July 17, 2020
Dear AHISD Families,
I know that you recognize the COVID-19 pandemic is dynamic and ever-changing and continues to provide incredible challenges as we move forward with planning around the opening of school for the 2020-2021 school year. I appreciate your patience as we have been waiting and relying on local and state guidance to finalize our plans for August. We received initial guidance from TEA about health and safety guidelines on July 7 and have been working diligently to make plans based on those directions. Now, due to the guidance we received today from TEA and from the local San Antonio health orders issued by Bexar County Health, we will open schools remotely for three weeks beginning on August 17th.
In addition to protecting the health and wellness of our students and staff during a time of “moderate and sustained” community transmission of COVID-19, this three-week transition time of remote learning will support us by:
· allowing us to proceed with the approved calendar start day of August 17th (instead of moving our start date to later in September and extending the year into June)
· providing additional time for comprehensive training for our staff around COVID- 19 health and safety protocols
· extending time to more extensively prepare classrooms and campuses for the return of students in a face-to-face learning environment
During these three weeks, our staff will offer remote learning to students based on our AHISD Remote Learning Plan. Students who have enrolled in our Heights at Home option for the first nine weeks will work with their Heights at Home teacher as originally planned. All students who were enrolled in our face-to-face option will work remotely with their homeroom teachers (PK-5) and through their planned schedule (6-12). More details will follow in early August. Parents will have the option to change their instructional choice for the fall in the Final Commitment Survey which will be sent out on July 26th.
Extensive feedback from parents, students and teachers regarding our AHISD Continuous Learning Plan in the spring has allowed us to make improvements in structure, expectations and implementation of remote learning. We knew that we needed to make plans to implement this remote platform throughout the year as we experience times of facility closure or quarantine. This planning will serve us well to start school in our updated and improved remote platform.
All families will be provided with the materials that they need to implement the remote learning for these three weeks, whether that be devices, hotspots, and/or classroom At-Home Learning Kits. Watch for more information to come regarding the distribution of materials.
We want to be back in our schools face-to-face with our students and will continue to make plans to fully open our facilities in a way that prioritizes the health and safety of our students and staff after Labor Day.
Warmest regards-
Dana