Fox C-6 School District students in kindergarten through fifth grade will have the chance to return to in-person instruction five days a week starting March 22, which is when the fourth quarter of the school year starts.
Currently, 4,133 of the Fox district’s 4,719 elementary schools students receive instruction through the district’s Flexible Learning Plan and attend classes at school four days a week and learn virtually from home on Wednesdays.
The district also offers students the opportunity to learn entirely online from home through its Virtual Academy, and the remaining 586 elementary students are in that program.
The district, which has a total enrollment of 10,879 students, also has 6,156 secondary students with 4,656 of those opting for in-person instruction four days a week and 1,500 learning from home, school officials said on March 3.
Superintendent Nisha Patel said the district will not be able to expand in-class instruction to five days a week this school year for secondary school students, those in sixth grade through twelfth grade.
“We have many staff members who provide instruction to Virtual Academy students and in-person students and have to utilize Wednesdays for office hours for our academy students,” Patel said. “We are not able to add Wednesday as an in-person instruction day for middle school and high school students for the remainder of this school year.”
Patel announced the decision to expand the number of classroom instruction for elementary students during the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday (March 2).
“Our goal has always been to bring students back to school for five days a week of in-person instruction,” Patel said in a letter sent to the Fox parents. “We are now in a position to bring elementary students back to school on Wednesdays. While there are cases where staff members have been providing virtual instruction to some Fox C-6 Virtual Academy students and have in-person students, we have been able to adjust most teachers’ schedules to separate the virtual and in-person teaching at the elementary (level).”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fox district began this school year with students attending classes in person just two days a week and learning virtually the other three days.
In-class instruction for students in the Flexible Learning Plan was expanded for students at all levels to four days a week on Jan. 19.
“I would like to thank the entire Fox C-6 family for your continued support as we have worked to provide the safest learning environment for our students throughout this school year,” Patel said. “I am excited that we will be able to add a fifth day of in-person attendance for our elementary students in the coming weeks and as always appreciate each of you and your passion for the success of our students.”
