Superintendent of Schools Gerald Fitzhugh II and school officials welcome students back.
ORANGE, NJ — Since the start of the pandemic and virtual learning, Orange Public Schools has come a long way and done a great deal to welcome back students. Orange students have been back in the physical classroom since April 19, when the district entered Phase 4 of its reopening plan.
On April 19, the district hosted a celebratory event for students who report to school on Monday and Tuesday and had another celebration on April 22 for the Thursday and Friday cohorts. A grand affair districtwide, Orange High School welcomed students back with a band performance, Oakwood Avenue Community School rolled out the red carpet, the drumline played at Heywood Avenue School and Forest Street Community School had pancake breakfasts during the week.
“We began to enter our students on a Thursday-Friday cohort. On April 19, we welcomed our Monday-Tuesday cohort students,” Superintendent of Schools Gerald Fitzhugh II said during the celebratory video on April 22. “The celebrations, the love, the drive of our students and our staff here in the Orange Public School District, it was electric. Our families have entrusted us with the education, as well as the health and safety, of their children. The staff entrusts us, the administration, to ensure that as they enter these doors, they are safe and healthy as well.”
According to a release detailing the district’s preparation, school principals and teachers decorated bulletin boards and classrooms during the week of April 12 for this momentous occasion. As children filed into school buildings, each school observed COVID-19 safety protocols, such as masks, social distancing and temperature checks.
“I am so glad we’ve made the decision to reopen in April of 2021,” Fitzhugh said. “The children are in classrooms learning; the staff are preparing sound lessons to ensure that pedagogy and practice are in the forefront of the mission and vision of this very school district.
“As I’ve stated before, I’m proud to lead it, I’m proud to visit each and every school, every single day, to ensure not only the health and safety, but the academic acumen of all children that enter the doors of the 14 buildings … in the Orange Township Public School District,” he continued.
Orange Board of Education President Shawneque Johnson spoke of ensuring cleanliness within schools.
“It was very important that the board got a feel of how the schools were cleaning, how they’re being maintained, and if it’s safe for the children to come back,” Johnson said during a celebratory video April 13. “The board collectively came together to make sure that the schools were safe and cleanly enough for our children to return.”
Similar to most public school districts in New Jersey, since the start of the school year, Orange had no idea what its school year would look like in the face of COVID-19. Setting Orange apart from other districts though was its meticulous planning and fierce determination to rise to the occasion in every way possible.
According to a press release detailing the timeline for reopening schools, the school year began on Sept. 8 in Phase 1, with students learning virtually and staff teaching remotely. On Oct. 5, the district moved into Phase 2, “Remote Synchronous,” for which staff were on-site, but students remained in remote instruction. In Phase 2, teachers were on-site two days per week, providing virtual synchronous instruction from their designated classroom spaces.
Effective Feb. 22, Orange schools extended Phase 2 through Friday, April 16, after discussion with health officials. From April 12 to 16, teachers and support staff reported to the buildings to fine-tune their spaces in anticipation of student arrival on April 19 and April 22. Now, moving directly to Phase 4, to run from April 19 to June 24, all staff and students returned in a hybrid setting with staggered schedules. This combines on-site and remote learning.
“We’re going to continue to celebrate every day now that we are back in person, in the hybrid model,” Fitzhugh said. “Again, this is how we move the district from good to great and be reminded that this is the Orange Township Public School District.”
Photos Courtesy of Joan Purkiss
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