Community transmission of COVID-19 continues to increase at a concerning rate. During a special Board meeting on October 22, the Board of Education provided direction to transition most students in grades 1-8 back to fully remote learning. This is the model that we operated in for the first quarter of this school year. This transition back to fully remote learning for most students in grades 1-8 will start on Monday, October 26.

We will continue to evaluate data and make our next decision by Monday, November 9. For students in grades 1-8, the transition would happen after the Thanksgiving holiday.

We recognize that our students with specialized learning still need as much in-person instruction as possible. As such, the following groups of students will continue with in-person learning as they did during the first quarter. This includes the following groups of students:

• Preschool and Kindergarten students

• Students with special needs on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) who require in-person learning

• Newcomer students who are in the early stages of English language development

Most schools will be maintaining remote learning schedules similar to the first quarter.

Free Grab-and-Go Meals

APS will continue to offer free meals for families. Families can pick up free meals at any of our 47 drive-through grab-and-go locations. Meal pick up is from 10:45-11:30 a.m. Monday-Friday. Most APS high schools also have an evening pick-up time from 4:45-5:30 p.m.

Social Emotional Supports for Students

Social-emotional learning will be a key component of remote learning. In addition, all students will continue to have remote access to mental health resources including APS psychologists, social workers, counselors and other school staff. The health and wellbeing of our students is our top priority. Click here for more information on APS mental health resources and supports.

School-Time Remote Learning Childcare

We have partnered with organizations throughout our community to offer school-time childcare. Our plan is to continue offering care for students at the current offsite locations (Colorado Community Church, Dayton Opportunity Center, and Salvation Army) and to temporarily provide care at seven school locations until four City of Aurora Parks and Recreation Centers open in the near future. Students will be supervised by professional childcare staff while they are at the remote learning centers.

This service will be available Monday through Friday and space is limited. In order to support instruction for remote learning, priority will be given to APS staff members. All parents will be responsible for transportation to and from the sites. Before and afterschool care will not be available while students are learning remotely.

Please note that there may be a cost for care at the remote learning centers.

Technology Devices

Every APS student should have a technology device such as a tablet or Chromebook checked out to them. Students will use these devices for learning while they are remote. If your student does not have a technology device, please work with your child’s school to check out a device.

Remote Learning Behavior Code

We have developed a Remote Learning Behavioral Code of Conduct and we ask that you review it regularly with your student. Please remember that all synchronous (learning in real-time from teachers online) classes will be recorded. We will use the recorded classes for instructional purposes only and will not share them publicly. For example, the recordings may be provided to other students who were absent during the class or to other teachers for training purposes.