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FROM STAFF REPORTS

Shelby County Schools released an update on July 29 that the district’s schools will reopen in August in the green phase of starting students back together.

The school system is offering students two instructional options, traditional on-campus learning and remote at-home learning. The traditional plan has three phases: green – starting all students back together, yellow – starting in a cautious phase where students attend school on a staggered schedule, and red – where all students start in eLearning and traditional students return to campus as soon as possible.

“As of now, Shelby County Schools will reopen in the green phase of Back Together,” the update read. “Please understand as new information and guidance becomes available about health and safety, the district may need to pivot to a different phase at any point during the school year.”

The district’s instructional plan is designed to ensure that transitions between phases in the traditional model will be seamless and predictable with daily schedules, online content, curricular expectations and consistent assessment and grading practices.

Parents have been asked to review the two instructional options and commit to remote or traditional learning by completing a form linked on the district’s website, Shelbyed.k12.al.us.

Students can move from traditional to remote learning at any time. They can move from remote to traditional at the end of the nine weeks period.

If a student wants to change from one learning option to the other, the parent should contact the local school principal.

Students in grades 2-12 will be required to wear a mask or facial covering. It is recommended for students in kindergarten and first grade.

The district will follow the state mask order, including exceptions listed. There is currently no set ending date for this requirement.

If students can be socially distanced more than 6 feet from each other, the teacher may allow a mask break.

Students who need a device or hotspot to access online instruction should contact the local school principal to discuss options.

If a middle or high school student choosing the traditional option has a personal device, they are encouraged to bring their own device to eliminate the need to share devices between students while on campus.

The district is installing an outdoor wireless access point in each school zone for drive-up WiFi access for students to use when downloading and uploading files.

The district’s technology instructional staff is in the process of creating a webpage just for parents. The webpage will be linked to the SCS homepage and will contain information and videos for parents on various topics, such as tutorials for Google Classroom, Google Meet, Schoology, Clever, Internet Safety and others.

The district also released a revised sample schedule for elementary remote learners (pictured above).

To view information regarding elementary, middle and high school instruction for traditional and remote learners, go to Shelbyed.k12.al.us/doclibrary/20-21-reopening-news-07-29-20.pdf.