Cinnaminson Principals Provide Update On School District Learning

CINNAMINSON, NJ — While the Cinnaminson Public School District is engaged in a full-remote learning environment, the district is examining what is working well with its hybrid learning environment, Superintendent of Schools Stephen Cappello said Tuesday night.

The district began the year in a hybrid learning environment, but went full-remote on Nov. 30 as coronavirus cases began to spike once again. It is scheduled to return to its hybrid learning model Jan. 11.

“We are going to double-down on what we’re doing well, and adjust our in-person learning experience as needed,” Cappello said during Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting.

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During the meeting, Eleanor Rush Intermediate School Principal Kerry DiSimone and New Albany Elementary School Principal Valerie Jones presented a video in which students at their schools talked about their experiences in school this year.

Some students who spoke in the video said the remote-learning model for the 2020-21 school year is better than it was in the spring, when the district was thrust into the model with little warning.

They also said that when in-learning returns, students who don’t feel comfortable going back to school shouldn’t be forced to, and they can’t wait until they don’t have to wear masks and stay six-feet apart anymore.

One student said he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to connect with his class and have friends the way he would if he were physically there.

“But it’s been the total opposite,” he said. “It’s been great.”

Each month, principals at schools in the district have been speaking about how their school is doing in this unusual learning environment that has been brought on by the pandemic. On Tuesday, one parent said she was unhappy with the size of her child’s kindergarten class, which has 28 students in it. The morning class her child is in is 40 percent bigger than the afternoon class, she said.

“Twenty-eight is a lot, and it exceeds our expectations for class size,” Cappello said. “We have had to make compromises we normally wouldn’t make.”

He said he’s visited the class, and has seen that learning continues, but the parent said her child feels neglected about not getting to participate.

“I tell her the teacher has to call on everyone, but when a class is 40 percent bigger, that’s 40 percent less that the teacher is able to check on every student.”

“There is no easy way to serve all the students, and our numbers are higher than we prefer, but we will continue to brainstorm on ways to improve,” Cappello said.