With one week before public school students return to class in Hamilton County, officials announced an opening schedule that aims to help everyone ease into an unprecedented year.
📚 The first (short) week
- Officials announced the Safe Start, Great Start schedule so that everyone would have time to prepare and adjust to the new schedule.
- Students have been divided into two cohorts — group A and group B.
- The first week is a short week, with school starting on Wed., Aug. 12.
- On Wednesday, group A will go to school in class while group B works remotely.
- On Thursday, that switches, and group B goes to school while group A works remotely.
- On Friday, both groups will work from home remotely.
📚 Week No. 2-3
- For the first full week of school, which starts Aug. 17, group A will go to class on Monday and Tuesday, while group B works remotely.
- Then both groups will take a remote learning day on Wednesday.
- For Thursday and Friday, group B goes to school in person, while group A works remotely.
- The second full week of school (Aug. 24-28), the same schedule as week No. 2 will be repeated.
📚 Starting Aug. 31
After the first few weeks of adjusting, schools will follow the phased approach outlined in this reentry plan, which changes depending on the number of COVID-19 cases in the area. As of now, we are in Phase 3, which involves schools being open five days a week with a combo of in-person and remote learning.
If the number of cases rises, and schools move to phase 2, that means reduced days on campus for students.
ProTip: Families should contact individual schools to ensure all siblings will be grouped together on the same schedule, regardless of what school they attend.
📚 At-home learning help
- If you’ve opted for remote-only learning this year, there’s more information here.
- There’s going to be at-home help for students and parents. For example, the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga is working with some schools that need extra support.
- The Urban League will be available to visit homes and help both students and parents with social + emotional support to reinforce academic learning.
- In addition to helping families with school, the Urban League will also be able to help parents use the internet to do anything from job help to tax assistance.
Bonus: Everything else you need to know about going back to school, including details about masks, is here.