The decision to begin the year 100% virtually was difficult. I have spent all summer watching the data, reading studies, hearing from citizens and parents and trying to make the best decision possible. In the end, it all comes down to health and safety of students and staff.

The number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Shenandoah County continue to be of concern. Just recently the 7-day moving average of cases in the county per 100,000 has risen from 5.9 to 6.9 to 8.2 in less than a week and on August 10 hit 12.1! The state average has increased from 12.4 to 14.0.

Many SCPS staff have high-risk health conditions that make them more susceptible to COVID-19. Over 12% of SCPS staff have COVID-related situations that affect their ability to return to work. The average age of staff is 46. It's only been a week since staff have returned to work and already 5 staff members have been on leave awaiting testing. Two have tested negative, two are awaiting results, and one was positive. With decreases in substitute teacher availability, daily vacancies while teachers are on leave awaiting testing or while ill would be difficult to fill and create further disruption to continuity of instruction.

Studies have emerged showing that children do transmit the virus. While the long-term effects on children are not yet known, they could still carry the disease home to parents or family members. Illness, death, or long-term chronic conditions in the SCPS school community due to Covid-19 would be terrible. While this is not a permanent situation, students, their families, and SCPS Staff have to be safe.

The data above will be monitored daily and the decision will be reevaluated on a weekly basis. The earliest return to the blended instruction model with some in person learning that was described in the reopening plan would be at the 9-week mark, but parents would be given at least 2-3 weeks of notice to plan for the change. Please note that the 9-week time frame is from the original school calendar. So, we will communicate a decision to parents by October 5 for a possible blended model return on October 19. (Update: We will transition to a blended/hybrid model on October 12.)

Should health conditions improve, SCPS may work to phase students back in for intervention supports on a very limited basis before the 9-week time frame.

The new Learning Management System, Schoology, provides Parent access to a student's courses, grades and information. Tutorials and videos are available on the SCPS Parent Academy page.

If you need additional help with Schoology, or if you do not have internet access, please contact your school. We will be offering another in-person help session at the elementary school on each campus on Wednesday, September 9, from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Please remember that you must reserve a time by visiting the link on your school website, and reservations are limited. Parents and students of all ages are invited to attend this event. All attendees must wear masks and observe social distancing guidelines. Please have your child attend with you and bring their school assigned Chromebook.

Don’t forget you can order breakfast or lunch for your child by filling out the Request a Meal form on our main website or calling the middle school cafeteria on your campus. All Meal requests must be submitted by 9 p.m. the day before. Meals are available for pick-up at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School, North Fork Middle School, or Signal Knob Middle School between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. They will also be transported to consolidated stops throughout the county. The website form lists the approximate time meals will be delivered to the consolidated stops. Starting September 8 we will be able to revert back to the Summer Meals program. At that time all children ages 2 to 18 will be able to receive a meal at no charge.

The SCPS Special Education Department is working with IEP teams to amend all student IEPs to reflect virtual and/or blended learning.