Category Archives: COVID-19

ACPS Budget Survey: Please Participate by May 6

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Dear Colleagues:

I hope you will take a few minutes to watch my video message about the devastating impact that COVID-19 is having, not only on public health, but on our economy. Projections are that COVID-19’s economic damage will be equal to or greater than that of the Great Recession earlier this century.

The impact on the delivery of public services, including education, will be severe. The school division now is facing substantial reductions in revenue from both the local government and the state.

Continue reading →

K-2 iPads: What to Know & Important Considerations for Instruction Design

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Young Girl Using iPad

K-2 Teachers: K-2 families without access to a computer at home are offered an ACPS iPad. These iPads are designed to support teachers and students with safe learning experiences during our extended closure. Please see below for important information about these devices as you design instruction.

What to know: Continue reading →

Regional PBS TV Stations Broadcasting SOL-Aligned Learning Experiences to Support Families Without Internet Connection

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VDOE Virginia Is For Learners

In addition to learning options being provided to students and their families by teachers across the school division, homes will also be able to tune into “VA TV Classroom” on weekday afternoons. This new service is being provided by public radio and television stations in partnership with the Virginia Department of Education. Instruction for students in grades K-12 supports the state’s academic standards and expands learning opportunities, especially for students who are unable to access other distance learning options because their home lacks access to high-speed internet. Continue reading →

Online Professional Learning Opportunities

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COVID-19 PD At-Home Support

During this period of school closures and social distancing, many educational associations and organizations have made their spring and summer offerings virtual. We have highlighted upcoming opportunities such as conferences, webinars and courses in our COVID-19 PD At-Home Support brochure, and we will update opportunities on the Online PD page of the ACPS Professional Development website.

Reminder: Any event or combination of related events over five hours can be submitted for recertification points. Continue reading →

Attention Secondary Teachers: 2019-20 Grading Procedures

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PowerSchool Mobile App

Dear Secondary Teachers,

Next week, as part of our planning to bring the current school year to as successful an end as possible, we will begin our continuity of learning activities across the division. I’d like to share with you how student grades will be determined in the wake of this unprecedented interruption of the school year.

We have developed consistent guidelines for teachers on how to assess upcoming learning assignments and final grades. Please see the Final 2019-2020 Grading Procedures for Teachers document for details on how to enter assignments and assign final grades. Continue reading →

ACPS@Home Update

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Teen Doing Homework on Computer at Home

The Department of Technology has been working on a plan to support ACPS families and promote our Digital Learning Initiative at home. The program, known as ACPS@Home, works through partnerships with five major cell phone providers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon) and Kajeet to distribute Wi-Fi HotSpots to students without access to the Internet at home. With the current school closures, the interest in participating in this program has increased dramatically.

The demand for these HotSpots far exceeds the national supply available at this time. School administrative teams collected the names of over 650 students and staff who reported that they have no Internet access. Continue reading →

Annual Leave Overflow Process Update

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Man Working and Daydreaming of Vacation

With the disruptions to personal and work schedules related to the COVID-19 pandemic, we realize that many employees are not in the position to use annual leave at this time in order to avoid losing leave above the 320-hour maximum accrual cap set in Policy GCC, Leave Program. Effective immediately, we are temporarily disabling the conversion of annual leave at/above 320 hours that normally occurs at the end of an employee’s birth month, allowing those with birthdays in March, April, and onward extra time to use overflow annual leave. Continue reading →

Economic Impact of COVID-19 on the School Division

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COVID-19

Dear Members of Our Learning Community:

Earlier this week, the County Executive shared with the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors a projection on the possible local economic impact from the COVID-19 restrictions currently in place to protect public health.

It is likely at this point that the current national economic slowdown will have a significant and negative impact on federal, state and local tax revenues. Continue reading →

Temporary Emergency Leave Provisions

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COVID-19

Dear Colleagues:

First and foremost, I hope you and your families are well and I want to thank you for following the guidelines of our public health experts for preventing COVID-19 illness and its spread.

I also want to thank you for continuing to serve the needs of our students and their families during this unprecedented time. Schools are at the center of the life of our community, and these past few weeks have highlighted just how important our contributions are to the lives of our families. For many of us, however, providing these contributions from our homes can present challenges to our own family lives and responsibilities.

I’d like to update you on new federal legislation that may help. Continue reading →

Transitioning to Online Learning: Resources for Teachers

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Online Learning

To support the transition to online learning after spring break, our Student Learning and Technology departments have partnered to curate resources such as planning templates and easy-to-use technology how-to guides. We will continue to add resources and tools to the following sites over the course of the next few weeks: Continue reading →