Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

FRANKLIN

The Franklin City Public School’s guide to reopening this upcoming school year is available online at https://www.fcpsva.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=461172&type=d. This follows Supt. Dr. Tamara Sterling’s presentation to the school board on Thursday night.

“As we prepare to start a very unique school year, the 2020-2021 Reopening Guide will help answer many of the questions that students and parents have,” said division spokeswoman Cleo-Symone Scott.

“The guide includes an overview of the first semester calendar and the reopening plan which will have students beginning school virtually on Sept. 1 and returning to in-person instruction on Nov 5.”

She added that the guide also includes information on the Parent Registration and Soft Enrollment, which will help the division’s counseling staff generate schedules once in-person instruction can resume.

“Dr. Sterling said the soft enrollment is going extremely well and will continue all the way up until next week. Each school is almost 50 percent done with the registration,” Scott continued.

The guide includes a synopsis of the Parent and Student Professional Development, which launches on Aug. 31. Parents and students will be able to sign up electronically to start taking webinars and learn about all of the training modules provided. Some of the modules include Canvas, Zoom and Jason Learning.

Parents reading the guide will also be briefed on connectivity, meals, transportation, along with Chromebook and Kindle rental opportunities. It costs $25 to rent the devices.

The superintendent said the the division has been working with parents who might not be able to provide the fee. She added they will continue working with parents on a case-by-case basis. Information about grading, assessments and attendance are also provided in the guide. Sterling said that even though school is virtual, students are still expected to show up to class and complete their assignments.

The guide also includes a section on Day Camp services, which will help parents who have children that need supervision and/or need a place to complete their virtual assignments. Contact information for those camps, along with contact information for mental health support services are provided.

Scott said that Dr. Andrea Hall-Leonard of Ward 3 called the guide very nice and thorough. Other school board members agreed and are excited to have the guide launch.