On Thursday, Wake County Public Schools sent an email about plans for the 2020-21 school year. I know many of you have read the document and found it overwhelming (well at least I did).
The Wakefield Elementary School PTA created a great summary of the 4.5 hour board meeting for their families. A parent shared this summary with me and I'd thought I would share with all of you.
- WCPSS voted to move forward with Plan B with students rotating on a schedule of 1 week in person, 2 weeks remote learning for ALL grades.
- This is all is pending the governor's call. Wake county can always have a more conservative plan but not less conservative. If the governor says that we must go with Plan C (remote learning), Wake County must use Plan C. If the governor calls for Plan A (in person learning), Wake County can continue with plan B or they can go to plan A.
- The first 2 weeks of school will be one day in class and NO remote learning. This way, every student will meet his or her teacher and receive an orientation.
- Students in each class will be assigned to a cohort A, B, and C.
- Cohort assignment priority will be given to siblings. They also have to make sure they spread out the bus riders evenly amongst cohorts.
- Traditional calendar will remain traditional. Year round will convert to Track 4 so that year round doesn't end up with 12 different tracks.
- Child care facilitated by the YMCA will have staff trained and resourced to help facilitate students in online learning. Costs of this child care will be announced soon.
- Regardless of whether the county uses Plan A, B, or C, WCPSS Virtual Academy is an option for all families.
- This is the remote only option. This will be different than the remote learning this spring and will include live sessions, grading, attendance, and accountability to meet all state and district standards. There will be a paper component for K-2 and hopefully all grades.
- All WCPSS Virtual Academy teachers are certified teachers.
- All core subjects will be included. Depending on the number of enrolled students, additional subjects will be added.
- Students in the Virtual Academy will still be students at their current school and can participate in activities as if they were participating in Plan B.
The PTA Executive Board (Deb, Sarah, Dana, Lauren, and I) will be meeting this week to discuss plans for the next year. As Superintendent more said in her email, this will be a school year like no other. We can still be #BrighterTogether. We just might have to think out-of-the-box on how to celebrate so many of our annual traditions. If you have ideas on how we as a community can shine bright together this year, please contact any PTA officer. We'd love to hear from you!
Also, if you need help or have questions, just ask! We are here for each other.
Remember: If you know an incoming Kindergarten family, have them watch our virtual orientation at https://sites.google.com/wcpss.net/sceskorientation/home. Also, if they are interested in signing up for the weekly PTA email, they can sign up at https://forms.gle/jjHE5jQoy85MVLMj7.
Stay safe and have a wonderful week!
Your PTA Executive Board
Marie Dexter, Deborah Killion, Sarah Wohldmann, Dana Boyer, Lauren Nicholls