Paris, Tenn.–When the Paris Special Schools District reopens August 17, it will be starting school in the district’s ‘orange phase’, which means the spread of COVID-19 in the local community is high, but there has been no shelter in place order.
PSSD Director of Schools Dr. Norma Gerrell has distributed a letter to parents which outlines how school will reopen.
Additionally, she has issued an outline for Phase 3 for August 17 through September 4: Distance/Remote Learning Model (K-2, SWD, and ELL students continue traditional in-class with modified class size);
3-8th Distance/remote learning;
- Kindergarten – 2nd grade students (as well as ELL and SWD) continue attending in-class traditional instruction, as permitted according to state and local health officials- with social distancing IN GROUPS of 10 or less.
- K-2 & Vulnerable Populations small groups (no more than 10/group) taught by certified teachers
- Links from ELA publisher websites will provide for additional ELA practice (CKLA, Wit and Wisdom, and Pearson)
- Additional instruction is available through PBS, Ready Rosie, and other recommended publishers and sites provided by the TN Dept Education and school/teacher webpages
3rd -8th Distance/Remote Instruction and Learning
- Faculty and Staff will continue to report to assigned buildings for regular school hours (staff will be re-assigned to cover in-school instruction)
- Devices will be provided for students 3rd – 8th
- Core Instruction with PSSD teachers
- Schedule for each class using Microsoft Teams
- Progress Reports and Report Cards follow district schedules
- Content is combination of real-time and recorded lessons
- Combination of online and offline activities
- VIRTUAL ACADEMY – Attendance REQUIRED daily- monitored by student log in, participation, and completion of assignments
The following is the letter sent to parents:
“As we have watched the spread of COVID-19 in our community, conferred with local medical providers and the department of health, it is evident that we need to begin school in the Orange Phase, or Phase 3 of our Re-Entry to School Plan. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Henry Co. continue to rise. In order to provide the safest and most healthy environment for our students and staff, PSSD will implement the following plan:
Week One: 25% of students attend school each day to practice safety, social distancing, and to receive distance learning materials:
Monday, August 17 – Students who ride buses 1, 4, 12, and 16 will attend school all day. (All 9 buses will be used to transport to more effectively social distance students.
Tuesday, August 18 – Students who ride buses 2, 10, 15, 17, and 18 will attend school all day. (All 9 buses will be used to transport to more effectively social distance students.
If your student rides bus 3 or 11, you will be contacted by your child’s teacher.
Wednesday, August 19 – Students who are car riders or walkers with the last name beginning with A-M attend school for the day.
Thursday, August 20 – Students who are car riders or walkers with the last name beginning with N-Z attend school for the day.
Friday, August 21 – K-2 students who are not already virtual will come to Rhea for face-to-face learning. There will be 10 or fewer students per classroom. This will give us the social distancing needed to make sure students are safe.
Grades 3-8 students are all virtual.
Virtual learning will be in place from August 21 – September 4. We will re-evaluate the virus spread in the community every two weeks and confer with our local medical community on September 2, 2020. Parents will be notified on Thursday, September 3regarding details on our learning plan for the week of September 8.
Breakfast and lunch pick up will be from 11:30 – 12: 30 at Rhea School for all PSSD students on Monday – Friday. The parent or guardian must call 642-0961 ext. 2207 by 9:00 am each day to request meals.
Breakfast and lunch delivery will be on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The parent or guardian must call 642-3675 ext. 3207 by 9:00 am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to request meals.
Meals are free to all PSSD students in the 2020-2021 school year. Only PSSD enrolled students (virtual or face-to-face) will be eligible to receive meals.”