Return to School Family Announcement

Dear Families, 

Thank you for your continued support and collaboration during the pandemic. 

Please read below for an important update on BPS School Programming for the remainder of the school year, including new and expanded in-school learning opportunities for scholars.

Data from last month’s Family Survey revealed that, while an overwhelming majority of families (73%) feel comfortable returning to an in-person school setting in the fall, only 45.3% feel comfortable returning to an in-person school setting this spring. Taking into consideration

  • The fluid and diverse needs of our families  
  • Our desire to avoid reassigning classrooms so late in the year as required by other options we considered
  • Our commitment to consistently provide high-quality learning opportunities for all scholars

And to avoid disruption to scholars’ learning, we have made the decision to continue with School At-Home as our primary mode of instructional delivery for the remainder of the school year. That said, we recognize that it is now time to start the important transitions necessary to address the academic and socio-emotional gaps from the past year and begin the return to in-person learning. 

Given the recent improvement in public health statistics and the staff vaccination program, we believe that we can now implement a number of intentional strategies to bring more scholars and educators back into our buildings to enrich and supplement our School-At Home learning program and provide students with opportunities to interact in-person with teachers and classmates.

Spring In-Person Learning Opportunities

The opportunities for our spring in-person learning program include:

1. Expanded Learning Centers

Throughout the year, our In-Person Learning Centers have provided a safe place in our buildings for more than 440 scholars to participate in Remote Learning, so parents could go to work. We have recently expanded the capacity of the Learning Centers through our partnership with Open Doors Academy, and we have spots available at many grades in most campuses. Apply here.

2. Support for Exceptional Student Education

We will expand our services supporting the most vulnerable scholars in our Learning Centers, while also expanding our in-person offerings to other high-need scholars for priority special education services. We will determine on a case-by-case basis how best to provide scholars with in-person counseling, physical therapy, speech pathology, and extension room services in a safe and least restrictive environment. 

3. Monday In-Person Programming*

Our scholars' social, emotional, and mental health is critically important to us. Teachers and school leaders will offer in-person Monday programming to enhance our overall services for scholars and families. These opportunities include, but are not limited to, Social and Emotional Learning blocks, remediation classes, tutoring, clubs, community meetings, awards ceremonies, etc. More detailed information will be available shortly. 

4. Expanded SEL Innovated Programming*

We’re actively developing other innovative ideas to engage scholars in special events and in-person experiences that align with their community-specific needs.

5. Summer Programming

We recognize that our scholars have missed instructional hours and days this year, and in recognition of the reality that our scholars have also missed the chance to explore, have fun, and socialize with their peers, we are currently considering options that would help us to provide scholars with summer programming that address both of these core needs. We will continue to keep you informed as this work progresses.   

Separate communication will be sent with the details on how to sign-up for the opportunities. In the meantime, if there are any questions please submit them here.

We are grateful for the opportunity to serve you and your scholar(s), especially during this unprecedented time. We are pleased to be able to maintain the consistency of our At Home Learning program while providing enhancements and in-person experiences in addition. We look forward to planning and working with families towards a brighter future for all our scholars.

Alan Rosskamm