Thank you for participating in our parent survey last week to assist in planning for our full return to in-person instruction beginning on April 5th. We are pleased to share that we are able to bring back all students who wish to attend school in-person on a full time basis. Based on the survey results, Central 301 will be returning to five full days of in-person instruction at the elementary level (9:10 – 3:35) and four full days a week (M, T, TH, F) of in-person instruction at the middle school (7:30 – 2:08) and high school (7:30 – 2:00) with no changes to the Wednesday schedule. Wednesday provides a half day of remote synchronous instruction and a half day of remote asynchronous instruction for the students. This provides our teaching staff time to collaborate and develop lessons for the integrated instructional model they follow.
Although there have been some challenges, Central CUSD 301 has been able to make adjustments to accommodate approximately 94% of the parent requests. That being said, we do have 15 students in two specific grade levels at both Country Trails and Howard B. Thomas Grade School that we cannot accommodate in their home school due to class size requirements. These families will be given the choice to remain in remote instruction or return to in-person instruction at another district grade school as long as they provide transportation for their children. Additionally, we were able to complete these shifts without having to change any students’ teachers for our students who are not changing learning models. At the elementary level, remote-only students will remain with their current remote-only teacher and current in-person students will remain with their current in-person teacher for the remainder of the school year. Elementary students who are changing their learning model will be assigned a new classroom teacher. We are working to minimize teacher changes for our middle school and high school students who are changing learning models.
The transportation department is currently working on revised routing to accommodate the return on April 5th and additional information will be shared with you from transportation in the next few days.
The Board approved a revised calendar during a special meeting tonight that makes Friday, March 26th a non-attendance day for students. Staff will use this Friday for planning for the return of students on April 5th. The last day of student attendance will be Tuesday, June 8th, and a revised calendar will be shared with families tomorrow.
As stated above, the return to full day in-person instruction will begin on Monday, April 5th and highlights of our return plan include:
General
- Three foot social distancing in the classrooms with proper mask use will be the norm for students.
- School bus capacity remains at 49 students plus the driver.
- The three “W’s” of Wear a mask, Wash your hands, and Watch your distance will continue to be practiced.
- Daily lunches will be provided at all levels while practicing six foot social distancing when eating.
- All facilities will be sanitized and disinfected on a daily basis and between each lunch period.
- Parent visits to the buildings continue to be limited to essential meetings.
Elementary School
- The elementary school day will begin at 9:10 a.m. Buses will drop off students at the elementary schools at 9:00 a.m.
- Daily self certification remains in effect and it will be important for parents to keep students home when sick.
- Contact tracing and quarantine requirements remain in effect.
- Outdoor mask breaks will occur during the day at the elementary level.
- The use of outside playgrounds at the elementary level will begin. This will require students to sanitize in and out of the playground areas (mask use is required on the playground, and a mask free area with six feet social distancing will also be available to students). Additionally, the playground will not be utilized daily for each class, but will be utilized on a rotational basis to ensure that contact tracing is feasible.
Middle School
- Daily self certification remains in effect and it will be important for parents to keep students home when sick.
- Contact tracing and quarantine requirements remain in effect.
- The schedule for instruction on Wednesdays remains unchanged to allot for teacher collaboration and planning due to the integrated instructional model.
- Athletes are not allowed to remain at school while awaiting a practice or a game.
- Athletes must bring with them a self-certification form if they are a remote-only student participating in after school activities.
High School
- Daily self certification remains in effect and it will be important for parents to keep students home when sick.
- Contact tracing and quarantine requirements remain in effect.
- The schedule for instruction on Wednesdays remains unchanged to allot for teacher collaboration and planning due to the integrated instructional model.
- Athletes are not allowed to remain at school while awaiting a practice or a game.
- Athletes must bring with them a self-certification form if they are a remote-only student participating in after school activities.
We are pleased to be able to accommodate our families who chose either in-person or remote-only instruction to conclude the school year. We are also grateful for our supportive community who partnered with us to aid in transportation and lunch supervision needs and for our teachers who have been incredibly flexible and understanding through all of these changes. Please watch for additional information that you will receive from your child’s school and from the transportation department.