Elementary families: Request a change from in-person or remote instruction

RPS 205 families,   

We asked you to commit to either full-time remote instruction or in-person instruction for the start of the 2020 school year. Now we’re asking families if they’d like to adjust their selection. Our goal is to honor our commitment to allow families to update their choice with our limited resources for the rest of the school year.   

This offer will focus on elementary families. In most cases, administrators at our middle and high schools have accommodated families’ requests to move from in-person to full-time remote instruction. That’s because middle and high school teachers are teaching both in-person and remote. So if a student changes their mode of instruction, their teachers remain the same, and each teacher’s class load unaffected. Middle and high school staff will continue to assist families with any instructional changes.    

Making a change for elementary students is much more difficult, and that’s why we’re focusing on it ahead of the second trimester, which starts Dec. 7. Our elementary teachers are either dedicated to full-time remote instruction or full-time in-person instruction. Any shift means the student will have a new teacher and a disruption to the learning environment.   

Starting Monday, Nov. 2, elementary families can request a change from full-time remote instruction to in-person instruction, OR from in-person instruction to full-time remote. Contact your school’s main office staff to request a change, and the student will be added to a waiting list. If there is space available, the switch would be effective Dec. 7, the start of the second trimester, and last through the end of the school year. If there is greater demand than available seats, district leaders will evaluate the demand and consider ways to meet that demand. We’re trying to accommodate our students and their instructional needs with our limited resources. The deadline to request a change is the end of the day on Monday, Nov. 9.

Please note:  

• Adding your name to a waiting list for either in-person OR remote-only instruction does not guarantee a seat. Our goal is to provide reasonable accommodations to our families, but we are unable to guarantee a change.
• If your student is already on a waiting list for remote or in-person instruction, there is no need to contact your main office staff. 
• This option does NOT apply to students enrolled in Early Childhood in-person or remote instruction.   
• Families with students enrolled in special programs – Gifted, Two-Way Language Immersion, STEAM Academy, Montessori and Montessori Pre-K – should also contact their school’s main office to request a change.   
• Families should consider everything that is involved in a potential change, as it will be maintained through the rest of the school year. Each time a student’s learning environment is adjusted, it is both a disruption and a challenge for the student and the teacher. A student could also be assigned to a remote teacher who is not from their zone school.
• Students with disabilities are strongly encouraged to continue in-person instruction. 

In many cases, students are thriving in this new environment, whether it’s remote instruction, the hybrid model for middle and high school students, or full-time in-person instruction with small class sizes. But we know that’s not the case for all of our students and families, and we are working on ways to support our students who are struggling. Our goal is to provide reasonable accommodations to our families during this unprecedented time. Thank you again for you continued patience and cooperation.    

   

Sincerely,

Ehren Jarrett
Superintendent
Rockford Public Schools   

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Karen

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