11/24/20 - SCHOOL MEALS THIS WEEK AND NEXT

Due to the Thanksgiving recess, school meals will not be provided from Wednesday, November 25 through Friday, November 27. Community food assistance is available at the following locations:

St. Susan’s Center - Grab and Go Meals

• Monday - Wednesday, 11:00-2:30
• Thursday*, 2:00-2:30
• Friday & Saturday, 11:00-2:30

*including Thanksgiving Day 

Salvation Army - Food Pantry; ID Required

• Monday & Tuesday, 9:30-11:30 or 1:00-3:30
• Wednesday, 10:00-12:00 or 1:00-3:30

During the week of November 30-December 4, school meals will be available for pick up as follows:

Elementary Schools, 11:30 to 12:30
Middle Schools, 1:00 to 2:00
High School & Tech Academy, 12:30 to 1:30

Meals must be picked up at each student's regular school of attendance.

Lunch and breakfast will be provided each day.

For elementary students attending childcare, bagged lunch will be provided on-site and next-day breakfast will be provided at dismissal.

11/23/20 - JHS Grades 10-12 Return to In-Person Instruction on December 7

Jamestown High School students in grades 10 through 12 will return to in-person instruction in two cohorts beginning Monday, December 7th, subject to guidance from New York State and the Chautauqua County Health Department. 

“We know how important it is to our students and families to return to in-person instruction,” said JHS Principal Dana Wiliams. “We feel confident that our health and safety protocols are ready for our students to return. We know our students need the school community not only academically, but also for social and emotional reasons too. By bringing these grade levels back from Thanksgiving to the Winter Recess, we will watch how everything progresses and adjust accordingly if we need to refine our safety and health protocols and procedures. Please remember, our plans must remain flexible as they are based on guidance from New York State and the Chautauqua County Department of Health.”

The week of December 7th, the Red cohort will attend Monday morning only, and the Green cohort will attend Tuesday morning only.  Wednesday, December 9 through Friday, December 11 will be virtual only for all returning grades 10-12 students.  Starting the week of December 14th, the Red cohort will attend in the mornings on Monday and Wednesday, and the Green cohort will attend on Tuesday and Thursday. All afternoons and Fridays will continue as scheduled for remote learning for all 10th through 12th graders. Ninth graders will continue with their normal weekly schedule.  Students who chose full-time distance learning in September will continue learning at home.

“Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our students and our community, we have been taking a very conservative approach in our process for building back to regular, full-time in-person instruction,” said JPS Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker. “This is the latest step in that process, and I am overjoyed that we have been able to address the logistics and protocols involved in order to begin the process of bringing back our 10th through 12th grade students.”

JHS families and students will receive more detailed information, including cohorts, directly from the school. For more information, visit www.jpsny.org/JHS. If you have any questions, please contact JHS at (716) 483-3470. 

As a reminder, the week of November 30th through December 4th will be a fully remote learning week for all students in the district, including JHS. In-person instruction will resume district wide on Monday, December 7th.

11/13/20 - JPS Releases Preventive Measures for COVID-19 Community Spread

Jamestown Public Schools is planning to take proactive and preventive measures to help lessen the community spread of COVID-19 during the holiday season. All schools will shift to fully remote learning for one week after Thanksgiving break from November 30 to December 4. After returning to the hybrid schedule from December 7 through 22, the district plans a second week of remote learning following Winter recess from January 4 through 8.

Dr. Whitaker confirmed the district’s plans with Chautauqua County Department of Health Commissioner, Christine Schuyler.

“These measures are a collaborative effort between our school board, the Chautauqua County Department of Health and JPS personnel,” said JPS Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker. “We know the holidays will be a time that families may gather. We want to ensure the health and safety of our students, staff and community by providing additional time at home in hopes of keeping a COVID-19 surge from happening in our schools. We want our schools to remain safe and to be open as much as possible for our students.  Please be aware that these measures will be dependent on the guidance of the Health Department and New York State. Circumstances regarding how instruction is delivered, in school or remotely, are always subject to change. However, we want to give our families and staff as much notice as possible to prepare for this change.”

During fully remote instruction weeks for the district, teaching and learning will continue as regularly scheduled for each student. If students have concerns about internet access during the fully remote weeks, families should contact their school principal for help and information. The district will continue to provide childcare for students in kindergarten through sixth grades through the YMCA and YWCA. Grab and Go school meals will continue to be available for free to all students. More detailed information on childcare and school meals will be forthcoming. 

In addition to proactively helping the spread of COVID-19 in our community, the fully remote instructions weeks after Thanksgiving and Christmas will give JPS students, staff and families an opportunity to practice in the case that the district must go fully remote in the future by state health department metrics, or by Executive Order.

“We very much want to bring back our JHS 10th through 12th graders in December,” said Dr. Whitaker. “Whether we can do this depends on our ability to limit the spread of the virus in our community. This plan will allow us to open up a period between Thanksgiving and winter recess to slowly bring them back to in-person instruction, while keeping them safe. We know this has been an important concern for our JHS students and families, and we hope to start this transition in December, depending on health metrics and guidance from New York State and the Health Department.”