March 13, 2020

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, NJ (MERCER)–See letter from Scott R. Rocco, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools. You can download it here:

March 13, 2020
Dear Hamilton Township School Community,

We realize that this is a challenging time for each of you and for our students.
We appreciate the seriousness of concern surrounding COVID-19 “Coronavirus.” Most
importantly, we understand our responsibility to ensure the safety, security, and
well-being of our students, staff, and community stakeholders.

After careful consultation as a senior staff and in coordination with local, county and state
governmental officials and health authorities at this time, we are announcing our plan to pause our
current method of instruction and move to our remote learning plan. As such, beginning Monday,
March 16, 2020, students will no longer report to their school buildings, rather they will be
provided their education in their home setting. We expect this remote learning plan to be in
effect for a minimum of two weeks (through March 27th, 2020).

During this time, we will remain in constant communication with our entire school
community through multiple platforms including our district website, social media pages,
school messenger phone system, email etc. During the second week of remote learning, we will
reevaluate the situation, communicate with local, county, and state officials, and then determine
if the remote learning timeline needs to be extended beyond this timeframe.

As a district, we have worked tirelessly over the last few weeks to prepare for this possibility.
Our remote learning plan consists of a mixture of on-line learning opportunities for our
students who have Internet access with use of a compatible device (available via teacher
webpage), along with a series of traditional learning activities consisting of books, instructional
packets, supplementary handouts, and other resources, etc. for our students who do not have
either Internet access and/or a compatible device (instructions provided by teacher). Our
goal within this plan is to provide equitable access for all students while at home during this
time.

School Services
Our teaching staff will be available to consult and converse with students and families during the
school day as needed. Additionally, our buildings will remain open, for faculty and staff only. Our
school building administrators, office personnel and supervisors will be coordinating with staff
and will be available via phone or email to address any questions and concerns. Our
custodial staff will be in our buildings continuing to carry out our “enhanced” cleaning
protocols. Finally, all of our District-level offices (curriculum, human resources, student
services & programs, education, and business) will be open and staffed during this period to assist
our students in any way possible.

Food Services
In an effort to provide continuity for our students and mitigate some of the challenges associated
with this plan, we have worked with our food service provider to make breakfast and lunch available
for those in our school community who need it. We have set the following sites up for food service
pick-up (Hamilton High School West, HHS North, HHS East, Sunnybrae Elementary, Kuser Elementary,
and Wilson Elementary).

Building a Better Tomorrow … Together
Our goal is to offer those in our community who need it, 5 days’ worth of food one time per week.
The sites will be open on Tuesday, March 17th and then again on Tuesday, March 24th between the
hours of 10:00
a.m. – 12:00 p.m. More information will be provided on our website.

Athletics/Events
All district athletic programs will be suspended/postponed during this period of time. The
district athletic directors will work in coordination with the NJSIAA to develop a plan moving
forward upon our return to school. As stated in the March 12, 2020 communication, all
other school events/activities have been suspended/postponed and our administrators will be
working to reschedule these events where possible upon our return. Kindergarten Registration at
several elementary schools (Sayen, Wilson, Kuser, Langtree, Robinson, Lalor & Mercerville) will be
affected and postponed. Additional information will be provided at a later time.

Attendance
Student attendance will be reconciled upon our return to school. We will be using the work
completed by our students during the remote learning period to demonstrate their “attendance” to
the task and receive credit for the day(s).

We encourage you to:

• Visit our HTSD website for updates;
• Visit our Coronavirus updates website
• Follow our Social Media feeds for information; facebook, twitter, instagram
• Update your contact information on the School Messenger and Parent Portal systems. If you
have not already completed the HTSD Back To School Portal, please make sure to do so by following
the directions here. We highly recommend that all parents/guardians provide their email and opt-in
for district text updates

There is no responsibility we take more seriously than ensuring the safety and well-being of our
students, faculty, staff and the Hamilton Township community. We realize the impact of this
decision on our students and families, but we are confident that it is the right decision at this
time.

Again, we will continue to provide timely updates throughout this remote learning period. Please
feel free to contact your school by phone or email for further questions or concerns once our
remote learning plan starts.

Finally, I am fully confident that our entire school district will continue to support our students
and school community during this difficult time. I thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Scott R. Rocco
Scott R. Rocco, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools