Student Resources

September 21, 2020

Dear Families,

It is my pleasure to welcome you and your children to the 2020–21 school year! We could not have achieved this
milestone without every one of you. I am grateful for your support and your faith in our public schools. So many
New Yorkers have worked around the clock to accomplish this shared goal: the safe return of our students,
teachers, and school staff to classroom and remote learning.

There is no doubt this has been a challenging seven months, but we should feel proud of the outstanding job New
Yorkers have done to fight COVID-19. Our actions have led to weeks of very low infection rates citywide.
However, the virus is still active in our city, state, and country. We know that there will be cases of COVID-19
this fall. The good news is we are prepared to fight this virus while holding true to our mission—ensuring that all
our students continue to learn and thrive.

To carry this out, we have put in place strict health and safety protocols and created a COVID-19 Response Situation Room for DOE principals, which serves as a “one-stop shop” for school leaders in handling all COVID19 cases in schools. When principals learn of a potential COVID-19 case in their school, they call the Situation Room to report it, and medical, public health, and education staff are on hand and readily available to support principals through responding to it. Principals or their designees call the Situation Room, which helps to handle everything from there - including quickly communicating vital updates for principals to share with their school communities.

We are confident in our ability to provide your children with the healthy, safe, engaging, high-quality education
you expect. We will continue to be transparent and keep you informed. In this Update for Families, I am happy
to share the latest information on:

 How to complete daily health screenings for your child,
 Where to get tested for COVID-19,
 How to stay informed on COVID-19 cases in your school community, and
 What transportation to and from school looks like

In addition, to help you find key information I have shared in past updates, we have included quick links to DOE
resources on:
 Health and safety measures in our schools,
 What teaching and learning looks like this year, and
 School schedules for elementary, middle, and high schools

As always, all information regarding back to school can be found at schools.nyc.gov/returntoschool2020. If you have additional questions, please contact your principal. You can find information about your child’s school, including principal contact information, on our website using “Find a School” at schoolsearch.schools.nyc.

You have heard me say that September is my favorite month, and that is especially true this year. Return to School 2020 took a team effort, thousands of hours of work, and attention to countless details to get where we are today. I could not be prouder of our families, students, educators, and everyone who works in and for our schools.

As we start the new school year together, I can assure you that the largest school system in the nation is well prepared and up to the task. Please know that we are here for you. Your teachers and principals are here for you. And, together, we will achieve a remarkable year of learning.

Sincerely,
Richard A. Carranza
Chancellor
New York City Department of Education

Dear Families, 

I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. I am writing to you today with an important update on the start of school.

As you know, for months we have been preparing to reopen our school buildings. Thanks to all of you and everything you have done over the last six months, the city’s low infection rate makes us the only major city in the country able to welcome our children back to our schools for in-person learning. 

Just as you have done everything necessary to reduce the COVID-19 infection rate, we have made a pledge to you that we would put health and safety first. That is what we have done – inspecting tens of thousands of classrooms for proper ventilation; distributing millions of masks, bottles of hand sanitizers and cases of cleaning supplies; prioritizing students and staff for expedited COVID-19 testing; developing a swift testing, quarantine, and tracing protocol anytime we might see COVID-19 activity in our schools; and more.

We must continue living up to that pledge as we get closer to opening our buildings, knowing that this year demands more supplies, more staff, more space, more inspections, and more training. To do that, we have some new updates on the school calendar to announce.

All students will still begin full-time instruction on Monday, September 21. School buildings will reopen to our students in blended learning (in-person in schools some days of the week, and remotely from home other days of the week) on a phased basis, detailed below. Here is the updated calendar for the start of the 2020-21 school year:

Children enrolled in fully remote programs will still begin full-day instruction on Monday, September 21.

Children in blended learning (in-person in schools some days of the week, and remotely from home other days of the week) will be learning remotely beginning Monday, September 21 until their in-person start date as outlined below. Please reach out to your child’s school if you have questions about when your child should report according to their blended learning schedule.

Blended Learning Students Enrolled In:	In-Person Learning Begins On:
Grades 3K and Pre-K (in any school type/grade configuration)	Monday 9/21
District 75 (all grades)	Monday 9/21
*By School Type:*
Students enrolled in  Elementary Schools (K-5 and K-8) (includes students in grades 6-8 in K-8 Schools)	Tuesday 9/29
Students enrolled in: • Middle Schools (Grades 6-8) • High Schools (Grades 9-12) • Secondary Schools (Grades 6-12) • Transfer Schools, Adult Education, Evening Schools, Alternate Learning Centers	Thursday 10/1
*Less Common School Types/Configurations*
 Students enrolled in K-2 and K-3 Schools	Tuesday 9/29
 Students enrolled in K-12 Schools	Tuesday 9/29

I know this is a last-minute change. This crisis has demanded so much flexibility and patience from you and your children since the beginning, and I am in awe of how you have risen to meet the challenges and uncertainty this pandemic has presented. Everything we do is to try to provide stability and certainty, while protecting the health and safety of our city.

I am deeply grateful every day for each of you, and the commitment you have shown to your children and this city. So many of you have told us how eager you are to reconnect with your school communities – I know I am excited for that as well. We believe this extra time will help make sure that all schools and all educators are in the best position to deliver a strong, safe, and supportive environment for teaching and learning to take place.

I always say that New York City has the best students, staff, and families in the world, and nothing will ever change that—no matter when, where, and how we are learning.

Thank you for everything you do. 

Sincerely,

Richard A. Carranza

Chancellor

New York City Department of Education

Announcements

Updates for Families- September 21, 2020

Updates for Families September 18th

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