork earlier this year. It will be a familiar scene for Northville students in September. Photo by Bryan Mitchell
Schools Finalize Re-Entry Plans Amid COVID concerns students will have to make adjustments for learning
By Lonnie Huhman
Taking the lessons from the last couple months of the past school year and putting in a lot of time and effort over this summer to create a plan for all students come September 8, Northville Public Schools officials have now set a starting point for the 2020-2021 school year.
With an ever-changing landscape in consideration due to the COVID pandemic, NPS issued its plans on Aug. 10 for students starting the new school year.
THE PLAN
The 2020-2021 Northville Public School year will begin with virtual learning for September followed by transitions throughout the month of September into inperson learning designed by grade level.
There will be two educational options for students:
Option 1: Virtual start through September, followed by a full in-person return for elementary and Cooke School students and a hybrid instruction return for middle and high school students.
Option 2: A full semester Virtual option where students will receive all instruction through the district’s Learning Management System, Schoology, supported by NPS teachers.
In a communication to parents, the district said the inperson scenario for elementary and Cooke School students includes the option to attend full time, Monday through Friday; while the Middle and High School in-person scenario is a 50-50 Hybrid, with students rotating between in-person and virtual learning every other day.
“The in-person scenarios approved at each level allow for implementation of each of the required safety protocols for Phase 4 of Michigan’s roadmap, along with maximizing implementation of the highly recommended safety protocols to the greatest extent possible in a school setting,” according to the district’s communication to district stakeholders.
NEW LEARNING PLATFORM
One helpful place for students and families to start in understanding what’s ahead is to explore Schoology. Knowing that virtual learning will most likely be something that all students will experience, it was key for NPS to put in place an online system that is user friendly and helpful.
“The September Virtual Start will allow students and staff to develop competence around the new and robust Learning Management System (Schoology) that allows for smooth transitions between virtual and in-person learning in the event that intermittent school closures become necessary or our region moves into different phases of Michigan’s Road Map,” NPS’s announcement said.
Aaron Baughman, NPS’s Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services, said Schoology is intended to be drastically different from the situation in spring when multiple virtual learning platforms were being used with situations where one family might have two or three different platforms to access and use.
Baughman said Schoology is NPS’s online classroom. All students and parents will access this platform. He described it as an all in one place tool, where such things as Zoom meeting links will reside.
It will “make things a lot easier,” Baughman said, noting it will streamline the virtual learning process.
According to the parent’s guide issued by NPS, teachers will use Schoology to post their classroom materials online; provide a safe forum for students to discuss their ideas and collaborate on projects; and to assign and collect homework electronically.
“It helps students stay organized and it keeps the class connected,” Baughman said.
For parents, a Schoology account, which can be used through any device that has Internet access, gives them access to the classes their child is enrolled in, their child’s upcoming assignments as well as school and class announcements.
Getting feedback and input from parents, families and the community has been essential
for NPS as it has worked through forming the plan for fall.
Parent Jennifer Creighton was part of the district task force that helped develop the plan with input and feedback.
“As a parent, I felt like the district took a very thorough approach to this whole process,” Creighton said.
She said the various feedback opportunities have been important. From the surveys to coffee chats with Superintendent Mary Kay Gallagher and the ability to communicate during school board meetings and through such things as email, Creighton said these opportunities have all informed the district’s planning.
“Allowing so many perspectives” was good to see, she said.
One of the big differences from the spring to now, she said is evident in the time and dedication put in by NPS staff to help create the back to school plan, which she expects to be much more robust.
MOVING AHEAD
Looking forward at both options, Baughman said the delivery may be different, but the education will not be. Virtual will utilize the same materials that would and will be used in-person.
Superintendent Gallagher said the first month or so will be a time of easing back into school in a safe manner with different opportunities to learn about the new process/system.
“This community is full of incredible people,” Gallagher said, noting so many have worked together in providing the best education for Northville kids.
She said these partnerships will remain key as they work together with students, staff, families and community to promote the learning, safety, health and well-being of all.
A DIFFERENT MODEL
For some Northville kids, the back to school plan is taking place down the road at Detroit Catholic Central High School in Novi, which began its new school year on Aug. 17. by Maggie Kuban
For CC, the school year is beginning with Option #1, which is in adherence to the Michigan Safe Start plan Phase 4-6. Classes will be live MondayFriday for the entire student body. For the first two weeks, there is a hybrid schedule where 50% of the student body will attend class in-person, and the other 50% will live stream the class using Google Meet and new classroom technology. Students will alternate inperson and distance days.
The school has implemented a host of new health and safety procedures and policies. The plan is to return to full inperson school on Aug. 31, unless the state moves into phases 1-3.
There is also an all-virtual option called the Shamrock LEAD-Live Education at Distance. CC officials said as of mid-August there were about 50 families registered for it.
According to the virtual plan, families are required to commit to a full quarter, at minimum and then at the end of the first quarter, families will have the ability to opt back into the building should they wish to do so. The plan also states families may also choose to switch to the LEAD program at the start of
Don't expect the halls of Northville High School to look like this anytime soon. Photo
the following quarter.
CC’s online option will match the regular daily schedule for all other students.
Students who become sick throughout the school year will be asked to quarantine, and will be unable to return to the classroom for other reasons will be able to use the Shamrock LEAD setup to transition between in-person and online learning throughout the year. Jeff Baker, a longtime biology teacher at CC, serves on the CC Health and Safety Committee. He said the school’s plan was developed with lots of hard work and did not come together overnight.
“The C4 (Catholic Central COVID Committee) started working in the spring,” he said. “From C4, other committees were spawned, such as the Technology, and Health and Safety Committees. Surveys were sent out to stakeholders so they could express their concerns. Faculty members were asked to fill out at least two different surveys. Our plan is the fruition of coordinated expression of ideas from our stakeholders, which required incredible amounts of work from our various committees and collaboration with colleagues.
“The primary goal was to find a way to safely return to campus, but we are also addressing the likelihood of being forced to a fully remote setup and have come up with some exciting improvements to our system that we think will allow us to offer a truly exceptional experience for students should that occur,” Baker continued.
According to Baker, the focus of the return to school plan is the safety and health of the students and staff.
“We began with the goal of finding a way to return to campus in as safe a manner as possible,” he said. “We are relying on the most up to date information from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and the CDC as we look to safeguard our community. The result is the mask requirement, an upgraded HVAC system to hospital grade air filtration, temperature screening, increased sanitization stations throughout the building, plexiglass partitions, the rearrangement of classrooms, adjustment of student body flow through the building, and many more efforts to minimize the likelihood of transmission.”
He said CC will remain vigilant and adjust any procedure if a better solution becomes apparent.
Street closures have helped turn Northville into a destination
Story by Kurt Kuban | Photos by Bryan Mitchell
In the early days of the pandemic, when panic was gripping the nation and quarantining became the norm, many small business owners were wondering how they would be able to stay open.
The City of Northville decided on a bold strategy – close down Center and Main streets to traffic through the fall so business owners could utilize street space for seating and displays. While the city had shutdown the streets for shortterm events in the past, nobody was quite sure how it would go on a long-term basis.
Months into the experiment, most downtown business owners couldn’t be happier. The move has been a boon for both restaurants and retailers.
Take Center Street Grille, for example. The popular restaurant located on N.
Live acoustic music on Friday and Saturday evenings has been a big hit.
Center increased its seating, which was important because state physical restriction requirements for indoor spaces.
“Without the outdoor seating I don’t know if I would have stayed open,” said Center Street Grille owner Landon Garrett. “Under the current requirements, we only have space for 40 people inside. That wouldn’t have paid the bills. The outside space got us back to normal capacity. I truly believe this has saved my business.”
That’s the kind of story Northville DDA Director Lori Ward has been hearing from many of the downtown business owners.
“The overwhelming response to this has been positive,” said Ward. “We figured this would be great for the restaurants, but we weren’t sure how it would impact non-restaurant businesses. I’ve heard from so many that this has been a great move for them as well.”
A DESTINATION
It’s not just the absence of traffic that is bringing people to town, it’s the ambiance the businesses and DDA have created on the sidewalks and streets. There are colorful flower pots, mood-setting lights and lots of umbrellas and tables. It’s like one big street café. And on Friday and Saturday evenings the DDA has even brought in either solo or duos to perform live music on the streets.
According to Alicia Racine, owner of Adorn Fine Flowers on Main Street, it’s a great atmosphere to do business. She has been able to utilize the sidewalk and street space for plant and flower displays, which gives her more visibility and is attracting customers.
“We have so many customers come in now and browse around. That’s because we have such a nice presence outside,” Racine said. “Our sales have been a lot better for sure.”
Landon Garrett agrees. He also owns businesses in downtown Plymouth and in West Bloomfield, and he feels Northville’s approach has been the best and should be emulated by others.
“It’s been amazing. People just love it,” he said. “Northville has never been known for its nightlife, but we have that now. I’ve got people waiting for a table for an hour and a half to two hours. That’s because it’s just cool to hang out down here now. To have a city support local businesses the way Northville has is really encouraging.”
Garrett said he’s been so busy that he has been cooking three or four days a week himself because he can’t find enough staff to keep up.
Alicia Racine is so encouraged by the atmosphere downtown she has opened a second store – right next door to Adorn. It’s a new candy store called Sugar Lu’s. It offers a variety of candy, and is aimed at younger customers, primarily middle schoolers. They had a soft opening on Aug. 12.
“It’s not like you can do a grand opening in the middle of a pandemic,” she joked.
Another business expanding is Orin Jewelers. They are closing their Garden City
Alicia and Ryan Racine opened a new business – Sugar Lu’s – next to their Adorn flower shop on Aug. 12. Photo by Kurt Kuban
store, and moving all of their operations to their Northville location, and expanding into the space that was once the Spice Merchants, which has moved to 134 E. Main (the former Rock and Main location).
Antoinette Kramar, part of the family that owns the jewelry store and a Northville resident, agrees that Northville has become more of a destination.
“We really love what the city has done. We haven’t really been able to take advantage of the outside space because it doesn’t necessarily lend itself to what we sell, but we know it’s been great for downtown,” said Kramar, who noted Orin will be doubling its space once everything is moved to Northville.
According to Lori Ward, there are other businesses interested in opening downtown, as well, which she said is incredible considering we are in a middle of a pandemic.
“The encouraging thing to me is there are still plenty of people who think Northville is a good place to do business,” Ward said.
SOCIAL DISTRICT
On Aug. 3, the city made another bold move that should benefit businesses. The City Council approved creating a Social District for downtown Northville, which will essentially be in the same area now cordoned off to traffic. This will allow restaurants that choose to participate to serve alcohol to patrons who can then openly carry the beverages throughout the designated district.
There are nine restaurant/ bars that are eligible to apply.
The city is taking advantage of a new Michigan law passed earlier this year creating social districts to help cities and businesses survive the pandemic. Similar districts have been successful in other states.
“We are uniquely set up to have a common area,” Ward said. “The intent is to let people reserve a table at one of the establishments in town, and walk around with a drink as they wait for the table. We think this will really benefit the restaurants, and even the retailers will benefit with people strolling around.”
WINTER IS COMING
While there has been plenty of downtown success stories, the pandemic was the straw that broke the back for a number of businesses, which have closed, including Brick’s restaurant, My Michigan Connection and Van Dam’s Boutique, a longtime downtown destination.
And, of course, nobody’s quite sure what’s going to happen as the Michigan weather turns colder. A cold, blustery January evening doesn’t exactly scream outside dining.
“It keeps me up at night thinking about what is going to happen this winter, especially considering nobody knows what’s going to happen with the virus. Heck, we don’t know from week to week if we will have restaurants shut down because of COVID,” Ward said.
The DDA has discussed bringing in outside heaters and even igloos, like you’ve seen at Deadwood Bar and Grill, for some of the restaurants that are interested. Those details are still being worked out.
As for the future, the new Social District permit runs through December of 2024, and closing the downtown in 2021 and beyond is definitely something the city is contemplating, according to Ward.
One thing is for sure, it would be welcomed by many of the downtown business owners.
“I’d definitely be in favor of doing this in the future. No question about it. Northville has become a destination because of it,” said Landon Garrett, owner of Center Street Grille.
