COVID-19 New Canaan

Superintendent: School Buildings Now Closed Through April 20; Changes Coming to E-Learning Program

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New Canaan Public Schools will resume no sooner than April 20, district officials said late Wednesday. 

Originally planned for two weeks, the e-learning program launched last Friday as the COVID-19 emergency took hold—a system that parents, while grateful for educators’ efforts, have found cumbersome in some ways—will be modified “to ensure that it will be sustainable for our students, staff, and families, and that it will be responsive to whatever lies ahead,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi said in an email to parents. 

“These adjustments at each level permit us to adapt to the few challenges that have arisen while capitalizing on some wonderful opportunities that have appeared,” the email said. It wasn’t immediately clear what the changes would involve, though they’ll take hold Monday, Luizzi said. Principals are to contact public schools parents about them. The news comes as state officials waive a requirement that districts hold 180 school days amid growing concerns about the spread of the virus. Connecticut cases are increasing a rapid rate—up from 68 Tuesday to 96 Wednesday, according to the state Department of Public Health,  with more than 70% of cases in Fairfield County.

Business

Local Business and COVID-19: Karl Chevrolet

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What follows are responses from Leo Karl III, president of Karl Chevrolet, for our Q&A on how the local business is navigating the COVID-19 emergency in New Canaan. New Canaanite: What has the past week been like for you and Karl Chevrolet? Leo Karl III: Like all of us, each day has brought new information and adjustments. We have been preparing and making plans for a couple of weeks, so we feel our team has been very pro-active in dealing with the COVID-19 Coronavirus health threat. We want to do our part to be good stewards of our community’s health and well-being, while delivering needed services to our clients as seamlessly as possible. That includes adapting several new business initiatives.

COVID-19 New Canaan

New Canaan Parents Take on ‘Home Schoolteacher’ Role Amid COVID-19 Emergency

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New Canaan resident Jessica Knowles, an HR consultant and mom of three—a kindergartener and third-grader at South School and fifth-grader at Saxe Middle School—has struggled since late last week to stay on top of work. 

With the kids home as part of the New Canaan Public Schools’ newly launched remote learning program, Knowles’s ability to get back to people, schedule meetings and otherwise do her part-time job has been pushed into the evenings and become “sporadic,” she said. “I work from home and I am not really working, other than really trying to help my kids navigate this,” she said. Knowles is among the hundreds of New Canaan parents who have taken on a new role as “home schoolteacher” under the district’s e-learning program, launched Friday as an educational stopgap amid the COVID-19 emergency. Public school buildings are closed until at least March 30, officials have said. Conducted through email and web platforms and consisting largely of assignments that generate feedback from teachers, the e-learning program is drawing wide praise from the parent community as a testament to the district’s commitment to education.

Business

Local Business and COVID-19: New Canaan Music

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What follows are responses from town resident Phil Williams, owner of New Canaan Music on Main Street, to our Q&A on how the local business is navigating the COVID-19 emergency here. New Canaanite: What has the past week been like for you and New Canaan Music? Phil Williams: This is a very trying time and like many local merchants, we are feeling the hardship of the situation. We have been doing everything we can to keep life as close to normal as possible but this is an unprecedented crisis. A lot of what we are going through right now is new to everyone. The health and well-being of our families, employees, customers, and the community is what is most important to us. We are also mindful of our moral obligation to help out our instructors. Our instructors are all pro musicians and with no public gatherings, their gigs have all been cancelled and therefore incomes have been cut significantly. We are hoping to help keep them working and get through this while providing a safe environment for our students to continue their lessons.