Battle Creek Central High School issued the following announcement.
Dear BCPS community,
At Battle Creek Public Schools, the health and safety of our students, families and staff members is a top priority as we consider the best ways to resume learning this fall. As you all know, a few weeks ago, Governor Whitmer released state guidelines for reopening schools this fall, based on the different phases of recovery. Over the past few months, we have been working hard on a plan to ensure a safe and healthy return to learning. We have worked in collaboration with families, students, volunteer staff members, and BCPS leadership to develop a draft plan informed by the MI Safe Schools Roadmap and guidelines from our state and local health departments.
Monday evening, BCPS leaders presented our draft plan to the board of education. We believe this plan represents the best possible balance between ensuring that our students can continue to learn and minimizing the risk of the spread of COVID-19 in our community. If Michigan remains in phase 4, the BCPS plan is to begin the year with in-person schooling for grades PK–5, where we feel risk can be effectively reduced with added health and safety measures, and fully remote schooling for grades 6–12. If the virus continues to worsen and Michigan is moved back to phase 3, all schooling will be done remotely.
- Click to download the BCPS Proposed Reopening Plan Summary (PDF)
- Traducción al español de este mensaje (también incluido al final de la página) (Google Doc)
Based on current local data, the Calhoun County Health Department supports face-to-face instruction with the strategies outlined below in place.
- Students will attend school in person, five days a week, with additional safety precautions, including required facial coverings for all staff and students, increased cleaning protocols for custodial staff, and greatly reduced large group interaction and movement throughout the building.
- To minimize the risk of spread of COVID-19, school activities will largely take place in in-class environments, or outdoors. Additional cleaning staff will be on-site in elementary schools to support enhanced cleaning protocols as well.
- Elementary students will remain either within their classrooms or go outdoors for all instruction and recess time. Students will participate in art, music and gym activities either in-classroom or outdoors, eat lunch in classrooms and attend staggered recess times that are divided physically into smaller groups.
- For at least the first nine weeks of the school year, students in grades 6-12 will engage in distance learning through live remote lessons with their assigned teachers five days per week, based upon the students’ course schedule.
- Before the end of those nine weeks, we will re-evaluate to consider if a return to the classroom is a safe next step based on Michigan’s current phase of the virus, the state of community spread in the Battle Creek area, as well as staff, student and family feedback.
- To ensure our 6-12 students can thrive while learning remotely, we have increased our investment in digital resources to ensure that we will have enough devices for every student in the district to access a BCPS Chromebook. Additional technology distribution will take place prior to the first day of school as needed. Please stay tuned for more information.
- Any family K-12 who wishes to do so may enroll their child in an all-virtual school option called the BCPS Virtual Academy. This option is for families who would prefer that their children participate in school online only for the entirety of the 2020-21 school year. This may be an appropriate option for families with health concerns.
- The Virtual Academy will include lessons and teacher mentorship, but will be largely self-guided and self-paced, unlike the remote learning that will take place for all 6-12 students to begin the school year.
- This program will be best for students who are able to thrive in either a self-guided or a parent- or guardian-supported learning environment, with less frequent teacher interaction.
- More information about the BCPS Virtual Academy option and how to enroll will be available in the coming days.
- Students with the most critical special needs, as determined by the school, may also return to school full time. For more information on if this applies to your student, please reach out to your building principal.
- Beginning in August, we will collaborate with our community partners to offer additional mental health interventions and supports, utilize TrueSuccess and Character Strong social-emotional learning curriculum, expand small group trauma interventions and implement trauma-informed instructional practices district-wide.
- For K-5 students attending school in person, school meals will be served in buildings, however students will eat meals in the classroom to avoid mixing large groups of students.
- Subject to state and federal approval, meal pickup sites will remain open for grab-and-go meals throughout the community during Phases 1-4 of the MI Safe Start plan.
PROPOSED REOPENING PLAN SUMMARY (PDF)
We will be holding a Q&A session with community and family members on July 29 at 5:30 p.m. via Facebook Live. Please join us to learn more about our plans for the fall. RSVP and set a reminder to attend at facebook.com/bcpsbearcats. We will also be holding the following Q&A Zoom sessions with in-language interpretation and posting them to our Facebook page this week:
- Burmese-interpreted Q&A Zoom Chat with Superintendent Carter: Thursday, July 30 at 5 p.m. To join us, email sthluai@battlecreekpublicschools.org
- Spanish-interpreted Q&A Zoom Chat with Superintendent Carter: Thursday, July 30 at 6 p.m. To join us, email
ppatel@battlecreekpublicschools.org
Original source can be found here.
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