By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

As schools resume this fall with a hybrid schedule of remote and in-person instruction, many families likely are struggling to juggle their work schedules and child care. The CNY Family Sports Centre is hoping to help working parents bridge the gap with its Remote Learning Assistance and Sports Program.

“We just recognized … with the hybrid school plans that there would be a need for a service like this,” said Pete Ramin, director of operations at CNYFSC. “It’s not always the same days that you’re off as a student, so there will be challenges for parents to find places for their kids to go.”

Open to students in grades 3 through 5, the program will provide assistance with virtual assignments as well as “specials” programming — physical education, art, music and theater. Students will attend the CNYFSC program on the remote instruction days of their schedule.

To handle the academic side of the program, Ramin tapped his friend Bill Coughlin, a retired educator. Coughlin assembled a team of two veteran teachers, two recent college graduates and an art/drama teacher.

Coughlin said the program, which goes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., will be broken down into 45-minute blocks.

“Their day is full, but they’re not just sitting there on their computers,” he said. “It’s really kind of a free-flowing schedule. … The National Council of Teachers recommends two hours maximum of remote learning a day. They’re not trapped at their desks for six hours.”

CNYFSC General Manager and Youth Soccer Director Ben Ramin will lead physical education activities on one of the facility’s indoor fields as well as the five outdoor fields, weather permitting. Megan Flanagan Sheehan, who has more than 20 years experience in the local theater community, will lead art and theater activities in the CNYFSC’s Jonhoben Room.

Coughlin said the center has a projector to screen movies or TV and he is planning fun holiday announcements and recognition for students.

“We also want to have some fun with it. It’s not going to be a formal, stuffy setting,” he said.

Pete Ramin said one of the center’s indoor fields will be used as a giant classroom and the other will be used for PE.

“It’s a 48,000-square-foot building, so we have plenty of space for social distancing,” he said.

Coughlin said students will bring their school-issued Chromebooks or tablets and will be seated at eight-foot-long tables — one child at either end to maintain the recommended six feet of distance. Face masks will be required and students must complete a health questionnaire before entering the building.

Ramin and Coughlin said they decided to open the program to grades 3 through 5 because the Baldwinsville Central School District has opted for five days a week of in-person instruction for students in kindergarten through second grade, and middle- and high-schoolers are more independent.

While the program will follow the BCSD schedule, families from other school districts are welcome to apply as well.

If hybrid learning remains in place past January, the CNYFSC is prepared to offer a spring semester of the remote learning program as well. Coughlin said flexibility is key in the age of COVID-19.

“What we do the first week and what we do the eighth week are going to be totally different because nobody knows how this is going to go,” he said.

“The program will be fluid. We’ll be listening to the wants and needs of the parents and the kids. We’ll figure out how we can best serve them,” Ramin said.

The CNY Family Sports Centre’s Remote Learning Assistance and Sports Program is open to students in third, fourth and fifth grades. Enrollment is limited to 75 children. The cost is $1,995 for the fall semester payable in four monthly installments. There is a 5% discount for families who pay in full upfront, as well as a 5% discount for additional children. To learn more or to register, visit cnyfsc.com/camps-and-clinics/remote-learning-and-sports.cfm.