Schley County Schools

October 26, 2020 Dear Parents, Last week was a very productive one! Award recognitions, outside sports events, and bus safety week took place. Thank you for your efforts to make each of these possible and to allow them to occur in a safe manner. Continue to take the basic steps listed in the reminders below. Everyone working together improves our chances for positive outcomes! Virtual students are to be reminded of the available afternoon assistance at each school. If you have questions or need specific assistance, message your assigned teacher to make use of this extra help. As always, please help us to stay safe and healthy by: • Masking up • Staying home when sick • Physically distancing as much as possible • Sanitizing hands regularly To ensure you are provided with the most recent information, please see the weekly status report below. This information provides the total number of active COVID-19 cases reported by our system to DPH, as well as the total number of quarantines as a result. COVID-19 Status Report as of October 26, 2020 at 4 p.m. Total Number of In-Person Students and Staff: 1014 (students) + 143 (staff) =1157 Total Number of Active COVID-19 Cases: 0 Total Number of Active Quarantines Due to Close Contact: 1 Thank you for your continued support of our schools! Sincerely, Brian Hall

Parents,

Due to Covid-19, our annual Title I Meeting and Student Success presentation will be held virtually. Click here to view the 11-minute presentation. Make sure the volume is up.

If you have questions, you can email jlangley@schleyk12.org.

October 16, 2020 Dear Parents, We are very fortunate to report continued good news with low Covid numbers beginning the second 9 weeks period. Thank you for the continued efforts. Please do not relax your everyday safety measures to protect yourself and others. All of the current guidance and steps will also help us be more effective during cold and flu season. Virtual students are to be reminded of the available afternoon assistance at each school. If you have questions or need specific help, message your assigned teacher to make use of this extra time. As always, please help us to stay safe and healthy by: • Masking up • Staying home when sick • Physically distancing as much as possible • Sanitizing hands regularly Working together gives us our best chance to stay safe. To ensure you are provided with the most recent information, please see the weekly status report below. This information provides the total number of active Covid-19 cases reported by our system to DPH, as well as the total number of quarantines as a result. COVID-19 Status Report as of October 16, 2020 at 4 p.m. Total Number of In-Person Students and Staff: 952 (students) + 143 (staff) =1095 Total Number of Active COVID-19 Cases: 1 Total Number of Active Quarantines Due to Close Contact: 1 Thank you for your continued support of our schools! Sincerely, Brian Hall

October 9, 2020 Dear Parents, This week marks the end of the first 9 weeks of school. We very much appreciate the efforts that have gone into getting us this far successfully. A good portion of our virtual elementary students will be returning to in-person instruction on October 14th. For all other virtual students, you are encouraged to use the after school teachers that will be on duty. This can be utilized in several ways, you may contact your teacher through Remind or make contact with the school office for details on the after school hours provided. We also encourage everyone to be careful and follow the important steps to stay safe over fall break. Have fun and enjoy your days off Monday and Tuesday! When we return, help us to stay safe and healthy by: • Masking up • Staying home when sick • Physically distancing as much as possible • Sanitizing hands regularly Everyone can do their part by taking regular precautions. To ensure you are provided with the most recent information, please see the weekly status report below. This information provides the total number of active COVID-19 cases reported to our system and DPH, as well as the total number of quarantines as a result. COVID-19 Status Report as of October 9, 2020 at 4 p.m. Total Number of In-Person Students and Staff: 952 (students) + 143 (staff) =1095 Total Number of Active COVID-19 Cases: 0 Total Number of Active Quarantines Due to Close Contact: 0 Thank you for your continued support of our schools! Brian Hall

October 2, 2020 Dear Parents, In-person instruction continued this week for all grades along with scheduled extracurricular events. We are pleased to report that our county DPH report shows zero cases for the last two weeks! This is welcomed news and we certainly want this to continue. Numbers can change quickly and it is very easy to become complacent with safety measures. Be reminded that both June and early July had two week periods with low case numbers. Stay vigilant! Continue to help us to stay safe and healthy by: • Masking up • Staying home when sick • Physically distancing as much as possible • Sanitizing hands regularly Everyone can do their part by taking regular precautions. To ensure you are provided with the most recent information, please see the weekly status report below. This information provides the total number of active COVID-19 cases reported to our system and DPH, as well as the total number of quarantines as a result. COVID-19 Status Report as of October 2, 2020 at 4 p.m. Total Number of In-Person Students and Staff: 956 (students) + 143 (staff) =1093 Total Number of Active COVID-19 Cases: 0 Total Number of Active Quarantines Due to Close Contact: 0 Thank you for your continued support of our schools! Brian Hall

September 25, 2020 Dear Parents, We have been very fortunate to have another full week of instruction this week. Several out of class activities and events were able to take place for elementary, middle, and high school students. It was especially nice to see these events take place safely. Our county and state numbers continue to look favorable as we continue to encourage everyone to remain steady in their efforts. Continue to help us to stay safe and healthy by: • Masking up • Staying home when sick • Physically distancing as much as possible • Sanitizing hands regularly Everyone can do their part by taking regular precautions. To ensure you are provided with the most recent information, please see the weekly status report below. This information provides the total number of active COVID-19 cases reported to our system and DPH, as well as the total number of quarantines as a result. COVID-19 Status Report as of September 25, 2020 at 4 p.m. Total Number of In-Person Students and Staff: 956 (students) + 143 (staff) =1093 Total Number of Active COVID-19 Cases: 0 Total Number of Active Quarantines Due to Close Contact: 1 Thank you for your continued support of our schools! Brian Hall

September 18, 2020 Dear Parents, This week marked the return of all grades for in-person instruction. We had a very good week! Our students and staff have done an outstanding job. Please do not ease up on any of the necessary tasks it takes to continue this effort together. Help us to stay safe and healthy by: • Masking up • Staying home when sick • Physically distancing as much as possible • Sanitizing hands regularly Everyone can do their part by taking regular precautions. To ensure you are provided with the most recent information, please see the weekly status report below. This information provides the total number of active COVID-19 cases reported to our system and DPH, as well as the total number of quarantines as a result. COVID-19 Status Report as of September 18, 2020 at 4 p.m. Total Number of In-Person Students and Staff: 950 (students) + 143 (staff) =1093 Total Number of Active COVID-19 Cases: 0 Total Number of Active Quarantines Due to Close Contact: 6 Thank you for your continued support of our schools! Brian Hall

School Access Points - Access points are located at Union Hill Church, Ebenezer Baptist, American Legion, Pecan Village, old John Lewis school, Shady Grove Apts, and the School Board Office. These access points provide filtered internet access for student school work. The Wi-Fi connections display as SchoolBusInternetXXXX where XXXX is the unique identifier for the access point. The password for each access point is accessXXXX, where XXXX is the same last 4 digits as you see in the Wi-Fi connection. There are limited data restrictions on each access point for each month. It is imperative to conduct only school related tasks while using school access points. We truly appreciate the community partners that have allowed us to locate the Wi-Fi Rangers on their property. Remember to be responsible and practice social distancing at these locations. We will keep you updated when more sites are added.

September 11, 2020 Dear Parents, We have had a very productive week with the elementary students and middle school students returning to in-person instruction this week. Our teachers and support staff at both schools have been very glad to see them. Faculty and staff at the high school are just as eager for Monday’s return of high school students. Please help us to stay safe and healthy by: • Masking up • Staying home when sick • Physically distancing as much as possible • Sanitizing hands regularly Working together gives us our best chance to stay safe. To ensure you are provided with the most recent information, please see the weekly status report below. This information provides the total number of active COVID-19 cases reported to our system and DPH, as well as the total number of quarantines as a result. COVID-19 Status Report as of September 11, 2020 at 4 p.m. Total Number of In-Person Students and Staff: 950 (students) + 143 (staff) =1093 Total Number of Active COVID-19 Cases: 0 Total Number of Active Quarantines Due to Close Contact: 3 Thank you for your continued support of our schools! Brian Hall

Starting September 14, 2020 all students enrolled in the Schley County School System will receive free breakfast and lunch under the Seamless Summer Feeding Program. We will also be providing free breakfast and lunch to virtual school students and siblings of virtual school students from ages 2-18. Our school foods staff must receive an order from virtual school students in order to account for all children in the household and establish an accurate count for deliveries. Students will receive free meals until December 31, 2020 or until such time that USDA allows this program to continue. A Free and Reduced Application, one per household, needs to be completed if you have not done so already. Free and Reduced applications are located under the school websites under school nutrition or at www.myschoolapps.com. When the program is finished, students will revert to their original lunch status (Paid, Free, and Reduced). Balances will remain in MySchoolBucks until needed at the conclusion of this program. If your child’s lunch account has a negative balance as of today, you will be responsible for that. You can find your child’s lunch balance at www.myschoolbucks.com .

We look forward to the return of our middle school students tomorrow Sept 8th and high school students on Sept 14th. We encourage masks be worn within each building. Students who have fever or display any other symptoms of illness should not attend classes. For a safe return, students must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications. Anyone awaiting Covid test results should not return until results are returned. Thank you for your continued support.

We are looking forward to re-opening Schley County Schools, but will do so as cautiously and as carefully as possible. Pre-K through grade 5 will resume in-person instruction beginning Monday August 31st. Grades 6 – 8 will return Sept 8. In-person instruction for high school students will begin on Sept 14. As we begin in-person instruction, it is important that everyone recognizes the role they play in protecting themselves and others. We can all do our part by taking any and all precautions necessary. We would encourage masks be worn within the building. Students who have fever or display any other symptoms of illness should not attend classes. For a safe return, students must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications. Anyone awaiting Covid tests results should not return unless confirmed test results allow it. Our 2020-21 school year continues to provide obstacles, but we will work through them together. Thank you for your support and patience.

Dear Parents, Thank you for your efforts and patience over the last few weeks. It has been challenging for all to learn new procedures while adapting from in-person instruction to distance learning. Planning for our best options, with in the setting of this pandemic, continues to be a hard task. Considering the time frame dating back to the March onset of this pandemic, we remained very low in cases (35 cases in roughly 144 days). In stark contrast, our cases per 100k have escalated over the last 25 days. This figure, which is detailed on the DPH Covid-19 map (https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report) depicts cases specific to our community. It shows two week figures and a color scale per county. Schley County has continued to show increases in this figure for much of August. As we plan for setting a date, this as well as other information will determine the return to face to face instruction. Return to school will be in segments. We have tentatively set August 31st as a return date for elementary grades Pk-5. Middle school students will return September 8th and high school will follow on September 14th. All of these dates can and will be affected by an escalation of Covid-19 cases. Please help our community take any and all measures to help lower the spread rate. Our Covid-19 Operational Plan is posted on our website and contains a decision guide chart along with guidance for parents. Please read and review the operational plan. Elevation to Phase 3 and Phase 4 of our plan will be determined by student population that is positive and/or quarantined. Not having our students in classrooms is difficult for all of us; however, a safe return will increase the likelihood that we remain open once we can return. Your help is needed to encourage everyone to take any and all precautions for everyone’s health and well-being. Brian Hall Superintendent, Schley County Schools

We have two additional wifi locations that are now available. The old elementary building (John Lewis building) is operational. This is a Wifi Ranger access point. Information for Wifi Ranger access can be seen in Friday's posts. Also Ellaville Baptist has wifi for the parking area at the rear of the church. Access information will be posted on the rear entrance to the fellowship hall. Open hours for use will be 9:00 to 4:00 Monday through Friday.

Virtual Middle/High School Students, Thank you for your patience as we are working out the calendar issue with Edgenuity. We almost have this finished. The weekend due dates will no longer appear but instead will be during the 5 Day Workweek (Mon-Fri). Your current grade will still show for all coursework you have completed. The overall grade may be lower but that is fine at this time. Once you finish all the coursework, the current grade will match the overall grade. You should not be locked out of assignments if you are behind on the due dates. If so, please contact the staff member designated for your grade level. Thank you!

School Access Points - Update There is an available access point located in the parking lot between our two schools. Select the Wi-Fi that displays as Schley_Outdoor with password Hopeful2020. Wi-Fi is available from 7:00am to 8:00pm. Remember to be responsible and practice social distancing at all locations.

School Access Points At this time there are access points located at Union Hill Church, Ebenezer Baptist, American Legion, Pecan Village and the School Board Office. These access points provide filtered internet access for student school work. The Wi-Fi connections display as SchoolBusInternetXXXX where XXXX is the unique identifier for the access point. The password for each access point is accessXXXX, where XXXX is the same last 4 digits as you see in the Wi-Fi connection. There are limited data restrictions on each access point for each month. It is imperative to conduct only school related tasks while using school access points. We truly appreciate the community partners that have allowed us to locate the Wi-Fi Rangers on their property. Remember to be responsible and practice social distancing at these locations. We will keep you updated when more sites are added.

Please read the information below: Covid 19 Guidance • If you come in contact with someone that is a confirmed covid positive person, and you meet the standard of less than 6 feet for more than 15 minutes ----- Stay at home 14 days. You are considered a close contact and should quarantine 14 days. Testing will not change the need for continued quarantine. It is not suggested that you test immediately and an early negative may only mean you are not positive at that time. Symptoms may not appear early. • If you have a reason to be tested and are awaiting testing ----- Stay at home until you have test results. You will be advised from the health care professional what to do next based on test results. • If you have fever ----- Stay at home. You must be fever free for 24 hrs without the aid of fever reducing medications. • If any household member is covid positive ----- Stay at home. This is a household exposure and a 14 day quarantine. If other members become positive during this time, the time frame changes. Consult your local health department or health official for further guidance. • If a family member has serious symptoms i.e. a high fever overnight, err on the side of caution and keep exposed siblings at home until you have the condition relieved or diagnosed. • If a family member is quarantined for a close contact exposure, you must monitor that person for any symptoms. As long as the quarantined close contact individual has no symptoms, other household members are not quarantined. It is important to try and maintain distance within the home. This also means wearing a face covering/ mask is a good measure.

Locations for internet "hotspots" were tested yesterday. We are in the process of installing them today. As we get them up and going, we will update everyone as to the locations for service as well as access logins. We very much appreciate the community partners that have allowed us to locate the Wifi Rangers on their property.

Dear Parents, In light of the recent closure of our schools, and because many of you have requested an opportunity to reconsider online learning, we are re-opening registration for our virtual program, Edgenuity. If you choose this option for your child(ren), you must commit to this program for nine weeks for elementary students and the entire first semester for middle and high school students. Our bus drivers will also be providing hot spots for Wi-Fi connections in remote areas during school hours August 13-25. We will begin posting those locations in order for students to have access points. Passwords will be emailed directly to student accounts. If you need further help with this please message wildcathelp@schleyk12.org or call 229-937-2405. Hotspots at each school and the Board of Education are available now. An application for virtual learning can be found on the district and school websites or by following this link: https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/851390/Virtual_Learning_Program_Application__extended_.pdf The deadline for returning these applications is August 19, 2020, at 4:00 p.m. You may begin turning those applications in today, and each day, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the Board of Education, or you may email them to wildcathelp@schleyk12.org.