Jeffco Public Schools

Mental health support will continue and will be more important now than ever. Our schools will continue to provide services so you will be set up for success. If you have specific needs you'd like to address, please be sure to contact your school. Visit our Student Mental Health Hub page for resources to improve your health and wellness.

Our shift to remote learning last spring has provided us with much insight and we will have a robust remote learning experience for all our students this fall. As described in the Restart Plan, we have now had time, through the summer months, to prepare technology, customize curriculum, unify resources, and create professional development for staff to deliver academic content in ways that meet the needs of all our students.

Starting this fall, the following expectations will be put into place across our schools whether we are serving students in-person or remotely.  

•Common Learning Management Systems (LMS) will be used across our school district.  
- Seesaw (PK-2)
- Google Classroom (3-12)
-Schoology (6-12)
•Students will experience synchronous learning each day at an established time on a schedule to accommodate the courses they will need to complete.  
•Each week, students will interact with their teachers in a face-to-face (Zoom or Google) environment.
•District assessments will be delivered remotely.
Teachers will have student data to plan for remediation and extension.
•School-based staff will serve as community outreach liaisons to engage parents.
Each school will have an outreach plan for parents and community members.
•Teachers will develop and enhance tools for remote learning and in-person learning during the additional days for training (8/14-8/21) before the start of school.

Jeffco Public Schools is committed to working with our schools and various departments, community partners, businesses, and others to ensure students have devices and access to home internet for remote learning or hybrid learning.

1. Look at the condition of your device. If it was damaged over the summer, please call 303-982-3438 to arrange to drop it off to be repaired before the start of school. Call the same number if you are missing a part, like a charger. If you shared your device with another student in the spring, let your school know.

2. If you are going into 5th or 9th grade, look for information about your device. All 5th and 9th grade students will receive a new device at the beginning of the school year as part of the TechForEd program. Your old device will be collected, cleaned, and likely reused in lower grade levels unless the purchase agreements for those devices stated the family owned them at the end of their educational use.

3. Make plans for home internet access. If you do not currently have internet access at your home, check to see if you are eligible and ask your parent or guardian if you can apply for the Comcast Internet Essentials program. Additional low cost internet options are listed on the public website as well. If you are unable to obtain internet service, please let your school know so we can work with you to find a solution for your student.

4. Reach out to get support when you need it. Visit our device support page on the Jeffco website and remember to call 303-982-3438 during the school year if you need technical support for remote learning.

Cohorting refers to the practice of ensuring that student and staff groupings are as consistent as possible every day by having the same group of children stay with the same staff (all day for young children, and as much as possible for older children). Building principals should maintain structures that support students with individual needs while minimizing the intermingling of cohorts. The number of students who select in-person learning, together with other school-specific scheduling needs will determine cohort sizes on a school-by-school basis. This data is still being collected from families.

Teachers will work with cohorts of students at all levels as assigned by a school principal or other administrator in order to limit contact between student groups. 
PK - 5th Grade: Students will stay with the same cohort of students for the entire day.
6th-12th Grade: Students will be scheduled into much smaller student groupings than what is present in the typical middle and high school experience. Students will participate in a maximum of 4 classes during the school day. Additionally, given the hybrid learning model at the middle and high schools, students will maintain 6 feet of social distance.

Rotating teachers (music, art, PE, etc.) will visit classrooms rather than cohorts of students moving. Plans are still in development on what these classes will look like. For middle school and high school students, elective courses will be offered each trimester/semester. Guidelines to promote safe participation within all choice and elective programs including Visual Arts, Music, Choir, Band, Orchestra, PE, and Theater will be communicated before the start of school.

A single grade level cohort of students may eat lunch in their classroom and play together at recess. 

• Students will wash their hands before and after eating.
• Students will clean their own area after eating.
• Cold lunch totes/bags/boxes should be stored in the child’s backpack or near their desk (not in a community tote).
• All meals & snacks will be consumed in classrooms, outside, or in reorganized common spaces and monitored by staff. Students will go to the cafeteria to pick up “grab and go” hot lunch. 
• Students will need to wash or sanitize their hands before coming back into the classroom.
• High schools will have closed campuses for lunch and off block periods.
• No outside delivery from restaurants (ex. Grub Hub, Seamless, etc.) to schools will be permitted.

Students will likely go to recess in staggered shifts to limited groupings outside at once.

• Schools may stagger the use of the playground equipment and should disinfect it in between uses. Students will need to wash or sanitize their hands before going outside and before coming back inside.
• Use of water fountains is not permitted. Students should bring water bottles from home or be provided water bottles to use at school.
• Face coverings do not need to be worn outside.

Families/students will be able to change from remote to in-person or vice versa at certain intervals after the start of school. Please talk to your school directly for more information about when you can do so.

The Restart Plan is based on the following assumptions (subject to change):

Public Health:

• Utilize 6 feet of social distancing where possible:
  • Individual space should be 6 feet apart from others in the classroom when possible.
  • Individuals should be facing in the same direction.
  • Movement in hallways should maintain the 6 feet distancing when feasible. 
• Use of common spaces:
  • Cafeterias, gymnasiums, auditoriums, are prohibited for large group gatherings or mixing cohort groups.
• Staff and student face coverings are required when social distancing cannot be maintained.
  • Face coverings do not need to be worn outside. 
• Symptom screening expectations will be implemented.
  • All staff and students must participate in symptom screening once a day upon entry.
• Hand washing and hygiene protocols must be followed.
• Student classroom cohort groupings are consistent and limited to the same classmates to the extent possible.
  • Elementary students will be with their same cohort group of classmates during the day.
  • Secondary students will be limited to four in-person classes during the day. 

Grades Pk-5th: 

• Required to be worn at all times: entry/exit to school buildings, hallways, classrooms, and common areas.
• Masks may be off when outside, while also in cohorts and practicing 6 feet of social distancing.
• Masks may be removed for small 5 minute breaks for snack and drinks of water and during lunch time.

Grades 6th-12th:

• Required to be worn at all times: entry/exit to school buildings, hallways, classrooms, and common areas.
• Masks may be off when outside and practicing 6 feet of social distancing.
  Masks may be off when eating or drinking during lunch time.

In athletics/activities: 

• Masks required to be worn when entering/exiting the fields/courts and during symptom screening.
• Masks required to be worn at all times during indoor work-outs/practices.
• Masks may be removed when outside and physical exertion makes it difficult to breathe

In addition, supplies will be provided to students who need them. Students (or parents) who refuse to wear a mask and who do not have a valid and approved exception, will not be able to attend in-person classes. Read Mask/Face Coverings Do's and Don'ts for more information.

For students, daily health checks and screenings (temperature and screening questions) will be conducted by trained staff at time of entry to the building. Any individual who does not successfully pass symptom screening will be moved to a medical safe room where they will be re-screened and supported until able to return home.

In accordance with the CDC and JCPH guidelines, bus capacity will be restricted to 22-24 passengers or less depending on the school bus size. Below are additional expectations for student riders who are eligible:

• All students will be required to wear face coverings.
  Parents will be expected to take their child’s temperature before leaving the house and to withhold an ill student from riding the bus. 
• Bused students will be symptom screened upon arrival at school.
• Students must sit one per seat on the school bus starting from the second row of the school bus.
• If students live in the same residence, those students will be required to sit together in the same seat to increase rider capacity.
• Students will load the bus from the rear and unload from the front.
• Students will not be allowed to change seats while riding on the bus.