2021
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Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
Earlier this week, we released our proposed budget for the 2021-22 school year. It is rooted in equity, and strikes a balance between meeting the unique needs students face today and setting them up for a successful future beyond COVID-19.
Thank you to everyone who helped put this budget together, especially the many families and educators who participated in our community budget forums earlier this year. We will continue seeking your feedback as the budget process continues, and encourage you to attend our upcoming public hearings on next year’s capital plan and proposed operating budget, all of which are happening next week. Visit cps.edu/budget2022 for complete details.
Next year’s budget is filled with investments that will support students as they return to school five days a week this fall. We are eager to welcome them back, and to give them the tools that will help them heal academically, socially, and emotionally from the trauma of the past year. One of those tools is increased access to the COVID-19 vaccine, and we were excited to see CPS students and their families begin arriving this week at the district’s three new vaccination sites.
We have both been fully vaccinated, and we encourage all members of the CPS community who are eligible to take this step as well before the start of the new school year. You can visit cps.edu/vaccinations for details on vaccine opportunities being offered by CPS this summer.
José M. Torres, PhD
Interim Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools
Maurice Swinney, EdD
Interim Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools
COVID-19 Vaccines Now Available to CPS Students and Families!
We know that vaccination is one of the best ways to keep our communities safe from the COVID-19 virus. So beginning this week, CPS has transformed three of our school-based staff vaccination sites to serve our students and families. We will also have vaccinations available at our upcoming Back-to-School Bashes and through school-based summer programs happening in several high-need communities.
The vaccine is free, and no proof of health insurance or immigration status is required. Children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. For complete details on the vaccine opportunities offered by CPS this summer, please visit cps.edu/vaccinations. For additional questions, families can reach out to vaccines@cps.edu or call 773-553-5437.
Enrollment for CPS Virtual Academy
The vast majority of CPS students will return to school five days a week this fall. However, we anticipate that a small number of children will need to continue learning remotely due to verified medical needs. To ensure these students receive the high-quality education they deserve, CPS is launching a Virtual Academy to provide a central model of instruction.
To be eligible for the virtual academy, students must meet specific medical criteria that is documented by a healthcare provider. We encourage all eligible families to contact their healthcare provider and submit an application as soon as possible.
Families whose children meet the medical criteria for the Virtual Academy can provide the COVID-19 Health Eligibility Form to a licensed medical provider, who must submit the form via virtualenrollment@cps.edu, or fax it to (773) 553-6563, Attn: Virtual Enrollment. All applications will be approved through the Office of Student Health & Wellness. Click here for more information on the CPS Virtual Academy.
Summer Grab-and-Go Meal Sites Available Through August 20
Summer meal service is available at more than 260 district locations throughout the city. Meal kits containing multiple meals can be picked up Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. through Friday, August 20. Click here for more information and to find the meal distribution site nearest you.
CEO Search Update
The search for CPS’ next CEO continues to be underway, with semi-finalist interviews scheduled to begin next week. For more information on our community engagement process, please see this presentation from the June Board of Education meeting on our CEO search webpage.
A Look Inside our Schools
Even though the school year is over, there are still plenty of accomplishments that our students deserve to be highlighted for. Avery and Addison, students at Keller and Lindblom, collaborated on a documentary to lift up a local dance studio. Not only was the project meant to entertain, it highlighted the studio’s commitment to affirming Black culture and showcasing Black excellence.
Our CTE students also have a lot to be proud of. Ashley, Roshaan, Harrison, and Gea are just four of the students who contributed to the 575 certifications earned within the business and IT CTE programs this past school year. Not only do these certifications reflect hard work in the classroom, they represent skills such as communication and collaboration that students will take with them beyond high school.
The district also has some fantastic teachers who are enjoying some well-deserved time off. One of them is Ms. Misty Richmond from James Ward Elementary who was recently recognized as a finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching. Her approach to teaching science starts with empowering her students to take risks in the classroom by building relationships with them and creating a supportive learning environment.
We are also recognizing the district’s teachers who make up the Transformative Teaching Cohort (TTC). One of them is Ms. Mary (Mari) Mendoza-Ramirez, an eighth-grade English language arts teacher who has been focusing on social-emotional learning to meet the needs of her students. She’s excited to be part of the TTC to collaborate with other educators who span all grade levels and represent schools all over Chicago.
Important Dates:
- Friday, July 23: Final day to apply to the CPS Virtual Academy for the 2021-22 school year
- Tuesday, July 20: Public Hearing on Proposed FY2022 Budget
- Wednesday, July 21: Public Hearing on Proposed FY2022 Budget
- Wednesday, July 21: Public Hearing on FY2022 Capital Plan
- Thursday, July 22: Public Hearing on FY2022 Capital Plan
- Friday, July 23: Public Hearing on FY2022 Capital Plan
- Wednesday, July 28: Chicago Board of Education Meeting
- Monday, August 30: First day of school for students
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Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Colleagues, Families, and Supporters:
As we approach the holiday weekend, I want to wish everyone in the CPS community a safe and enjoyable Independence Day. With COVID-19 vaccines now widely available, I’m sure it will be much easier this year to gather with family and friends for some well-deserved fun and relaxation. If you have not done so already, I encourage everyone in our CPS community to get vaccinated as quickly as possible so that we can put the era of COVID-19 behind us.
As a reminder, all schools, district offices, and summer meal sites will be closed in observance of the holiday on Monday, July 5 and will resume operations on Tuesday, July 6. Additional information about meal sites and programming can be found below.
I look forward to getting to know the educators, students, staff and parents who make up the CPS family. In the meantime, I am excited to again be serving the students of Chicago, and I look forward to helping all of our schools prepare to open for five days a week of in-person learning this fall.
Sincerely,
José M. Torres, PhD
Interim Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsSummer Grab-and-Go Meal Sites Closed 7/5, Resume 7/6
Summer meal service is now available at more than 260 district locations throughout the city. Meal kits containing multiple meals can be picked up Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., except on Monday, July 5, when CPS will observe Independence Day. Summer meal service will run through Friday, August 20. Click here for more information and to find the meal distribution site nearest you.
Get Vaccinated at Home and Receive a $50 Gift Card
Have you been vaccinated yet against COVID-19? If not, you can now receive the vaccine in your home and earn a $50 gift card to Grub Hub at the same time. This program is open to all Chicago residents ages 12+, and up to 10 people per household can be vaccinated at one time. No ID or health insurance is required, and you can choose between the Pfizer vaccine (12+) or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine (18+). One $50 Grub Hub gift card will be provided per household while supplies last. Call (312) 746-4835 to schedule an appointment, or click here for more information.
Virtual Academy to Serve Eligible Students in Fall 2021
The vast majority of CPS students will return to school five days a week this fall. However, we anticipate that a small percentage of children will need to continue learning remotely due to verified medical needs. To ensure these students receive the high-quality education they deserve, CPS is launching a Virtual Academy to provide a central model of instruction.
TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE VIRTUAL ACADEMY, STUDENTS MUST MEET SPECIFIC MEDICAL CRITERIA THAT IS DOCUMENTED BY A HEALTHCARE PROVIDER.
The window to enroll in the CPS Virtual Academy is June 18 - July 23. Families whose children meet the medical criteria for the Virtual Academy can provide the COVID-19 Health Eligibility Form to a licensed medical provider, who must submit the form via virtualenrollment@cps.edu, or fax it to (773) 553-6563, Attn: Virtual Enrollment. All applications will be approved through the Office of Student Health & Wellness.
Click here for more information on the CPS Virtual Academy.
A Look Inside our Schools
We’re so excited to celebrate the accomplishments of the student-athletes who are part of the CPS Class of 2021. At Morgan Park High School, 11 seniors ended their high school careers on a high note by winning the city championship for varsity boys baseball. As they reflect on their time on the team, these students note that baseball has not only helped them grow as athletes, it has built their character and become like a second home for the entire team.
At Alcott College Prep, recent graduates Ulises and Max have both received full-ride soccer scholarships to Black Hawk College. Their close relationship with their coach encouraged them both to keep building their skills on the soccer field and succeeding academically. They are looking forward to playing soccer in college and pursuing their interests in nursing and visual communications.
Daquan is another recent Alcott graduate who has inspired his entire school community through his passion for music. To celebrate the Class of 2021, he created a song that reflects on his high school journey and encourages his peers to live life to the fullest. He is looking forward to continuing to pursue music as a future career.
Another outstanding member of the Class of 2021 is Ciarah, who has graduated from Lindblom College Prep and won’t have to travel too far to attend the University of Chicago in the fall. One of her most memorable experiences in high school was traveling abroad to Shanghai to pursue her interests in Chinese language and culture, which she hopes to continue exploring in college.
Help CPS Support Lurie Children’s Hospital
In partnership with the district, Lurie Children’s Hospital is working to learn about the health and wellbeing of CPS students and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please consider completing this brief survey and earn a $5 gift card once it is submitted.
Important Dates:
- July 5: CPS schools and offices closed in observance of Independence Day
- July 23: Final day to apply to the CPS Virtual Academy for the 2021-22 school year
- Wednesday, July 28: Chicago Board of Education Meeting
- August 30: First day of school for students
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Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
Well team, we made it! We took on the most challenging, most unprecedented school year that any of us has ever seen and crossed the finish line strong! This was a district-wide effort, and we could not have done it without everyone playing their part.
To our teachers and school leaders: You should be incredibly proud of the way you navigated this school year. From showing tremendous creativity while providing a new type of instruction, to safely welcoming students back to our schools when it was safe, you made sure our school year kept moving forward, no matter what the obstacles.
To our families: I thank you for entrusting us with your children and for the extraordinary patience and flexibility you showed during such an unusual year. From turning living rooms into classrooms during remote learning to navigating hybrid scheduling, you did so much to support your children, and you did it while navigating your own personal and professional challenges.
And finally to our students: I could not be more proud of the way you took the pandemic in stride. Nothing about this past year was easy, but you made an exceptional effort, and our priority moving forward will be to give you the social-emotional and academic supports you need to recover from the impacts of COVID-19.
Those supports include the many academic and enrichment opportunities being offered by CPS schools this summer and the plans laid out in Moving Forward Together — a new initiative that will invest more than $525 million in the resources our school communities need to heal from the pandemic. To ensure communities have the support needed to develop their own plans for using these resources, we are hosting two virtual town halls at the following dates and times:
Town Hall 1: Monday, June 28 (5:30 - 6:30 p.m.)
Town Hall 2 : Wednesday, June 30 (5:30 - 6:30 p.m.)To register for either meeting, please visit bit.ly/MFTtownhall. All town halls will offer simultaneous translation and American Sign Language. For individuals who wish to participate but not register, we will livestream the events on YouTube.
I will conclude my time as CPS CEO on Wednesday, June 30. Please know that it has been the privilege of my life to lead this district, and that I will keep the students, families, and staff of Chicago Public Schools very close to my heart. I wish all of you a safe, productive, and enjoyable summer and a successful new school year.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsAnnouncing Schedule for Summer Grab-and-Go Meals
Summer meal service begins on Monday, June 28 at more than 260 district locations throughout the city. Meal kits containing multiple meals can be picked up Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., except on Monday, July 5, when CPS will observe Independence Day. Summer meal service will run through Friday, August 20. Click here for more information and to find the meal distribution site nearest you.
Get Vaccinated at Home and Receive a $50 Gift Card
Have you been vaccinated yet against COVID-19? If not, you can now receive the vaccine in your home and earn a $50 gift card to Grub Hub at the same time. This program is open to all Chicago residents ages 12+, and up to 10 people per household can be vaccinated at one time. No ID or health insurance is required, and you can choose between the Pfizer vaccine (12+) or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine (18+). One $50 Grub Hub gift card will be provided per household while supplies last. Call (312) 746-4835 to schedule an appointment, or click here for more information.
Virtual Academy to Serve Eligible Students in Fall 2021
The vast majority of CPS students will return to school five days a week this fall. However, we anticipate that a small percentage of children will need to continue learning remotely due to verified medical needs. To ensure these students receive the high-quality education they deserve, CPS is launching a Virtual Academy to provide a central model of instruction.
TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE VIRTUAL ACADEMY, STUDENTS MUST MEET SPECIFIC MEDICAL CRITERIA THAT IS DOCUMENTED BY A HEALTHCARE PROVIDER.
The window to enroll in the CPS Virtual Academy is June 18 - July 23. Families whose children meet the medical criteria for the Virtual Academy can provide the COVID-19 Health Eligibility Form to a licensed medical provider, who must submit the form via virtualenrollment@cps.edu, or fax it to (773) 553-6563, Attn: Virtual Enrollment. All applications will be approved through the Office of Student Health & Wellness.
Click here for more information on the CPS Virtual Academy.
Celebrating our Diversity during Immigrant Heritage Month
June is Immigrant Heritage Month, and our district will always view its diversity as one of its greatest strengths. Our student population represents nearly 90 countries of origin and speaks more than 140 different languages. Over the past several years, we’ve worked to expand the resources available for our immigrant and refugee students, from expanding dual language programs across the city to encouraging students to earn the State Seal of Biliteracy to forging strong relationships with partner organizations to support students and families. As we close out a challenging school year, we are excited and optimistic that our school communities will have more opportunities next school year and beyond to come together to celebrate the cultural diversity that makes our district so special.
A Look Inside our Schools
As we close out this school year, we want to send our congratulations to the entire Class of 2021! Our high school graduates are starting to prepare for the big changes that are coming their way. At North-Grand High School, recent graduate Jose is charting new territory as the first person in his family to go to college. His passion for engineering that he discovered through the school’s career and technical education program is leading him to major in electrical engineering and study toward a dream career of restoring houses.
Across Chicago, we also have a phenomenal group of eighth-grade graduates who are eagerly anticipating the start of their high school experiences. From Melissa, the co-valedictorian of Mollison Elementary in Bronzeville, to Albert, a recent graduate of Gale Community Academy with a passion for Formula One auto racing, the Class of 2021 is making our district proud. Two more amazing graduates are Lakalia, a recent graduate of Otis Elementary who is known for her witty personality, and Michael, a recent graduate of Northwest Middle School who loves to read and aspires to go to medical school one day.
And our students couldn’t finish up the year without working on some cool projects! At the Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville, students created posters, presentations, and even songs to educate others about COVID-19 vaccines. Students learned about conducting research and finding reputable sources when putting their projects together, and, by the time they were finished, they had a breadth of knowledge about how vaccines work, why they are effective, and how they can help keep our communities safe and healthy.
Help CPS Support Lurie Childrens’ Hospital
In partnership with the district, Lurie Children’s Hospital is working to learn about the health and wellbeing of CPS students and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please consider completing this brief survey and earn a $5 gift card once it is submitted.
Rediscover Summer with My CHI. My Future
As Chicago begins moving past the pandemic, connecting and uplifting our youth will be more important than ever. My CHI. My Future. (MCMF) is the perfect place for students to reconnect to opportunities and rediscover summer. The MCMF website provides access to thousands of engaging programs, events, and resources being held both in-person and virtually. Youth and families can search for these programs using a map, keyword, or interest area. The MyCHIMyFuture.org website is updated daily with new quality opportunities and is the perfect place for our youth to reconnect and rediscover their passions.
Important Dates:
- Monday, June 28: Moving Forward Together Virtual Town Hall from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, June 30: Moving Forward Together Virtual Town Hall from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
- July 5: CPS schools and offices closed in observance of Independence Day
- July 23: Final day to apply to the CPS Virtual Academy for the 2021-22 school year
- August 30: First day of school for students
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Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
Next week will mark the end of a truly unprecedented school year. The challenges were immense, but what we will remember most is how our school communities persevered. Our educators and families stepped up in huge ways for their students, and our young people did a masterful job adapting to new expectations and evolving learning environments. We have always been proud to lead your school district, and that was never more true than during this past year. Thank you for all you did to make the most of this year; we will always be grateful for your partnership and commitment.
As we emerge from the pandemic, our focus must be on healing. CPS took an important step in that direction this week with the launch of Moving Forward Together — a new initiative that will invest more than $525 million in the resources and supports our school communities need to accelerate learning and provide students with the social and emotional skills needed to heal from this past year. Each school will have the flexibility to decide how to best utilize these additional resources, and funds will be distributed using a holistic School Investment Index to ensure that students who need more will get more.
This plan will allow CPS to begin managing the challenges left behind by the pandemic while planning for a successful new school year. Leading this effort will be Dr. José M. Torres, who will begin serving as the district’s Interim CEO on July 1, 2021. Dr. Torres will remain in this role as the search for the district’s next CEO continues.
A veteran educator with decades of leadership experience, Dr. Torres served as a Regional Superintendent for CPS between 2006 and 2008. He previously served as President of the Illinois Math and Science Academy and as Superintendent of the Elgin School District (U-46). Dr. Torres has also held several leadership positions in other school districts around the country and has been recognized nationally for his achievements and leadership in educational equity.
We are also pleased to announce that Dr. Maurice Swinney, our current Chief Equity Officer, will now be serving as the district’s Interim Chief Education Officer. And Lindy McGuire, who previously served as Deputy Chief Operating Officer, is our new Interim Chief Operating Officer. With these excellent, experienced leaders in place, we know our district will continue on its positive trajectory.
We appreciate your support during this time of transition and feel confident that our district is heading into a productive summer that will be the foundation for a strong start to the 2021-22 school year.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsVirtual Academy to Serve Eligible Students in Fall 2021
The vast majority of CPS students will return to school five days a week this fall. However, we anticipate that a small percentage of children will need to continue learning remotely due to verified medical needs. To ensure these students receive the high-quality education they deserve, CPS is launching a Virtual Academy to provide a central model of instruction.
TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE VIRTUAL ACADEMY, STUDENTS MUST MEET SPECIFIC MEDICAL CRITERIA THAT IS DOCUMENTED BY A HEALTHCARE PROVIDER.
The window to enroll in the CPS Virtual Academy is June 18 - July 23. Families whose children meet the medical criteria for the Virtual Academy can provide the COVID-19 Health Eligibility Form to a licensed medical provider, who must submit the form via virtualenrollment@cps.edu, or fax it to (773) 553-6563, Attn: Virtual Enrollment. All applications will be approved through the Office of Student Health & Wellness.
Click here for more information on the CPS Virtual Academy.
Reflecting on Juneteenth
Tomorrow is Juneteenth - the day each year when we reflect on and celebrate the emancipation of Black slaves in this country. Earlier this week, the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, and federal government all took the significant step of declaring Juneteenth a holiday. This was an important moment of recognition, and a reminder that we must all do our part to advance equity and combat racism in all of its forms. Beginning next year, CPS too plans to recognize Juneteenth as a district holiday. For additional information and resources to support discussions with your children, please see the resource packet curated by our Department of Social Science and Civic Engagement.
Final Chance to Complete the Fall 2021 Survey
The deadline to complete the Fall 2021 Survey is today — Friday, June 18. We are eager to welcome students back to school five days a week next fall and need feedback from our families to help shape what the new school year will look like. Please make your voice heard by completing this anonymous survey today.
Child Tax Credit Awareness Day
Monday, June 21 is Child Tax Credit Awareness Day! Eligible families can receive up to $3,600 per child, per year through the American Rescue Plan. This includes families who have not yet or are not required to file their taxes. Learn more at ChildTaxCredit.gov.
A Look Inside our Schools
The end of the school year is almost here, and we’re continuing to celebrate incredible 2021 graduates like Jessica French, a senior at Farragut Career Academy who is headed to Malcolm X College to pursue a degree in nursing. Even though Jessica’s senior year wasn’t always easy, she continued to push herself academically and even participated in a dual credit African American Studies class. She believes one of the most important things her time at Farragut has taught her has been to reach out for help when she needs it.
Graduating seniors David and Kamoy both believe their time at Harper High School has helped them start to forge a path toward a successful career. David flourished in the school’s culinary arts classes—part of Harper’s career and technical education program—and is now headed to the U.S. Army to work as a food service specialist. Kamoy is keeping his academic momentum going (he’s Harper’s valedictorian this year!) by enrolling at the Dawson Technical Institute.
Across the city, our eighth-grade students are also preparing for new adventures in the fall, which often means leaving behind teachers and staff who they have grown extremely close to. At Mahalia Jackson Elementary School, eighth-grader Sadie has known her counselor, Ms. Ross, since kindergarten, and the two of them have developed an amazing friendship. Sadie believes that mentors like Ms. Ross are a big reason she felt comfortable stepping outside her comfort zone and trying new things. She hopes to become a family nurse practitioner one day because of her love of helping others.
Reminder - Registration Now Open for CPS Summer Sports Camps
Registration is now open for the CPS 2021 Summer Sports Skills Camps! This is a no-cost opportunity for elementary and high school students to have fun with friends while developing their athletic skills. These CPS-sponsored camps will run from June 28 - August 6 at 17 sites around the city, including schools and parks. To ensure a safe and fun experience for all, the camps will adhere to all health and safety protocols established by the ‘Summer Contact Days’ Guidelines.
The deadline to register for camps is Wednesday, June 23. For all sports other than wrestling, click here for the registration link. Students interested in the wrestling skills camp being hosted by Beat the Streets can register here.
Note: The registration process will ask families to “Complete Payment.” There is no cost for the district’s sports skills camps, but this link must be clicked to complete registration.
Please reach out to the Office of Sports Administration at sportsad@cps.edu with any questions or concerns.
Rediscover Summer with My CHI. My Future
As Chicago begins moving past the pandemic, connecting and uplifting our youth will be more important than ever. My CHI. My Future. (MCMF) is the perfect place for students to reconnect to opportunities and rediscover summer. The MCMF website provides access to thousands of engaging programs, events, and resources being held both in-person and virtually. Youth and families can search for these programs using a map, keyword, or interest area. The MyCHIMyFuture.org website is updated daily with new quality opportunities and is the perfect place for our youth to reconnect and rediscover their passions. We are especially interested in engaging our teens, so we are urging all high school students to complete this brief survey to let us know what kinds of activities they would like to see offered this summer.
Important Dates:
- June 18: Deadline for responses to Fall 2021 Survey
- June 22: End of Quarter 4
- June 23: June Board of Education meeting
- July 5: CPS schools and offices closed in observance of Independence Day
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Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Families, Staff, and Supporters,
For the past three and a half years, Dr. Janice K. Jackson has provided our schools with exceptional leadership, advancing equity, restoring integrity to our district, and navigating immense challenges. Dr. Jackson’s service to CPS schools will conclude at the end of this month, and our search for the district’s next permanent CEO is underway.
While that search progresses, our schools need a leader who can help us heal from the pandemic and prepare for a strong year ahead. I’m pleased to announce that we have found that leader in Dr. Jose M. Torres, who will be serving as the district’s Interim CEO following Dr. Jackson’s departure. Dr. Torres’s appointment will be presented to the Board of Education at its June 23 meeting, and he will begin his services as Interim CEO on July 1, 2021.
Dr. Torres is no stranger to CPS, having served our district from 2006 to 2008 as a Regional Superintendent overseeing schools in Englewood, West Englewood, Chatham, Grand Crossing and Auburn Gresham. His most recent role was as President of the Illinois Math and Science Academy (IMSA), a statewide public school known for its outstanding college preparedness programs. Dr. Torres previously served as Superintendent of the Elgin School District (U-46), where he successfully outlined and implemented an accountability plan to improve outcomes for students while steering the district through challenging financial times. He has also held several leadership positions in other school districts around the country, and has been recognized nationally for his achievements and leadership in educational equity.
Dr. Torres has agreed to serve as interim until we identify a permanent CEO. For more information on the CEO search process, please visit the district’s CEO Search webpage.
In addition to the appointment of Dr. Torres, I am also pleased to announce that Dr. Maurice Swinney, our current Chief Equity Officer, will serve as the district’s Interim Chief Education Officer, following the departure of Dr. LaTanya D. McDade at the end of this week. Dr. Swinney has been serving as the district’s first-ever Chief Equity Officer, and his efforts have been instrumental in eliminating opportunity gaps in education quality, policy, and resource allocations.
The appointment of Dr. Swinney follows the appointment earlier this month of Lindy McGuire, who is the district’s Interim Chief Operating Officer. Ms. McGuire previously served as the Deputy Chief Operating Officer, where she helped lead the district’s efforts to distribute 45 million meals to families and more than 200,000 computing devices to students during the pandemic.
With this strong, experienced leadership group in place, our district is well positioned for a productive summer that will ensure a strong school year ahead. We appreciate your patience and support during this time of transition and look forward to all we will accomplish as we work to emerge from this challenging time and build on our district’s reputation as a national leader in education.
Sincerely,
Miguel del Valle
President
Chicago Board of Education -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
In 2019, CPS unveiled the Curriculum Equity Initiative, a groundbreaking effort to ensure that for the first time, every CPS teacher and student has access to a modern, standards-aligned, and culturally-responsive curriculum.
For the past two years, we have been engaging teachers and staff in the development of this curriculum, and we are eager to share the impact it will have on our district.
On Thursday, June 17, CPS will host a virtual kickoff celebration to introduce Skyline, the district’s first-ever universal curriculum. Skyline will officially launch later this summer, but we will provide a preview of this transformative resource that will help ensure every student in every school has access to a high-quality education that engages their interests and celebrates their diversity.
Attendees will see firsthand how the curriculum works and hear from CPS stakeholders and nationally-recognized education experts about what it will mean for the students of Chicago. The event will be livestreamed on the CPS YouTube beginning at 9 a.m. on Thursday, June 17, and we look forward to you joining us for this momentous occasion. If you are unable to participate, a recording will be posted after the event on our YouTube page.
The release of Skyline is another step CPS is taking to ensure that all students, no matter their race, zip code, or country of origin, can emerge successful from these challenging times and start the new school year ready to soar.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsMaintaining Health and Safety Protocols as City Reopens
As of today—June 11—Chicago is reopening fully, meaning that most mandatory COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted. This is great news for our city, however there are certain congregate settings, including schools, where health and safety protocols must remain in place. To ensure that all of our staff and students stay safe, CPS will continue to require cloth face coverings, social distancing, rigorous hand hygiene, and a daily health screener. We will continue working with our public health experts and will update these protocols based on their guidance.
Two Critical Surveys for the 2021-22 School Year
The deadline to complete the CEO Search survey (Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Polish) is today - Friday, June 11, 2021. This is a chance for CPS stakeholders to share what qualities and experience they feel the district should be looking for in a new leader. We are also asking CPS families to complete the Fall 2021 Survey by Friday, June 18. We are eager to welcome students back to school five days a week next fall and need feedback from our families to help shape what the new school year will look like. Please make your voice heard by completing both of these anonymous surveys today.
CPS Celebrates Pride Month
Happy Pride Month! Our district is so excited to uplift our students and staff who are members of the LGBTQ+ community—both during June and throughout the entire year. Check out the video below to hear from CEO Jackson, CEdO McDade, and other CPS leaders about what Pride Month means to them and the importance of creating welcoming school environments for all members of our CPS family.
Register Now for CPS Summer Sports Camps
We are excited to announce the launch of the CPS 2021 Summer Sports Skills Camps! This is a no-cost opportunity for elementary and high school students to have fun with friends while developing their athletic skills. These CPS-sponsored camps will run from June 28 through August 6 at 17 sites around the city, including schools and parks. To ensure a safe and fun experience for all, the camps will adhere to all health and safety protocols established by the ‘Summer Contact Days’ Guidelines.
The deadline to register for camps is Wednesday, June 23. For all sports other than wrestling, follow this Registration link. Students interested in the wrestling skills camp being hosted by Beat the Streets can register here.
Note: The registration process will ask families to “Complete Payment”. There is no cost for the district’s sports skills camps, but this link must be clicked to complete registration.
Please reach out to the Office of Sports Administration at sportsad@cps.edu with any questions or concerns.Rediscover Summer with My CHI. My Future.
As Chicago begins moving past the pandemic, connecting and uplifting our youth will be more important than ever. My CHI. My Future. is the perfect place for students to reconnect to opportunities and Rediscover Summer. The MCMF website provides access to thousands of engaging programs, events, and resources being held both in-person and virtually. Youth and families can search for these programs using a map, keyword, or interest area. The MyCHIMyFuture.org website is updated daily with new quality opportunities, and is the perfect place for our youth to reconnect and rediscover their passions. We are especially interested in engaging our teens, so we are urging all high school students to complete this brief survey (closed) to let us know what kinds of activities they would like to see offered this summer.
A Look Inside our Schools
High schools across the city are preparing to say see you later to some fantastic members of the Class of 2021 who have made lasting impacts on their communities. At Hubbard High School, soon-to-be graduate Leslie explored extracurriculars from volleyball to belly dancing to knitting to help her discover her true passions. Her time in cinema club is just one reason you’ll find her majoring in cinema studies at DePaul University in the fall.
At Al Raby High School, seniors Robert, Taliyah, Dushawn, and Jasari have all excelled academically and are graduating among the top 10 students in their class. Their advice for other students is to ask questions and know how to balance working hard and taking breaks. They would also encourage them to be confident and step outside of their comfort zones.
Tilden High School senior Roberto is one step closer to his goal of earning a PhD and his dream career of being a psychologist. In high school, he developed his passion for helping others through participating in the school’s partnership program with Embarc Chicago. He also was involved with track and basketball and was named a Posse scholarship finalist.
At Collins Academy High School, seniors Ceara, Brianna, Canisha, and Ronisha developed close bonds with each other through participating in the school’s all-female robotics team—the Robo Chicks. Even though they knew nothing about robotics when they started, their continued collaboration and hard work helped them develop their confidence in STEM and even encouraged them to want to inspire female elementary school students to follow in their footsteps.
And don’t forget about our elementary schools! We have so many incredible eighth-grade students who also make up the Class of 2021. Hurley Elementary student Guadalupe is headed to Jones College Prep in the fall. As a lover of the small businesses in her community, she hopes to pursue a career in marketing to help those businesses grow. And Colemon Academy eighth-grader Terron is the valedictorian of his class! In his speech, he will compare his passion for music with the support he has received from his family, peers, and teachers.
Chicago’s Fastest... The Race To Gately!
Does your student have what it takes to be crowned ‘Chicago’s Fastest’ kid?
We are proud to support the ‘Chicago’s Fastest… The Race To Gately’ initiative in partnership with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., and the Chicago Park District! This exciting event features a city-wide track and field experience for 1st-4th graders and a city-wide 60-meter qualifying competition with the finals taking place at Gately Indoor Track Facility for 5th-12th graders! For more information please review this program overview letter and register your student today!
Important Dates:
- June 11: Deadline to Complete CEO Search Survey
- June 18: Deadline for Responses to Fall 2021 Survey
- June 22: End of Quarter 4
- June 23: June Board of Education meeting
View the parent and student guide for the 2021-2022 School Year with additional important dates and deadlines!
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Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
As our current school year winds down, we are already busy planning for the fall. We will be welcoming students back to the classroom five days a week, and we need feedback from our families to help shape what next school year will look like.
CPS has created the Fall 2021 Survey as a way to connect with families around planning for the new school year. This anonymous survey is also available in Spanish, Simplified Chinese, and Polish, and responses need to be received by Friday, June 18.
The Fall 2021 Survey will help us better understand how you are feeling about the upcoming school year; it is not an opt-in form for in-person learning. Consistent with state guidance, nearly all students will be learning in person next year. We are working on a virtual option for the relatively small number of students who cannot return due to medical reasons, and more information on this plan will be shared with families in the near future.
Participating in the survey will help the district better understand what you need for a successful school year ahead, and we strongly encourage you to take a few minutes to complete it. Our teachers and school leaders cannot wait to have students back in classrooms every day next fall, and it’s our mission to ensure the new school year provides you and your children with the best possible experience.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsDeadline Extended for CEO Search Survey
The deadline to complete the CEO Search Survey has been extended to Friday, June 11, 2021. This is a chance for CPS stakeholders to share what qualities and experience they feel the district should be looking for in a new leader. In addition, we have pledged to provide updates every two weeks on the progress being made by BWP & Associates—the Illinois-based firm that is conducting the search for our district’s next CEO—and we invite you to review the most recent update on our CEO Search Page.
A Look Inside our Schools
The end of the school year is just a few weeks away, which means that another group of CPS seniors are getting ready to graduate from high school. At Goode STEM Academy, soon-to-be graduate Amoni has taken advantage of the school’s early college program and will graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate degree in applied science with a focus in computer science and web development. Over at Kennedy High School, Angelo is headed to Vanderbilt University and has left his mark on his high school by breaking its college scholarship record.
The district also has an exceptional group of eighth-graders moving on to high school this year. At Dewey School of Excellence, students Melinda, Janiya, Zarriya, and Malaya have all developed new skills through the school’s ‘Dewey Diamonds’ mentorship program. Created by three staff members at Dewey, the program aims to support female students by providing them with opportunities to build their self-esteem and talk with their peers about issues that matter to them.
Across the city, our soon-to-be eighth-grade graduates are making their schools proud. Some of our standout students include Alexis from Brighton Park Elementary, Ashlee from McPherson Elementary, Jamarcus from Reavis Elementary, and Amanda from Smith Elementary. Each of these students shares a commitment to excellence both inside the classroom and in their various activities—basketball, music, and soccer, to name a few—outside of school.
It’s certainly been an unpredictable year, but our school principals have gone above and beyond to ensure that our students can continue to thrive. At Melody Elementary, Principal Tiffany Tillman is looking back on the past year to help her prepare for the future. She is focusing on the “Four Ps”: preparation, planning, prayer and peace, and wants to incorporate more opportunities for student voice to determine school priorities moving forward.
And, as we look toward next school year, it’s important to remind you that there is still plenty of time and space available for you to enroll your student in pre-k for the fall. Ms. Taneka Freeman, a parent at Aldridge Elementary, says that pre-k has made all the difference for her son, Romeo, this year. And, over at Yates Elementary, pre-k teacher Ms. Rhodora Dela Cruz has been reflecting on all the ways that early childhood education has impacted the lives of her students.
High School Students: Apply For the District’s Civil Rights Summer Fellowship
Chicago Public Schools is partnering with Born This Way Foundation to provide 20 rising 10th-12th grade students with a paid opportunity this summer to expand their leadership capabilities, build community across the district, and shape Chicago Public School’s response to bias-based harm. Applications for the 2021 Civil Rights Summer Fellowship are due by 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 10.
Chicago’s Fastest... The Race To Gately!
Does your student have what it takes to be crowned ‘Chicago’s Fastest’ kid?
We are proud to announce the ‘Chicago’s Fastest… The Race To Gately’ initiative in partnership with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., and the Chicago Park District! This exciting event features a city-wide track and field experience for 1st-4th graders and a city-wide 60-meter qualifying competition with the finals taking place at Gately Indoor Track Facility for 5th-12th graders! For more information please review this program overview letter and register your student today!
Important Dates:
- June 10: Deadline for District’s Civil Rights Summer Fellowship for Students
- June 11: Deadline to Complete CEO Search Survey
- June 18: Deadline for Responses to Fall 2021 Survey
- June 22: End of Quarter 4
- June 23: June Board of Education meeting
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Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
Along with safe, effective vaccines, we know that masks are the greatest protection we have against COVID-19, so we will continue to follow the Illinois State Board of Education’s guidance and continue to require the use of masks in all CPS schools and facilities, regardless of an individual’s vaccination status.
The health and safety of our community is our highest priority, and wearing masks will protect those who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated or fully vaccinated, including our students ages 12-15, who just became eligible for the Pfizer vaccine last week. We will also continue to encourage frequent handwashing and social distancing in all CPS buildings. We encourage anyone eligible to get vaccinated to do so as soon as possible.
New leadership for the new school year
Our new school year will also include new leadership, and the district needs your input on what qualities and experience we should look for in a new CEO. Please take a few minutes to complete this anonymous survey on our CPS CEO Search page. This is your opportunity to share where you think CPS is succeeding, what key issues you would like to see prioritized moving forward, and what credentials, skills, and characteristics you feel are most important in an educational leader. Survey responses must be submitted by June 4, 2021.
We have pledged to provide updates every two weeks on the progress being made by BWP & Associates—the Illinois-based firm that is conducting the search for our district’s next CEO. We invite you to review the first of those updates, which is available now on our CEO Search page.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsResources for Returning to School
Visit cps.edu/school-reopening/ for more information on:
- The daily health screener
- The district's latest community updates and FAQ
- Understanding the hybrid model
- School day examples
- How to opt in to in-person learning
- Devices and internet access
- Grab-and-Go Meal sites
- Child Learning Hubs
- Google Suite Training Hub
Key Metrics
CPS has offered vaccination opportunities to all employees
CPS is working to keep employees informed about the district's COVID-19 vaccination program, and where they can locate vaccination sites.7,427
surveillance tests administered this week
Surveillance testing is used to measure and monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 in our schools.68
actionable cases this week
CPS is sharing data about actionable COVID-19 cases to keep the public informed about how the pandemic is affecting the district and its community.Have questions about reopening or returning to school? Assistance is available in English and Spanish
General Support Healthy CPS Hotline
Monday-Friday
8:00 am-5:00 pm
773-553-KIDS (5437)
familyservices@cps.eduTechnical Support CPS Parent Tech Support Hotline
Monday-Friday
7:30 am-4:30 pm
773-417-1060
chicagopsprod.service-now.com/cspPilot Launched to Expand Career Exploration in Healthcare
As part of our Roadmap partnership with the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC), our district announced this week that a new pilot program will expand healthcare programming to eight CPS high schools. Beginning next fall, students enrolled in this program will have access to an early college curriculum where they can earn up to 15 college credits in addition to their high school diplomas, and where they will receive instruction and experiences to prepare them for exciting careers in the healthcare field. The following CPS high schools will participate in this pilot beginning in the fall of 2021:
- CVCA
- Dunbar
- Gage Park
- Instituto Health Sciences
- Juarez
- North Grand
- South Shore
- Washington
Welcoming New Network Leaders
We are excited to announce several updates to the CPS leadership team, including the transition of Dr. Allison Tingwall, the current principal of Curie Metropolitan High School, to the role of Executive Director of the Office of Principal Quality. During her six years at Curie, Allison helped put her school on the map as a leader in student-centered, equity-driven educational practices.
We will also be recommending the appointment of Lucilla Davila to the Board of Education this month as the new chief of network 8. Lucilla will join CPS after a 25-year public education career in Minnesota, where she served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and associate superintendent. Lucilla is an expert in creating and developing dual-language and Spanish immersion programs that address language acquisition, and her passion for supporting English Learners through a cultural lens will be a huge benefit to the students of Chicago.
New leadership is also coming to network 7, with Dr. Antonio Acevedo now serving as chief. A CPS educator since 1993, Antonio served most recently as the principal of Whittier Dual Language Magnet School, taking it from a Level 3 to a Level 1+ school quality rating in just five years.
Finally, we are pleased to welcome Principal Estuardo Mazin of Barry Elementary, Principal Fatima Cooke of Sumner Elementary, and Principal Mira Weber of Agassiz Elementary as Deputy Chiefs of networks 1, 5, and 10, respectively. We welcome all of these talented professionals to their roles and look forward to a productive new school year under their leadership.
$50,000 Scholarship Exclusively for CPS Grads
High school seniors, apply for the Juice to Succeed Scholarship! Up to three students will earn renewable scholarships of $50,000 each for undergraduate study. The scholarship is designed to help deserving CPS high school seniors in good standing who have been accepted to an accredited four-year college in the fall of 2021 and can demonstrate financial need. Learn more about this opportunity and other scholarships at the CPS scholarship portal, Academic Works.
Continued Vaccine Access for Students 12 and Up
With the approval of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12-15, thousands more CPS students can now be protected from COVID-19. Vaccinations are the key to returning to normalcy, and we want to help make that process as easy as possible.
CPS is working with the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Chicago Teachers Union to bring vaccination events to schools throughout the city. These events will be held in each school’s parking lot from 10 a.m. - noon and are open to CPS students, families, and community members. No appointments are necessary. If you and your family have not yet been vaccinated, we encourage you to take advantage of the following events at our schools:
- May 22nd and June 12th: Ray, Bouchet, Simeon, Southside Occupational, and Brunson
- May 29th and June 19th: Englewood STEM, King HS, Carver Military HS, Fenger, and Michele Clark HS
- June 5th: Westinghouse, Nash, Marshall, Juarez and CVCA
COVID-19 vaccines are free of charge to everyone, regardless of their immigration or health insurance status. For more information on these vaccines, talk with your healthcare provider or visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html. You can also call the Chicago Department of Public Health at (312)746-4835.
A Look Inside our Schools
Our high school seniors have just a few weeks left until they graduate! At Corliss High School, soon-to-be graduates Nakiela and Ahmad are ready to pursue STEM majors in college after participating in a program that allowed them to study STEM topics at Princeton University with students of color from across the country.
And our eighth-graders are getting ready to move on to high school. Middle school students at Warren Elementary have been reflecting on their accomplishments over the past year. Some of the members of Warren’s Class of 2021 are the first eighth-graders to take high school algebra through a new partnership with a local neighborhood high school.
You can visit the Chicago Early Learning website to enroll your student in pre-k for the fall. The district’s commitment to high-quality pre-k programs has paid off at Dirksen Elementary, where pre-k students are benefitting from a modern three-story annex that includes new pre-k classrooms as well as a new lunchroom, library, computer labs, and science labs.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Two of our high school counselors from Gage Park High School and Taft High School have shared their strategies for prioritizing mental well-being, including limiting your time on social media, doing things you enjoy when you feel stressed, and remembering to routinely check in with your counselor.
Teacher Appreciation Week may have wrapped up earlier this month, but you can still celebrate the district’s amazingly creative teachers by visiting the district’s first-ever Teacher Appreciation Art Exhibition. Read what CPS educators Ms. Juana Duran and Ms. Simeko Washington have to say about their contributions to the exhibit.
Chicago’s Fastest... The Race To Gately!
Does your student have what it takes to be crowned ‘Chicago’s Fastest’ kid?
We are proud to announce the ‘Chicago’s Fastest… The Race To Gately’ initiative in partnership with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., and the Chicago Park District! This exciting event features a city-wide track and field experience for 1st-4th graders and a city-wide 60-meter qualifying competition with the finals taking place at Gately Indoor Track Facility for 5th-12th graders! For more information please review this program overview letter and register your student today!
Important Dates:
- Friday, May 21: 4th-Quarter Progress Reports Distributed
- Wednesday, May 26: Chicago Board of Education Meeting at 10:30 a.m.
- Monday, May 31: Memorial Day (CPS schools and offices closed)
- June 4: Responses Due for CEO Search Survey
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Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
We are excited to announce that the search for a new CPS CEO is now underway, and that this process will be heavily influenced by the insights and perspectives of our district family.
We need a leader who shares our current commitment to equity, transparency, and integrity, and who is eager to listen to and partner with families and school communities across the city. To ensure that all voices are heard, the search process will include interviews with labor leaders, elected officials, and other key partners, along with a series of focus groups open to all CPS stakeholders. These focus groups will be a chance for families, educators, and community members to share feedback on what you feel we need in a new CPS leader. If you are interested in joining one of these focus groups, please complete this interest form by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18. There will also be Spanish-only focus groups to ensure our Latinx families are heard and engaged while we search for a new CEO.
A survey will also be sent to all CPS stakeholders in the coming days to gather input on what qualities, experiences, and priorities should define the next leader of Chicago Public Schools. We hope you will embrace this opportunity to make your voices heard and urge you to visit our transition web page regularly for updates on our public engagement process, and on the ultimate selection of our district’s new CEO.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsResources for Returning to School
Visit cps.edu/school-reopening/ for more information on:
- The daily health screener
- The district's latest community updates and FAQ
- Understanding the hybrid model
- School day examples
- How to opt in to in-person learning
- Devices and internet access
- Grab-and-Go Meal sites
- Child Learning Hubs
- Google Suite Training Hub
Key Metrics
CPS has offered vaccination opportunities to all employees
CPS is working to keep employees informed about the district's COVID-19 vaccination program, and where they can locate vaccination sites.7,323
surveillance tests administered this week
Surveillance testing is used to measure and monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 in our schools.85
actionable cases this week
CPS is sharing data about actionable COVID-19 cases to keep the public informed about how the pandemic is affecting the district and its community.Have questions about reopening or returning to school? Assistance is available in English and Spanish
General Support Healthy CPS Hotline
Monday-Friday
8:00 am-5:00 pm
773-553-KIDS (5437)
familyservices@cps.eduTechnical Support CPS Parent Tech Support Hotline
Monday-Friday
7:30 am-4:30 pm
773-417-1060
chicagopsprod.service-now.com/cspCPS schools and facilities will continue to follow Chicago's mask mandate
Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated public health guidance to allow vaccinated individuals to not wear masks indoors under certain conditions. However, CPS will adhere to the state and city's guidance for schools to continue to follow the CDC’s Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools, which continues to recommend universal masking, until more teachers and children are vaccinated. We will continue to work closely with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) and will provide an update should there be a modification to the city's public health guidance.
Expanding Vaccine Access for Students 12 and Up
With the approval of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12-15, thousands more CPS students can now be protected from COVID-19. Vaccinations are the key to returning to normalcy, and we want to help make that process as easy as possible.
CPS is working with the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Chicago Teachers Union to bring vaccination events to schools throughout the city. These events will be held in each school’s parking lot from 10 a.m. - noon and are open to CPS students, families, and community members. No appointments are necessary. If you and your family have not yet been vaccinated, we encourage you to take advantage of the following events at our schools:
- May 15th and June 5th: Westinghouse, Nash, Marshall, Juarez and CVCA
- May 22nd and June 12th: Ray, Bouchet, Simeon, Southside, and Brunson
- May 29th and June 19th: Englewood STEM, King HS, Carver Military HS, Fenger, and Michele Clark HS
COVID-19 vaccines are free of charge to everyone, regardless of their immigration or health insurance status. For more information on these vaccines, talk with your healthcare provider or visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html. You can also call the Chicago Department of Public Health at (312)746-4835.
A Look Inside our Schools
This month is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Budlong Elementary’s Chinese language program has only been running for a few years, but Ms. Wang and Ms. Zhang Cosentino are helping it thrive. With Budlong’s student population representing more than 40 countries, they focus on using Chinese culture as a tool to bring different cultures together.
May is also Mental Health Awareness Month. Elementary school counselors like Dr. Catrena Craig from Harte Elementary and Ms. Lissette Flores from Grissom Elementary have developed impactful strategies for helping students prioritize their mental health. Their techniques include holding peace circles to help students resolve conflicts and delivering care packages to students as they learned from home.
There’s less than one month to go until our eighth-grade students graduate. At Portage Park Elementary, soon-to-be graduates Amanda, Cassidy, Ethan, Leon, Mariah, and Nati have been reminiscing about their favorite parts of elementary school, from Easter egg hunts in kindergarten to collecting Pokémon cards in third grade to bonding over their math homework in middle school.
At Laura Ward Elementary in Humboldt Park, eighth-grader Persia is preparing to say farewell to the school she has attended since pre-k. Building close relationships with her teachers has helped her become more courageous and collaborative. Now, she has two big accomplishments to look forward to: being her school’s valedictorian in a few weeks and attending Westinghouse College Prep in the fall.
Chicago’s Fastest... The Race To Gately!
Does your student have what it takes to be crowned ‘Chicago’s Fastest’ kid?
We are proud to announce the ‘Chicago’s Fastest… The Race To Gately’ initiative in partnership with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., and the Chicago Park District! This exciting event features a city-wide track and field experience for 1st-4th graders and a city-wide 60-meter qualifying competition with the finals taking place at Gately Indoor Track Facility for 5th-12th graders! For more information please review this program overview letter and register your student today!
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Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
Few people are lucky enough to see their greatest dreams come true, but that’s exactly what happened for me when I was asked to lead our district more than three years ago. Serving our students and families over the past two decades has been more fulfilling than I could have imagined. I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to lead the school district that shaped who I am, and I will be working full speed ahead until the very last minute of my last day at CPS.
Our schools need support now more than ever, and we are focused on helping our students and staff move past these challenging times and plan for a successful future. This strategy includes our continued investment in the high-quality academic programs that drive student success.
Through our third annual Academic Program Request Process, CPS is pleased to announce a $7.5 million investment in new high-quality academic options. Beginning this fall, these new programs will benefit 3,600 students at the following seven schools:
Schools Receiving New Programing in SY22
7 schools have been chosen as recipients for new academic programming through CPS' Academic RFP process.
Orville T. Bright Elementary School
Fine and Performing ArtsNathan S. Davis Elementary School
Dual LanguageIrene C. Hernandez Elementary School
STEM (6-8)Joyce Kilmer Elementary School
IB-PYPHenry H. Nash Elementary School
Fine and Performing ArtsMartha Ruggles Elementary School
STEAMWest Park Academy of Fine Arts & Technology
STEAMAs part of our ongoing commitment to improving equity, CPS is prioritizing these investments for students of color and communities with the greatest need. Nine of 10 students served by these new programs are Black or Latinx and economically disadvantaged.
Since launching the Academic Program RFP two years ago, CPS has invested $50 million to provide nearly 27,000 students with access to new academic programs. We are excited to build on that progress this year and look forward to seeing the many ways these new investments will enhance the educational experiences of our students.
Finally, as we prepare to celebrate Mother’s Day, I want to thank all of the moms in our CPS community for their heroic efforts during the past year. For many of us, being a mom is the most important, most challenging role many of us will ever play, and it became that much tougher this year when living rooms were suddenly transformed into classrooms. I’ve been inspired, although not surprised, by all the ways CPS moms have stepped up for their children, so I hope that each and every one of our mothers, along with our grandmothers, sisters, aunts, and all the other women who care for our children, are made to feel truly appreciated this Mother’s Day.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsCelebrating Teacher Appreciation Week
Teacher Appreciation Week is one of our favorite weeks of the year because CPS has the best teachers in the world. From Ms. Maura Hall, a kindergarten teacher who has served CPS students for over 30 years, to Ms. Tolulope Solola, a middle school teacher helping students on the West Side discover their passion for science, to Mr. Larue Fitch, a member of the district’s Transformative Teaching Cohort, our teachers go above and beyond to build relationships with our students each and every day. Are you interested in meeting some of them? Close out Teacher Appreciation Week this year by reading the stories of five incredible educators from across the district.
Vaccination Opportunities
All Chicagoans 16 and older are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination in Chicago. Find and book an appointment using zocdoc.com/vaccines or using vaccine finder.
IMPORTANT: Anyone under 16 years old must have a parent present with them in order to get vaccinatedHere are some additional vaccination opportunities for students. Most major hospital partners offering Pfizer have contacted their eligible patients. In addition, these partner organizations with community locations also provide Pfizer vaccine (16+). This list is not exhaustive and may change.
- Fenger High School: 11220 S Wallace St., Saturday May 8 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.— no appointments needed!
- Lurie Children’s Hospital: 225 East Chicago Avenue. Lurie's is prioritizing youth and their families who live in Chicago. Learn more and schedule an appointment: www.luriechildrens.org/vaccine
- Alivio Medical Centers: Call 773-254-1400 or visit: https://www.aliviomedicalcenter.org/covid19vaccine
- Advocate Aurora Health: Call 866-443-2584 or visit: https://www.advocateaurorahealth.org/coronavirus-disease-2019/covid19-vaccine/?_ga=2.19405048.1932744870.1620250169-1096073175.1620250169#vaccinating
- Chicago Family Health Centers: Call 773-768-5000 or visit: https://chicagofamilyhealth.org/covidvaccine/
- Erie Teen Center: Call (312) 666-3494 or visit: https://www.eriefamilyhealth.org/vaccine/
- Howard Brown Health Centers: Call 872.269.3600 or visit: https://howardbrown.org/covid-19/vaccine/
- Near North/Komed Holman Health Center: Call 773-533-7520 or visit: https://www.nearnorthhealth.org/covid-19
- Rush University Medical Center: Call (888) 352-7874 or visit: https://www.rush.edu/patients-visitors/covid-19-resources/covid-19-vaccines/schedule-covid-19-vaccination
- St. Bernard Hospital: Call 773-962-4644 or visit: https://www.stbh.org/covid-19-appointments-sign-up-sheets/
Honoring Our Nurses on National Nurse Appreciation Day
Never have the skills and compassion of our school nurses been more critical than they were this school year, as we reopened our classrooms in the midst of a global pandemic. This is why CPS is investing in an additional 78 nursing positions going into the 2021-22 school year. We know that the presence of these expert health care professionals will be critical as we work toward bringing all students back to school five days a week in the fall.
Help Support Students’ Mental Health
The CPS Office of Student Health and Wellness (OSHW) is seeking feedback on a new suicide prevention policy that it has created for the district. Informed by research and best practice, this policy establishes criteria for prevention, education, awareness, intervention, and training related to suicide in schools. Stakeholders can provide feedback on the proposed policy language by completing this survey, which will close on Friday, May 14. Please email oshw@cps.edu with any questions.
CPS Pre-K Applications Now Open for the 2021–22 School Year
The pre-k application for the 2021–22 school year is open now. There are more than 600 CPS and community-based preschool programs located throughout the city; choose the program that is best for your family. To learn more about applying for pre-k, visit chicagoearlylearning.org, call (312) 229-1690, or make an appointment with one of the city’s family resource centers.
Child Tax Credit
The new federal relief package, called the American Rescue Plan, includes funding to give parents monthly payments and has the potential to bring hundreds of millions of dollars to families and communities. Under the new federal stimulus plan if you have children, you could be entitled up to $3,600 per child, depending on their age. Find out more here.
A Look Inside Our Schools
Today is School Food Hero Day! We’re celebrating our amazing nutrition support staff like Ms. Martina McDade, who has served the students at Gray Elementary School for the past 17 years. Her favorite part of her job as a lunchroom manager is the joy she sees on her students’ faces when she serves them breakfast or lunch.
Meet Azaria! She’s an eighth-grade student at Mays Elementary in Englewood who believes her elementary school experiences have shaped her into the person she is today. She missed coming to the school building to see her friends and her teachers, and being back at Mays has helped her focus academically and prepare for her next steps.
Students across the city have been expressing themselves through artwork! At Chase Elementary, students have been exploring Surrealism by creating unique and unexpected drawings. As part of a partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, students at Curie High School collaborated to create a virtual art exhibition that focused on self-care.
Mr. Herald Watson, an assistant principal at Dunne STEM Academy, has been focusing on building strong relationships with families this year to promote the success of his students. In addition to regular home visits, he also created weekly reports about students’ attendance and grades to help parents up-to-date on their students’ progress.
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Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
This was a busy week for the CPS community. We were thrilled to welcome our high school students back to classrooms along with the tens of thousands of elementary school students who chose to return to school for the fourth quarter.
We also released school budgets which contain an additional $225 million in school-level funding, including $85 million in supplemental funds that schools can use to address the unique needs created by COVID-19. This year’s budgets also included $66 million in equity grants and $17 million to hire a record-high number of nurses, social workers, and special education case managers. More specifics on school budgets for the 2021-22 school year can be found here. These additional funds are an important step toward our larger goal of providing daily in-person instruction to all CPS students when school begins in the fall.
We are grateful to the hundreds of educators, families, and partners who participated in our community budget forums earlier this year. Their input helped us shape equity-focused budgets that are providing additional funding for 94 percent of schools. But this is only a first step.
In the near future, we will share the details of our comprehensive plan to address the academic, social, and emotional needs created by the pandemic. This plan will be responsive to feedback we have received, and it will be funded by federal stimulus dollars. Resources will include mental health supports, access to tutors and mentors, new technology, and expanded summer learning opportunities, among other investments. We look forward to sharing the specifics of this plan with you soon.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsResources for Returning to School
Visit cps.edu/school-reopening/ for more information on:
- The daily health screener
- The district's latest community updates and FAQ
- Understanding the hybrid model
- School day examples
- How to opt in to in-person learning
- Devices and internet access
- Grab-and-Go Meal sites
- Child Learning Hubs
- Google Suite Training Hub
Key Metrics
CPS has offered vaccination opportunities to all employees
CPS is working to keep employees informed about the district's COVID-19 vaccination program, and where they can locate vaccination sites.7,107
surveillance tests administered this week
Surveillance testing is used to measure and monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 in our schools.110
actionable cases this week
CPS is sharing data about actionable COVID-19 cases to keep the public informed about how the pandemic is affecting the district and its community.Have questions about reopening or returning to school? Assistance is available in English and Spanish
General Support Healthy CPS Hotline
Monday-Friday
8:00 am-5:00 pm
773-553-KIDS (5437)
familyservices@cps.eduTechnical Support CPS Parent Tech Support Hotline
Monday-Friday
7:30 am-4:30 pm
773-417-1060
chicagopsprod.service-now.com/cspSupporting Students after the Verdict in the Derek Chauvin Trial
We understand that the conviction of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd, is raising many emotions for our students, and that they may bring their questions and feelings into the classroom. To make sure their needs are being met, CPS has developed resources that our educators can use to create safe spaces where students can express themselves freely. We encourage you to discuss this situation with your children as well, and invite you to use these resources to help guide those conversations.
Celebrating our School Clerks and Administrative Professionals
This Wednesday, April 21, was National Administrative Professionals Day, and we were honored to celebrate our school clerks and other administrative professionals for their contributions to our schools and offices. These dedicated employees are the literal face of our district, and they go above and beyond for the educators, families, and students who depend on them each day. Check out our blog and Instagram page to meet four of these amazing members of the CPS family!
CPS Pre-K Applications Now Open for the 2021–22 School Year
The pre-k application for the 2021–22 school year is open now. There are more than 600 CPS and community-based preschool programs located throughout the city; choose the program that is best for your family. To learn more about applying for pre-k, visit chicagoearlylearning.org, call (312) 229-1690, or make an appointment with one of the city’s family resource centers.
Vaccination Opportunities
As of this week, all Chicagoans ages 16 and up are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at your local pharmacy, healthcare provider, or a city site. My Block, My Hood, My City has partnered with the Chicago Vaccine Angels to help all Chicagoans get access to a vaccine appointment. A group of volunteers will secure an appointment for you at a convenient time and location and even help with transportation, if needed. If you are interested in booking a COVID-19 vaccination, or know someone who would benefit from this resource, please click here to sign up, or call 312-600-8925.
Child Tax Credit
The new federal relief package, called the American Rescue Plan, includes funding to give parents monthly payments and has the potential to bring hundreds of millions of dollars to families and communities. Under the new federal stimulus plan if you have children, you could be entitled up to $3,600 per child, depending on their age. Find out more here.
Teacher Appreciation Week
Help us celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, May 3-7, by creating a short video letting CPS teachers know why they matter to you. Use this form to send us a 5–15 second video and/or a quote appreciating the educators in your life by Sunday, April 25.
A Look Inside Our Schools
Sixth-grade student Lionel T. is thrilled to be back at Nash Elementary in Austin! He loves being in the classroom because his teachers are full of energy and always wait to make sure he understands the lesson before moving on.
Sebastian R., a sixth-grade diverse learner at Finkl Academy in Little Village, has finally been reunited with his favorite part of the classroom—the 3D printer! Check out all of the cool creations he’s made!
Important Dates and Deadlines
April 30: First Round GoCPS Results Released
-
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
Monday, April 19, marks the beginning of the fourth quarter, and we are excited to welcome tens of thousands of elementary and high school students back to the classroom. As of Monday, all students from pre-k through 12th-grade who want to learn in person will be able to do so. This milestone has been more than a year in the making and is truly a cause for celebration.
We thank our partners at the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) for working with the district to reach an agreement that will allow us to safely reopen our schools. We understand, however, that moving past the pandemic will require even more substantial resources, and we look forward to sharing the district’s plan to ensure all students, staff, and families have what they need to heal from the past year and move forward toward a brighter future.
We thank you for your continued support and patience.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsSupporting Students During Tragedy
On March 29, 2021, a 13-year-old student from Gary Elementary School was shot and killed by a Chicago Police Officer. The student’s name was Adam Toledo, and he was a member of our CPS family. His death, along with release of the bodycam footage, are raising many emotions for our students, and are compounding what has already been a stressful and unprecedented time.
To meet our children where they are, CPS developed Supporting Students: Adam Toledo, a guidance document that includes a set of professional and mental health resources to help our educators create a safe space where students can ask questions and express their feelings freely. In addition, this guidance will support staff in addressing the social and emotional needs of our children, and will help them ensure sensitive issues and differing points of view are handled with the appropriate thoughtfulness and care. If it is helpful to you and your family, here is a one-page guide from our guidance to help you facilitate a conversation with your child about the shooting.
Vaccination Opportunities
My Block, My Hood, My City has partnered with the Chicago Vaccine Angels to help all Chicagoans get access to a vaccine appointment. A group of volunteers will secure you an appointment for a time and location that works best for you and even help with transportation if needed. If you are interested in booking a COVID-19 vaccination, please click here to sign-up or call 312-600-8925.
A Look Inside Our Schools
Demari, an eighth-grader at Manierre Elementary, says he has been giving out great energy since being back at school. He has a list of goals that extend far beyond elementary school: get a college scholarship, study anatomy, and become a doctor or a surgeon. To reach those goals, he plans to rely on the same skills that he’s developed at Manierre, such as staying focused in class by participating and answering questions.
Hancock High School students Rachel, Evie, and Alex have been reflecting on how the challenges of the past year have helped them grow. Even though it’s been difficult for them to receive the same level of support from their teachers and peers while learning from home, they’ve each tried to focus on the positives. Now that they have the opportunity to go back to Hancock, they’ll have new healthy habits and strategies to take with them.
Meet our newest chess champion! Betty is an eighth-grade student at Parkside Academy in South Shore. While she’s only been playing chess for two years, she’s worked hard alongside one of her teachers to master the game. Her favorite piece is the rook (castle) and she has a chess ranking of 1500, making her one of the district’s top elementary school chess players. She’s looking forward to continuing to play chess in high school and is always willing to offer advice to new players.
Important Dates and Deadlines
- April 19: First Day of Quarter 4
- April 21: Application Period Opens for Early Childhood Programs for the 2021-22 School Year - Visit chicagoearlylearning.org
- April 30: First Round GoCPS Results Released
Resources for Returning to School
Visit cps.edu/school-reopening/ for more information on:
- The daily health screener
- The district's latest community updates and FAQ
- Understanding the hybrid model
- School day examples
- How to opt in to in-person learning
- Devices and internet access
- Grab-and-Go Meal sites
- Child Learning Hubs
- Google Suite Training Hub
Key Metrics
CPS has offered vaccination opportunities to all employees
CPS is working to keep employees informed about the district's COVID-19 vaccination program, and where they can locate vaccination sites.7,320
surveillance tests administered this week
Surveillance testing is used to measure and monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 in our schools.97
actionable cases this week
CPS is sharing data about actionable COVID-19 cases to keep the public informed about how the pandemic is affecting the district and its community.Have questions about reopening or returning to school? Assistance is available in English and Spanish
General Support Healthy CPS Hotline
Monday-Friday
8:00 am-5:00 pm
773-553-KIDS (5437)
familyservices@cps.eduTechnical Support CPS Parent Tech Support Hotline
Monday-Friday
7:30 am-4:30 pm
773-417-1060
chicagopsprod.service-now.com/csp -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Families,
Following several weeks of productive discussions, we are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with CTU leadership that will ensure high school students can return to their classrooms on Monday, April 19, as initially planned.
Our agreement is built upon the comprehensive safety plan we developed to safely bring back elementary students earlier this year with necessary adjustments to account for the unique nature of high schools. Each high school will use one of three scheduling models based on the number of students returning in person and the space available for social distancing. Schools are in the process of holding their own community meetings to discuss the scheduling model they are using and the measures in place to keep students and staff safe.
Our agreement with CTU memorializes key initiatives and investments that the district has been developing for several months. These include expanded summer learning opportunities, support for student vaccinations, and additional social and emotional support, among other resources. In the near future, we will provide additional details on our plans to ensure all students, staff and families have the support they need following this incredibly challenging year.
To keep students and staff safe, we have followed the guidance of the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) to ensure our buildings are ready to welcome back students and staff. You can expect to see HEPA air purifiers installed in classrooms, new signage to help encourage social distancing and good hygiene practices, access to a set of free face coverings, and enhanced cleaning protocols throughout your school. More on our district’s plans for keeping all students and staff healthy and safe can be found in our Reopening Site, which is updated regularly with new information.
In recent months, we have seen the positive impact on our students of welcoming them back to the classroom, and we are incredibly excited to welcome back tens of thousands of additional students when the fourth quarter begins. We thank you for your continued patience and support, and we look forward to next week when — for the first time in over a year — classrooms in every CPS school will be open.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Students, Parents, Families, and Staff,
A member of our community recently passed away after he was shot by a Chicago police officer on Monday, March 29. His name was Adam Toledo, and he was a 13-year-old student at Gary Elementary School. As a community, we join his family and the Gary Elementary School community to grieve his death.
Adam was a member of our CPS family, and we have been shaken by the circumstances of his passing. Adam’s death, along with the ongoing trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd and the civil unrest in Minnesota after the officer-involved shooting of Daunte Wright, are raising many emotions for our students. These events are compounding what has already been a stressful and unprecedented time, and we remain committed to meeting our students where they are and helping them process these complex and very personal issues.
The district has developed a collection of professional and mental health resources to help our educators create a safe space where students can ask questions and express their feelings freely. In addition, this guidance will support staff in addressing the social and emotional needs of our children, and will help them ensure sensitive issues and differing points of view are handled with the appropriate thoughtfulness and care.
Situations like this impact all of us but especially our young people, and our schools are prepared to support our students through candid and open conversations. We thank our educators for their commitment to this work and will continue updating the resources as situations evolve.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
After successfully opening elementary schools earlier this year, we are eager to provide our high school students with the same opportunity for in-person learning later this month. While our discussions with the Chicago Teachers Union are ongoing, we remain fully committed to welcoming back all interested high school students on Monday, April 19.
The complexity of high school schedules requires each school to develop a unique reopening plan that aligns to the number of students returning in person and the space available for social distancing. The district has developed a set of scheduling models for schools to choose from that align to our health and safety guidance. If you’re interested in learning more about the models that will be used, please watch our presentation from the March Board Meeting, which outlines the different approaches for reopening. High schools have begun hosting their own community meetings to discuss their scheduling model. If you are a parent or guardian of a high school student, please check in with your school about their reopening plan.
As we’ve said before, the best place for our students to learn is in the classroom, and we are excited to finally be able to provide this option to our high school students. We thank you for your continued partnership and look forward to a strong finish to this school year.
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsCelebrating National Assistant Principals Week
This past week, our district recognized the hard work of assistant principals across Chicago for National Assistant Principals Week. Whether they are assisting teachers with planning high-quality instruction, helping to create a positive school culture, or supporting our principals to lead our schools to new heights, our APs are always willing to go the extra mile for our students. One example is Ms. Michelle Soto, an assistant principal who has been part of the Nightingale Elementary community since she was a third-grade student. Being the mom of two Nightingale students herself motivates her to connect her work back to benefitting all students and the surrounding community.
What Our High School Students Have to Say
Across the city, our high school students have a variety of reasons why they are hoping to return to their schools as soon as possible. At Curie High School, freshmen Divine and Lanayah believe that returning to their classrooms will help them develop new skills and strategies for balancing their schoolwork and other responsibilities. They also want in-person access to their counselors, teachers, and other supportive adults. At Austin College and Career Academy, Marshawn, a senior, simply wants to celebrate the last few months of his high school journey in an environment that feels like school to him. He also wants to reconnect with his friends before they graduate.
A Look Inside Our Schools This Week
At Ravenswood Elementary, students had the opportunity to enhance what they are learning in the classroom through a visit from the Mobile Museum of Tolerance. Hear what four eighth-grade students had to say about the lessons they’ll take from the experience into high school and beyond. And our teachers continue to pour their hearts into finishing the school year strong. The kindergarten team at Randolph Elementary in West Englewood has been working hard to keep every day fun and exciting for their students—check out what a typical Wednesday morning looks like in their virtual classroom. And Mr. Charles Gunn, a diverse learner teacher at Smyth Elementary, has balanced leading his own classroom while going above and beyond to meet the technology needs of his families.
Resources for Returning to School
Visit cps.edu/school-reopening/ for more information on:
- The daily health screener
- The district's latest community updates and FAQ
- Understanding the hybrid model
- School day examples
- How to opt in to in-person learning
- Devices and internet access
- Grab-and-Go Meal sites
- Child Learning Hubs
- Google Suite Training Hub
Key Metrics
CPS has offered vaccination opportunities to all employees
CPS is working to keep employees informed about the district's COVID-19 vaccination program, and where they can locate vaccination sites.5,043
surveillance tests administered this week
Surveillance testing is used to measure and monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 in our schools.42
actionable cases this week
CPS is sharing data about actionable COVID-19 cases to keep the public informed about how the pandemic is affecting the district and its community.Have questions about reopening or returning to school? Assistance is available in English and Spanish
General Support Healthy CPS Hotline
Monday-Friday
8:00 am-5:00 pm
773-553-KIDS (5437)
familyservices@cps.eduTechnical Support CPS Parent Tech Support Hotline
Monday-Friday
7:30 am-4:30 pm
773-417-1060
chicagopsprod.service-now.com/csp -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
This has been a year marked by unprecedented challenges, and our goal now is to help students, families, and staff begin to heal. In that spirit, CPS has created a Healing-Centered Framework that will promote recovery across all schools and communities.
The Healing-Centered Framework outlines programs and resources that will help our communities overcome trauma. It will ensure there is a Behavioral Health Team in every CPS school, and will provide our teachers and support staff with specialized training on identifying and addressing trauma. It will also give our students, families, and staff the strategies they need to manage their own wellness, and will establish a robust network of community partners who can support each school’s unique healing needs.
As with every major CPS initiative, input from our stakeholders will be crucial as this project moves forward, and a schedule of roundtable discussions on the Healing-Centered Framework will be released shortly.
We wish our entire CPS family a safe, enjoyable spring break, and hope that everyone will return to school rejuvenated, and ready to finish this school year strong.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsImportant Reminders for Spring Break
Spring break for all CPS students begins this Monday, March 29, and runs through Friday, April 2. Grab ‘N Go meals will be available Monday - Thursday (closed Friday) at 120 meal sites. Also, a reminder that CPS is following the City of Chicago’s Emergency Travel Order, meaning that anyone traveling outside of the state, including children under the age of 18, must receive a negative COVID test 72 hours before returning to Chicago or quarantine for 10 calendar days before entering a CPS facility. Finally, to help keep young people engaged during break, My CHI. My Future. is offering students free in-person and virtual experiences through its Spring Forward program. These activities will run from March 27 through April 3.
Next School Year Will Begin Monday, August 30, 2021 — One Week Before Labor Day
To ensure that students can begin the school year sooner than they typically would after a disrupted school year caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide students with more instructional time in advance of high-stakes exams such as AP, IB and SAT, the 2021-22 school year will begin for all CPS students on Monday, August 30, 2021 — one week earlier than the district’s traditional post-Labor Day start. This change was approved by the Chicago Board of Education at its monthly meeting earlier this week. Click here to view the full academic calendar for the 2021-22 school year.
Updates on Spring Assessments
Every year, CPS administers federally-required state assessments that demonstrate how our students are growing academically and help us determine where additional academic support is needed. Some of these assessments have been canceled as a result of the pandemic, but the state and federal government are requiring a set of assessments to be administered this year. For information on the district's plan to meet state and federal assessment requirements this spring, please see our assessment plan overview.
A Look Inside our Schools This Week
Seventh-grader Malik has hit the ground running since returning to Doolittle Elementary. As a student leader, he is responsible for setting a good example for other students by following directions and getting good grades. He describes his time at Doolittle so far as “amazing.” At Sor Juana Elementary, teacher and Golden Apple finalist Cynthia Juarez says she’s been enjoying seeing the extra sparkle in her students’ eyes now that they are reunited in her classroom. And it’s been an exciting time for Earhart Elementary—eighth-grader Danielle recently won the CPS Citywide Spelling Bee!
Important Dates and Deadlines
- March 29 - April 2: Spring Break
- April 19: First Day of Quarter 4
- April 21: Applications open for Pre-K programs. Visit ChicagoEarlyLearning.org to learn more.
- April 30: First Round GoCPS Results Released
Resources for Returning to School
Visit cps.edu/school-reopening/ for more information on:
- The daily health screener
- The district's latest community updates and FAQ
- Understanding the hybrid model
- School day examples
- How to opt in to in-person learning
- Devices and internet access
- Grab-and-Go Meal sites
- Child Learning Hubs
- Google Suite Training Hub
Key Metrics
CPS has offered vaccination opportunities to all employees
CPS is working to keep employees informed about the district's COVID-19 vaccination program, and where they can locate vaccination sites.6,635
surveillance tests administered this week
Surveillance testing is used to measure and monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 in our schools.42
actionable cases this week
CPS is sharing data about actionable COVID-19 cases to keep the public informed about how the pandemic is affecting the district and its community.Have questions about reopening or returning to school? Assistance is available in English and Spanish
General Support Healthy CPS Hotline
Monday-Friday
8:00 am-5:00 pm
773-553-KIDS (5437)
familyservices@cps.eduTechnical Support CPS Parent Tech Support Hotline
Monday-Friday
7:30 am-4:30 pm
773-417-1060
chicagopsprod.service-now.com/csp -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
Tens of thousands of CPS students have safely returned to the classroom, and we want to ensure all interested families have the option to learn in person when the fourth quarter begins on April 19. The families of all students who have not yet returned to school — including high school students who we hope to bring back for the first time — have been sent opt-in forms. The deadline for opt-in forms has been extended to 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23, to provide families additional time to complete the form. This is the final chance families will have this school year to choose in-person learning for their children. If the details of your election for the fourth quarter are correct, no further action is required.
As we announced earlier this week, our discussions with the Chicago Teachers Union regarding in-person learning at high schools are progressing, and we hope to welcome back students on April 19. School leaders will tailor specific learning models to suit the needs of their school communities, but our goal is to offer nearly every student who wants to come back to school at least two days of in-person instruction per week.
Another critical step toward a return to normal is ensuring the health and safety of our school communities. Earlier this week, CPS made the COVID-19 vaccine available to ALL district staff through our four vaccination centers. We encourage our team to get vaccinated as quickly as possible, and help dispel any vaccine hesitancy by encouraging their respective community to get vaccinated as well. To make sure students are informed about vaccinations and empower them to educate their community, CPS has also created an Interdisciplinary Vaccine Project for our educators to facilitate conversations.
We thank all of the families and supporters who have attended our recent school reopening town halls — recordings are now available on the district’s YouTube page. We hope you will continue to engage with us as we work to provide all students with the quality education they deserve, even during this unprecedented time.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsOur District’s Response to the Violence Toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Community
It is our collective responsibility to lift each other up when members of our CPS family are confronted with pain and trauma because of systemic racism and oppression. The district stands against all forms of hate and intolerance, including the repeated attacks against members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. In response to the surge in these hate crimes during the pandemic, the district is providing additional resources for our educators to help them hold difficult yet necessary conversations about racism and hate speech in their classrooms and connect students with social-and-emotional support. We will continue to speak out about all forms of violence against our AAPI students and families—a commitment that requires all of us to work together.
SAT Graduation Requirement Waived
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced that 12th grade students will be eligible for graduation regardless of whether they took the SAT in 11th grade. In response, CPS is waiving the district’s SAT testing graduation requirement for current 12th grade students. CPS will still make the SAT available and optional for 12th graders who have not tested yet, in case they need the SAT for postsecondary access purposes. SAT testing dates are April 13th and April 27th, with a make up date on May 18.
A Look Inside Our Schools This Week
There is no better way to capture the excitement of being back in a school building than through the eyes of Emilio, an eighth-grade student at Goudy Elementary enjoying the last few months of a “superb” seven years at the school. Across the city, teachers and administrators have been pouring their hearts into welcoming back students like Emilio. Dr. Jackie Menoni—the principal of de Diego Community Academy and a Golden Apple Leadership Finalist—has been hard at work ensuring her school focuses on its core practices of personalized learning and a tightly aligned reading curriculum. And, of course, extracurricular activities are in full swing for both students learning at school and at home. Meet the first-ever debate team at Poe Classical School, the top rookie team at this year’s Middle School City Championship.
Spring Break Reminder: Students Now Included in Chicago’s Emergency Travel Order
As spring break approaches, we want to remind everyone that the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) is now including children under the age of 18 in the city’s emergency travel order. Before entering any CPS facility, anyone who travels out of state must either obtain a negative COVID test 72 hours before returning to Chicago or quarantine for 10 calendar days upon their return. Adults who have been fully vaccinated do not need to abide by this 10-day quarantine as long as they are asymptomatic. For more information on travel restrictions, click here.
President Obama’s Book Talk with CPS Students
Last week, CPS high school students were invited to join former President Barack Obama for a lively book discussion about his time in office, civic engagement, and events covered in his memoir, A Promised Land. Check out highlights of that exciting event here.
Important Dates and Deadlines
- March 23 by 11:59 p.m.: Opt-In Form due for students who wish to return to in-person learning for the beginning of Quarter 4
- March 24: Chicago Board of Education Meeting (10:30 a.m.)
- March 29 - April 2: Spring Break
- April 19: First Day of Quarter 4
- April 21: Applications open for Pre-K programs. Visit ChicagoEarlyLearning.org to learn more.
- April 30: First Round GoCPS Results Released
Resources for Returning to School
Visit cps.edu/school-reopening/ for more information on:
- The daily health screener
- The district's latest community updates and FAQ
- Understanding the hybrid model
- School day examples
- How to opt in to in-person learning
- Devices and internet access
- Grab-and-Go Meal sites
- Child Learning Hubs
- Google Suite Training Hub
Key Metrics
CPS has offered vaccination opportunities to all employees
CPS is working to keep employees informed about the district's COVID-19 vaccination program, and where they can locate vaccination sites.6,801
surveillance tests administered this week
Surveillance testing is used to measure and monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 in our schools.39
actionable cases this week
CPS is sharing data about actionable COVID-19 cases to keep the public informed about how the pandemic is affecting the district and its community.Have questions about reopening or returning to school? Assistance is available in English and Spanish
General Support Healthy CPS Hotline
Monday-Friday
8:00 am-5:00 pm
773-553-KIDS (5437)
familyservices@cps.eduTechnical Support CPS Parent Tech Support Hotline
Monday-Friday
7:30 am-4:30 pm
773-417-1060
chicagopsprod.service-now.com/csp -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Families and Staff,
For the past two weeks, CPS leadership and high school principals have been meeting with Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) officials as part of a joint task force to establish a plan that will allow high school students and staff to safely return to schools this year. Following the successful reopening of our elementary schools as well as new guidance from the Biden Administration that supports bringing students back to classrooms, we know we can safely resume in-person high school instruction as long as the right plan is in place.
We are pleased to report that discussions with CTU have been productive and we want to provide you an update on several concepts the parties have discussed:
- Start Date: April 19, the first day of the fourth quarter, is our target date for students to return to classrooms.
- Eligibility: We believe that all families must have an option for in-person learning, and a return to high school classrooms must be available to all students. To the extent possible, we want to ensure students will remain with their assigned teachers upon returning to in-person learning.
- Hybrid Learning Model: Similar to elementary schools, instructional models will vary between schools due to difference in enrollment and capacity for social distancing throughout the district. CPS and CTU are discussing a hybrid structure that would provide in-person instruction at least two days per week for nearly all interested students.
Providing high school students the option to safely return on April 19 is a top priority for the district, and we will continue meeting regularly with CTU representatives as we strive to reach a consensus that provides the smoothest possible transition for our families and staff. Negotiations are ongoing with CTU and we will continue to provide updates to families as discussions proceed.
We strongly encourage all families who are interested in learning more to participate in our high school townhall tomorrow, Wednesday, March 17, at 5 p.m. Please register at bit.ly/HStownhall2 in advance. And if you have not yet completed your intent form, which was sent directly to all CPS parents and guardians who have contact information on file, please respond as soon as your decision is made so we can plan accordingly. We encourage all families who are considering in-person learning to opt-in so they can maintain the ability to return this year.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
Our schools grew even more energized this week as students in grades 6-8 returned to their classrooms for the first time in a year. This means that as of now, all elementary school students who want to learn in person, along with our students in cluster programs, are back in school where they belong.
Even as we celebrate our students’ return, CPS remains focused on providing our high school students and students in academic centers with the option to return to school as well. Our high school reopening task force is meeting twice a week to create a reopening framework, and we are actively gathering feedback from our high school families, including through a town hall meeting held earlier this week. We thank all of the families who participated in this important conversation and hope to share an update on our high school reopening framework soon. To ensure more families have an opportunity to hear about the district’s reopening plans and to address some of the unanswered questions from our previous session, we are scheduling a second high school town hall for next Wednesday, March 17, from 5 - 6 p.m. Please register HERE by Tuesday, March 16.
Another virtual town hall — this one for elementary school families — is scheduled for Tuesday, March 16, from 5 - 6:30 p.m. This is a chance for families to ask questions, hear updates on how the reopening process is going, and share input on what they believe is working well and where improvements can be made. Register HERE to participate in this town hall.
Finally, a reminder that the opt-in window for Quarter 4 is now open for all students in grades Pre-K through 12. All CPS families who have not yet returned to school in person should have received an opt-in form this week. This form must be completed by Friday, March 19, and is the final opportunity families have this school year to choose in-person learning for their students. If you have not received an email, please call your school and update your contact information. We will send a reminder notification next week to parent email addresses in Aspen.
We thank you for your continued support and patience.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsA Look Inside Our Schools This Week
It's Ok Not To Be Ok By McDowell School Chicago
Monday was an exciting day for our middle school students, and it was also exciting for middle school teachers like Ms. Marley Olivera, an English teacher at Fuller School of Excellence who believes that encouraging and building relationships with her students helps them to become reflective, humble, and resilient. Across the district, dedicated school staff have created one-of-a-kind ways to welcome students back to school. At McDowell Elementary, staff created a music video to remind students about the importance of self-care. Check it out below! Interested in what a music classroom, special education classroom, or high school classroom looked like this week? Read the third part of the district’s teacher series—This Is Why I Teach.
Keeping Health and Safety Protocols Consistent Across Schools
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance for people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. While we are encouraged by the progress we are making as a nation, we are not relaxing protocols in our buildings. All CPS facilities will maintain the same health and safety protocols including required face-coverings, daily temperature checks and health screenings, social distancing, and good hand hygiene. You can review the new CDC guidance here.
Students Now Included in Chicago’s Emergency Travel Order
The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) is now including children under the age of 18 in the City of Chicago’s emergency travel order. Any student or adult who travels out of state must either obtain a negative COVID test 72 hours before returning to Chicago or quarantine for 10 calendar days upon their return. Adults who have been fully vaccinated do not need to abide by this 10-day quarantine as long as they are asymptomatic. For more information on travel restrictions, click here.
First Round of GoCPS Offers to be Released on April 30
CPS students applying to 9th-grade through GoCPS will receive their first round results on Friday, April 30 between 5:00 - 11:59 p.m. Applicants will receive emailed instructions on how to access their results via their online GoCPS accounts. We will continue to update GoCPS as additional dates are finalized, including the deadline for accepting or declining offers, the start date for the waitlist process, and the dates for the second round. Please feel free to contact the Office of Access and Enrollment at 773-553-2060 or gocps@cps.edu with any questions.
PSAT Canceled for Spring 2021, SAT Still On
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has canceled the PSAT 8/9 for 9th-graders and the PSAT 10 for 10th-graders this spring. At this time, the SAT will still be administered this spring to all 11th-grade students, and 12th-grade students who have yet to meet the state testing requirement for high school graduation. The essay portion of the SAT will not be included in this spring's test administration.
President Obama Hosts Book Discussion with CPS Students
Yesterday, President Barack Obama joined our CPS community for a lively discussion of his newest book, A Promised Land. In late 2020, President Obama generously provided all of our high school students and educators with free access to this fascinating memoir, and this follow-up event was our chance to engage with him about its fascinating themes. We are profoundly grateful to President Obama for continuing to give so generously to our community, and are proud of our participating students for showing that they are engaged, intellectually-curious young people who are interested in giving back to their communities and helping shape a brighter future for our country. You can watch the book discussion on the district’s Youtube page.
Important Dates and Deadlines
- March 16: Virtual Town Hall for Elementary School Families (5 - 6:30 p.m.) (Register)
- March 16: Virtual SQRP Town Hall for Spanish speakers (3 - 5 p.m.) (Register)
- March 17: Virtual Town Hall for High School Families (5 - 6 p.m.) (Register)
- March 19: Opt-In Form due for students who wish to return to in-person learning for the beginning of Quarter 4
- March 24: Chicago Board of Education Meeting (10:30 a.m.)
- April 19: First Day of Quarter 4
- April 30: First Round GoCPS Results Released
Resources for Returning to School
Visit cps.edu/school-reopening/ for more information on:
- The daily health screener
- The district's latest community updates and FAQ
- Understanding the hybrid model
- School day examples
- How to opt in to in-person learning
- Devices and internet access
- Grab-and-Go Meal sites
- Child Learning Hubs
- Google Suite Training Hub
Key Metrics
43,407
CPS employees and vendor employees offered vaccination opportunities
CPS is working to keep employees informed about the district's COVID-19 vaccination program, and where they can locate vaccination sites.6,234
surveillance tests administered this week
Surveillance testing is used to measure and monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 in our schools.27
actionable cases this week
CPS is sharing data about actionable COVID-19 cases to keep the public informed about how the pandemic is affecting the district and its community.Have questions about reopening or returning to school? Assistance is available in English and Spanish
General Support Healthy CPS Hotline
Monday-Friday
8:00 am-5:00 pm
773-553-KIDS (5437)
familyservices@cps.eduTechnical Support CPS Parent Tech Support Hotline
Monday-Friday
7:30 am-4:30 pm
773-417-1060
chicagopsprod.service-now.com/csp -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Families,
Chicago neighborhoods came alive this week as thousands of students in kindergarten through fifth grade returned to school for the first time in nearly a year. The excitement on their faces was infectious, and their voices brought a level of energy that has been absent from our schools for far too long.
We are thrilled to finally offer our families the option for a safe return to in-person learning, and we look forward to welcoming back students in grades 6-8 this Monday, March 8.
Beginning Monday, all CPS families, who have not yet returned to schools in-person, will be able to opt-in for a return later this year. The opt-in window will be available to students in all grades (grades Pre-K through 12) and will remain open for two weeks. Opt-in forms will be sent directly to parents, and this will be the final opportunity to choose in-person learning this school year.
- Opt-In for Students in Pre-K, Elementary, and Cluster Programs: As promised earlier this year, families who have not yet returned to classrooms will be able to return Monday , April 19 — the first day of the 4th-quarter. Families who are already enrolled in classroom-based learning will not need to fill out the intent form to remain in-person.
- Opt-In for High School and Academic Center Students: For the first time, families in grades 9-12, as well as students in high school academic centers, will also be asked to decide if they want to return to classrooms this year.
The district is actively meeting with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) to establish a plan for the return of high school students and staff, and we will be engaging students and families in the days ahead. No return date has been set and the specific learning model used in high schools remains under discussion, but we hope students will be able to return to school as early as mid-April. We are asking families to tell us their learning preference now so that we can ensure we have the necessary staffing and classroom models in place to safely support all interested high school students.
Just like in our elementary schools, CPS high schools will follow a strict set of health and safety protocols, upon reopening, including required face-coverings and social distancing. Our high schools will also be provided with the air purifiers, hand sanitizer, and enhanced cleaning practices that have allowed CPS to safely reopen our elementary schools for in-person learning.
To give families additional opportunities to learn about our plans and provide input, we are scheduling two virtual parent townhalls — one for elementary and one for high school— in the next two weeks:
- High School Town Hall: Wednesday, March 10, from 5-6:30 p.m. (Register HERE)
- Elementary School Town Hall: Tuesday, March 16, from 5-6:30 p.m. (Register HERE)
We will also be engaging students in the weeks ahead to ensure their perspective is heard as our planning moves forward.
We look forward to seeing you at our town halls and thank you for your continued support as we work to provide all students with the high-quality education they deserve, no matter where they are learning.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsProposing An Earlier Start to the 2021-22 School Year
To help mitigate learning loss among our students, and to ensure CPS high school students have more time to prepare for their critical SAT, AP, and IB exams, we are proposing that the 2021-22 school year begin on Monday, August 30 rather than on Tuesday, September 7, when school would traditionally begin. This change will be presented to the Chicago Board of Education at its March 24th meeting, and we encourage you to offer feedback on this proposal.A Look Inside the Pre-K Classrooms of Two Golden Apple Finalists
Pre-K students at Schubert Elementary are currently working on hands-on engineering projects with the help of their teacher, Golden Apple finalist Ms. Megan Faherty. Her vision for her classroom is that her students construct their own learning based on their interests. As a Golden Apple finalist, she’s in good company with Ms. Kendayl Loesch, a diverse learner Pre-K teacher at New Field Elementary who focuses on collaborating closely with parents to meet the needs of each of her students. In total, 17 CPS teachers were named Golden Apple finalists this year.
Help Shape Accountability in CPS Schools
Chicago Public Schools has started an exciting year-long process of working with families, educators, and community stakeholders to reimagine how we measure accountability in our schools. Our goal is to create a system that answers important questions about how well we are preparing our youth for the future and is responsive not only to our students, but to the families and educators who are so much a part of their development. We are beginning this process with a series of community meetings to gather feedback and perspective from our stakeholders. Register here to participate in one of these important conversations on March 8 or March 10.
Resources for Returning to School
Visit cps.edu/school-reopening/ for more information on:
- The daily health screener
- The district's latest community updates and FAQ
- Understanding the hybrid model
- School day examples
- How to opt in to in-person learning
- Devices and internet access
- Grab-and-Go Meal sites
- Child Learning Hubs
- Google Suite Training Hub
Key Metrics
25,589
employees offered vaccination opportunities
CPS is working to keep employees informed about the district's COVID-19 vaccination program, and where they can locate vaccination sites.6,729
surveillance tests administered this week
Surveillance testing is used to measure and monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 in our schools.35
actionable cases this week
CPS is sharing data about actionable COVID-19 cases to keep the public informed about how the pandemic is affecting the district and its community.Have questions about reopening or returning to school? Assistance is available in English and Spanish
General Support Healthy CPS Hotline
Monday-Friday
8:00 am-5:00 pm
773-553-KIDS (5437)
familyservices@cps.eduTechnical Support CPS Parent Tech Support Hotline
Monday-Friday
7:30 am-4:30 pm
773-417-1060
chicagopsprod.service-now.com/csp -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Families,
Reopening schools represents a significant step forward for our district. We have been thrilled to have our students in pre-k and cluster programs back in the classroom, and look forward to welcoming back the tens of thousands of elementary school students that will join them in the next two weeks, beginning with Kindergarten through fifth grade this Monday, March 1, and 6-8th grades on March 8.
Elementary school families will be offered an opportunity to come back to school prior to the start of the fourth quarter, and we hope you will consider sending your child to school. While we do not currently have plans to reopen high schools, we are beginning discussions with CTU on how we can offer an in-person option for high school students. We will keep you updated as those discussions progress.
Thank you to all of our families and staff for your continued support and patience. This year has been difficult for you and families and we hope we are close to a return to normal.Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsResources for Returning to School
Return to in-Person Learning
Pre-K/Cluster
February 11K-5
March 16-8
March 89-12
TBDVisit cps.edu/school-reopening/ for more information on:
- The daily health screener
- The district's latest community updates and FAQ
- Understanding the hybrid model
- School day examples
- How to opt in to in-person learning
- Devices and internet access
- Grab-and-Go Meal sites
- Child Learning Hubs
- Google Suite Training Hub
Key Metrics
17,750
employees offered vaccination opportunities
CPS is working to keep employees informed about the district's COVID-19 vaccination program, and where they can locate vaccination sites.5,750
surveillance tests administered this week
Surveillance testing is used to measure and monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 in our schools.21
actionable cases this week
CPS is sharing data about actionable COVID-19 cases to keep the public informed about how the pandemic is affecting the district and its community.Have questions about reopening or returning to school? Assistance is available in English and Spanish
General Support Healthy CPS Hotline
Monday-Friday
8:00 am-5:00 pm
773-553-KIDS (5437)
familyservices@cps.eduTechnical Support CPS Parent Tech Support Hotline
Monday-Friday
7:30 am-4:30 pm
773-417-1060
chicagopsprod.service-now.com/cspIn February, we marked a milestone by safely welcoming some of our students and staff back to the classrooms we left nearly a year ago. Ensuring all of our families have access to the learning option that works best for them was especially significant while we celebrated Black History Month, in-person and virtually.
You can find a few of these updates below, and more on our blog, Inside CPS.
If you have stories of exciting accomplishments, interesting projects, or cool extracurriculars that you'd like to share with the district, let us know! Send us a note using our CPS Good News Google Form; it’s open to everyone in the CPS community.
How to Help Your Student Prepare to Return to School
- Learning in person looks different since students were last in schools. Find out how you can help your child prepare for a new schedule and health and safety practices, and take a look at a day in the life of a pre-k student at Kozminski Community Academy.
- Students learning remotely can still pick up free meals at hundreds of Grab-and-Go meals sites; find the site nearest you by visiting cps.edu/mealsites.
Celebrating Black Voices — This Month and Every Month
Breaking Down Stereotypes through Art
- Lane Tech College Prep student Tooke and Senn High School student Tyshaun are using art to express their values, cultures, and identities. READ MORE
Celebrating School Counselor Dr Venisa Beasley-Green:
- In her nearly 30 years with the district as a school counselor, Dr. Venisa Beasley-Green has found creative ways to inspire her students to keep learning and growing to their full potential. READ MORE
Where are all the STEM Influencers?
- Simarah J., a sophomore at Englewood STEM High School advocates for less consumerism on social media and more representation and resources for female students interested in STEM careers. READ MORE
Coming up next month:
Return of K-8 dates
- Families with children in grades K - 8 who chose in-person learning will return to classrooms; students in grades K - 5 will return on Monday, March 1 and students in grades 6 - 8 will return Monday, March 8. More information on our safe return to school can be found at cps.edu/reopening.
Women’s History Month
- Stay tuned in March as we feature the many accomplishments of leaders throughout our school communities.
-
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Parents and Families,
Today is an important day for Chicago Public Schools (CPS). After nearly a year away from their classrooms, teachers, and friends, we are happy to announce that CPS students who want to learn in person will be returning to their schools.
Timeline for in-person learning
Nearly eight months ago, we began discussions with Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) leadership about how to safely reopen schools. We can now report that an agreement with CTU leadership has been reached that will allow students and staff to return on the following dates:- Pre-K and Cluster Programs: Students and staff return on Thursday, February 11, 2021.
- Kindergarten - Fifth Grade: Teachers and staff return on February 22. Students return on March 1, 2021.
- Sixth - Eighth Grade: Teachers and staff return on March 1, 2021. Students return on March 8, 2021.
Prior to the start of the fourth quarter, families who chose to continue learning at home will be offered another opportunity to return to school. Non-cluster high school classes are not currently scheduled for in-person learning, and as part of our agreement CPS and CTU will form a joint task force to address safely reopening high schools.
Significant new areas of agreement between CPS and CTU
In addition to the offer we made to CTU leadership late last week, we have also agreed to expedite vaccinations for selected staff and establish a metric to determine if in-person learning should be paused district-wide at any point.- Vaccinations. We are doing everything in our power to vaccinate educators as quickly as possible in an equitable manner. Through a partnership with Walgreens and the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), 2,000 pre-k and cluster staff and staff without an accommodation but who have medically vulnerable household members will be offered vaccinations this week.
Through our own vaccination sites — which will open later this month and be available exclusively for CPS employees — we will be able to provide vaccination doses to 1,500 CPS employees per week out of the City’s limited supply. Staff who live or work in the city’s 15 most impacted and vulnerable communities may also be offered vaccinations through the city’s Protect Chicago Plus initiative. - Metrics to Pause in-Person Learning: Under the agreement, the district will revert to online learning for at least 14 calendar days if the city’s COVID-19 test positivity rate (7-day rolling average) meets the following criteria:
- Rate increases for 7 consecutive days;
- Rate for each of the 7 consecutive days is at least 15% higher than the rate one week prior; and
- Citywide positivity rate on the seventh day is 10% or greater.
CPS will resume in-person learning after 14 days or when positivity rate no longer meets all of the criteria above.
Returning to school
The district has invested more than $100 million on safety measures including face coverings, hand sanitizer, HEPA air purifiers, and additional cleaning supplies, along with comprehensive plans for contact tracing and surveillance testing, and our schools are ready to welcome back our students and staff.Here are some important reminders as you prepare for this return:
- Complete the Daily Health Screener. To ensure students and staff are not sick, a health screener must be completed every morning prior to arrival at school. Families can access the screener at cps.edu/HealthScreener, or they can contact their school and ask to opt into text notifications so that a link to a personalized health screener is sent daily to their mobile phones.
- Prepare Children for Health and Safety Protocols. Schools will look different when students return. To help prepare them, we encourage you to talk to your children about new aspects of their daily routines. These include temperature checks, social distancing, good hand hygiene, and face coverings. Watch these videos for ideas on how to have these conversations with your children.
Now that an agreement has been reached, we are focused on providing all students with a high-quality education, and keeping all those who are returning to school buildings healthy and safe. We know this has been a deeply challenging time for everyone in our school community, and we are thankful that we have reached an agreement that benefits students, addresses the needs of staff, and offers families certainty about their child’s education.
We are fully committed to coming together to provide all children with the high-quality education they deserve. Thank you for your tremendous patience throughout this process and look forward to supporting your children academically, socially, and emotionally as our school year continues.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Families,
We are writing to you so you can have the most up-to-information about school reopening directly from us. Since June, our bargaining team has met with CTU leadership more than 80 times, including daily meetings for the past month. We’ve been patient, and moved our deadlines again and again out of respect for our employees, students, and families. We have put everything on the table to reach a deal that protects our students and staff, and supports the families who need an alternative to remote learning.
Last night, we presented CTU leadership with a last, best and final offer that addresses all of their areas of concern while still allowing us to make good on our promise to open schools in a safe and sustainable manner for our students and families.
We announced an agreement last weekend on four key items: health and safety protocols, ventilation, safety committees, and contact tracing. We later reached an agreement on a comprehensive testing protocol for both staff and students. Together, these five areas of agreement outline the strong, layered mitigation strategies that protect staff and students against COVID-19 transmission. Through their agreement, CTU leadership supports these mitigation strategies.
At the start of this week, four major open items remained: vaccinations, accommodations for staff who live with medically-vulnerable household members, additional criteria for pausing in-person learning, and a new schedule for phased in-person reopening. Despite making significant compromises in an effort to reach a deal with CTU leadership, we still do not have an agreement. Here’s what we have offered on the four remaining issues:
- Vaccinations. While the director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said this week that vaccinating staff is not necessary to safely reopening schools with mitigations in place, we are doing everything in our power to vaccinate educators as quickly as possible in an equitable manner. Through our own vaccination sites — which will be available exclusively for CPS employees — we will be able to provide vaccination doses to 1,500 CPS employees per week out of the City’s limited supply. Staff who work in the city’s 15 most impacted and vulnerable communities may also be offered vaccinations through the city’s Protect Chicago Plus initiative. These commitments represent the full extent of what we are able to provide educators without denying first responders, the elderly, and others who have been working in person through the entirety of the pandemic their spot in line.
- Accommodations for staff with vulnerable household members. We recognize that returning to work is a real concern for employees who live with medically vulnerable family members. Our plan offers these staff members access to the vaccine beginning this Monday. If they choose to be vaccinated in the next two weeks, these staff members can continue to work remotely for up to 14 days after their first dose. This initial dose provides substantial protection against COVID-19 on its own; the second dose will follow 28 days after the first. CTU members who decline to take the vaccine and want to remain home can take an unpaid leave of absence with full benefits. This new arrangement is in addition to the 5,000 accommodations CPS has already granted for staff who are either medically vulnerable or a primary caretaker of a vulnerable family member.
- Metrics that establish when individual pods, schools, and the district would pause in-person learning. We have reached agreement on pause metrics for pods and schools, and proposed a district-wide operational pause metric. Under our proposal, the district would revert to remote learning for 14 days if:
- the positivity rate within CPS’ surveillance testing program reaches 2.5%, or
- 50% of schools are on a 14-day operational pause.
- A phased re-opening. CTU leadership has asked for a gradual return to in-person learning, and in the interest of reaching an agreement, we have proposed the following timeline:
- Pre-K and Cluster Programs:
- Monday, February 8: Teachers, and staff return
- Tuesday, February 9: Students return
- Kindergarten — Grade 5:
- Tuesday, February 16: Teachers and staff return
- Monday, February 22: Students return
- Grade 6 — Grade 8:
- Monday, February 22: Teachers and staff return
- Monday, March 1: Students return
We have made clear throughout this pandemic that we would be transparent and follow the data and science. Our health and safety protocols, which follow CDC guidance and were designed in partnership with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), allowed us to provide more than two weeks of safe in-person learning for students in pre-k and cluster programs. National public health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have repeatedly said that with the kind of mitigations CPS has in place, schools are safe.
From free COVID-19 testing for students and staff to requiring face coverings, social distancing, regular disinfection and enhanced cleaning, ensuring proper ventilation, providing HEPA purifiers for all classrooms, maintaining small classroom pods, and establishing clear criteria for postponing instruction at the classroom, school, and district levels, we have gone above and beyond the CDC’s recommendations to reopen schools schools and keep our students and staff safe. We have yet to identify a large school district that has done more to prioritize the health and wellness of its students and staff. Moreover, the city is making great strides in its fight against COVID-19, and our public health metrics continue to trend in the right direction.
We are hearing from both parents and students all over the city who feel like their voices are not being heard and their interests disregarded. As educators, we know you share our deep concern for students — you wouldn’t be doing this work if you didn’t. You have done everything in your power to make remote learning as successful as possible in an extremely challenging situation. But there are limits to remote learning, no matter how many improvements are made. Our children are suffering — especially our most vulnerable — and it’s resulting in absenteeism, failing grades, depression, isolation and more. We must act now to protect our children.
Every resident of this city has been carrying heavy burdens for nearly a year as we have united to take on our common enemy — the COVID-19 virus. Despite this once in a lifetime series of challenges we have all experienced, we have been incredibly resilient as a city and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. An important part of our city’s recovery has to be safely reopening our schools.
We will require pre-k and cluster teachers and staff without an approved accommodation or pending ADA accommodation to report to classrooms on Monday, Feb 8. Pre-k and cluster teachers and staff who fail to report on Monday will be deemed absent without leave (AWOL) and access to CPS systems will be terminated at the close of business Monday.
Students in Pre-K and Cluster classrooms will be welcomed back on Tuesday, Feb 9.
We have the power to make sure this virus does not further disrupt the growth and progress of all our children. We hope a resolution is near, and we thank you for your patience and support.
Sincerely,
Lori E. Lightfoot
MayorJanice K. Jackson
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Families,
Despite a series of productive exchanges between CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union leadership earlier this week, we are disappointed that a deal has not been reached. There have been a series of steps backward today that moves us farther away from an agreement that benefits students and addresses the needs of our staff but we remain fully committed to reaching a resolution as quickly as possible.
Tomorrow is the last student attendance day of the semester, and to ensure that instruction is not disrupted we are continuing remote learning for all students tomorrow, Feb. 4. Friday, Feb. 5, is a scheduled non-attendance day for all CPS students, and our intention in the days ahead is to establish a new student return date.
We are committed to delivering on our promise for an in-person learning option for our families. From our comprehensive contact tracing and surveillance testing programs to the $100 million we have invested on air purifiers, upgraded ventilation systems, face coverings, cleaning supplies, and other safety measures, our schools are ready to welcome back students and staff.
We thank you for your patience and will continue providing you with updates.
-Chicago Public Schools
-
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Families,
Today, we reached another important milestone to reopen schools. CPS and CTU leadership agreed on another outstanding issue and made substantial progress on a framework to address the remaining issues. To ensure our respective teams have the necessary time to continue productive discussions, we must ask parents to continue keeping your children home as we work with CTU leadership to reopen schools. The district will continue with remote learning for all students through Wednesday, Feb. 3.
The district remains fully committed to reaching an agreement to reopen schools for students who chose to come back to school. We thank you for your patience and will continue providing updates as this situation unfolds.
-Chicago Public Schools
-
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Families,
Since June, our team has met with Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) leadership more than 70 times in an effort to reach an agreement that prevents disruption to student learning and provides families the option to safely return to classrooms. Yesterday, for the first time, we reached a set of agreements with CTU leadership on health and safety protocols, ventilation, contact tracing, and health committees. These were important steps forward, but since that time we have made no meaningful progress. We have been waiting for CTU since mid-day yesterday, and leadership has not shown enough urgency to reach a deal in time for students to return tomorrow. We remain committed to getting a deal done, but CTU leadership’s lack of urgency to find a resolution that meets the needs of our students and staff is deeply disappointing for all of us.
Tomorrow, Monday, Feb. 1, we expect CTU members who support pre-k through 8th grade and cluster classrooms to report to school, as scheduled. Due to our concern that CTU leadership will continue to direct teachers to remain home, we cannot ensure adequate staffing tomorrow and all students will receive remote instruction. It is now our goal to welcome students in pre-k through 8th grade and cluster classrooms back to school on Tuesday, Feb 2.
While in-person learning will not occur tomorrow, the district will ensure that families are able to continue picking up free grab-and-go meals. CPS Learning Hubs will remain open to support the hundreds of students they have been safely serving since the summer. A limited number of additional learning hub spaces are currently available. Families who are interested in signing up for a learning hub can submit an application form today.
Beginning tomorrow, teachers in pre-k through 8 and cluster classrooms who do not report to work in-person — and do not have a valid reason for their absence — will be considered absent without leave. On Tuesday, teachers who are absent without leave will not be authorized to support remote learning until they report in-person as required. We know this action will disrupt remote learning for many of our students — a situation we have been working night-and-day to avoid. We need CTU leadership to commit to working toward agreement so our teachers can return to work and prevent further disruption to student learning.
High school staff who support non-cluster classrooms, and the nearly 5,000 employees who have been provided a leave, an accommodation, or have a pending ADA accommodation for telework are not expected to report to schools and may continue to offer instruction remotely.
Public health experts agree that schools can reopen safely with mitigations in place
The decision by union leadership to stand in the way of safe, in-person instruction runs counter to the best available public health guidance and the consensus of the medical community including Dr. Anthony Fauci. Last week, the CDC added to the growing body of research that shows schools can safely reopen right now with mitigations like the ones we have established in our schools.
From free COVID-19 testing for students and staff to requiring face coverings, social distancing, regular disinfection and deep cleaning, ensuring proper ventilation, providing HEPA filters for all classrooms, maintaining small classroom pods, and establishing clear criteria for postponing instruction at the classroom, school, and district levels, we have gone above and beyond the CDC’s recommendations to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 in our schools and keep our students and staff safe. On Friday, Dr. Arwady led a panel discussion with area medical experts, several of whom are also CPS parents, and the consensus was clear: schools can safely reopen with the mitigations that CPS and CDPH have established to protect students and staff.
Vaccinating CPS teachers and school-based staff
In addition to our multi-layered mitigation plan, we are working to ensure every school-based staff member is vaccinated as quickly as possible. We began this process by providing more than 2,500 CPS healthcare workers with the opportunity to be vaccinated — including nurses, school psychologists, and occupational and physical therapists —and we are working to vaccinate school-based staff as quickly as possible.
Right now, all school-based staff including educators are considered part of the CDPH’s 1B vaccination phase — which means they are eligible to be vaccinated through their health care providers. The district will be receiving its own share of vaccines, and we will open our own CPS vaccination centers in mid-February to supplement vaccinations that are available through health care providers. While we are vaccinating our employees as quickly as vaccine supplies allow, public health officials have been clear that we should not keep schools closed until all staff are vaccinated. As public health officials have said all along, vaccines are not the only strategy against COVID-19, nor are they a switch that will return schools back to normal. Dr. Fauci and the nation’s leading health experts continue to advocate for a safe reopening, and do not support delaying reopening until all teachers are vaccinated.
CPS has spent over $100 million to address health and safety of our school communities
We have invested over $100 million to ensure our plan meets and exceeds the latest public health standards because we know many of our students cannot afford to wait months to get back in the classroom. While private and parochial students have been learning safely in schools that do not have many of the resources we have invested in, our most vulnerable students have fallen behind. We know in-person instruction isn’t right for everyone, but for students who simply cannot be well served by remote learning, we must give them the option to return and learn with their friends and teachers.
We will provide updates as soon as we have additional information
Our team is continuing to negotiate with union representatives, and we are willing to work around the clock to reach an agreement that allows for students to safely return on Tuesday.
We thank you for your patience during this challenging time.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Families,
Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) leadership continues to direct their members to remain home. Therefore, we must ask parents to continue keeping your children home as we are unable to guarantee adequate staffing levels to cover in-person learning. The district will continue with remote learning tomorrow, 1/29.
We are in agreement with the growing number of public health experts who are encouraging schools to reopen now — including Dr. Fauci just today. We will continue to work tirelessly to reach an agreement and will provide additional updates. Thank you for your patience.
-Chicago Public Schools
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Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Families,
Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) leadership continues to direct their members who support pre-k and cluster programs to remain at home. Therefore, we must ask parents to continue keeping your children home as we are unable to guarantee adequate staffing levels to cover in-person learning. The district will continue with remote learning tomorrow, 1/28.
The district worked with its partners at the Chicago Department of Public Health to develop a comprehensive health and safety plan built on the best available public health guidance, and yesterday we provided CTU leadership with an updated proposal that addresses many of their remaining concerns. Our most recent offer should be the foundation for an agreement, and we are doing everything in our power to reach a deal that satisfies the union’s priorities and allows you to choose the instructional model that meets the needs of your children.
We regret any distress this situation has caused, especially for children who have been learning happily and safely in their classrooms for the past few weeks. CPS remains fully committed to reaching an agreement that will allow our students in pre-k and cluster programs, as well as all of our elementary school students who chose to come back to school, the opportunity to return to classrooms on Monday, February 1.
We thank you for your patience and will continue providing you with updates as this situation unfolds.
-Chicago Public Schools
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Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Families,
Yesterday evening, Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) leadership notified its members that beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 27, it will direct pre-k and cluster classroom teachers who have been safely teaching in-person since the beginning of the month to stay home. As a result, the district has no choice but to ask parents to keep your children home tomorrow. For the past three weeks, thousands of CPS students have been safely learning in person, and the union’s action will prevent these students from receiving the classroom support their parents needed and chose.
While we are greatly concerned for our youngest and highest-need students, who are suddenly without a safe, in-person learning option, we are continuing to make all possible efforts to reach an agreement that addresses the union’s priorities and provides families a much-needed resolution.To help make that a reality, CPS today provided union leadership with an updated comprehensive proposal, which addresses most of the union’s remaining concerns and builds on the progress that has been made over several weeks of discussion. These improvements, listed below, will help ensure we have the safest possible learning environments, and we believe can serve as the foundation for a deal.
- Expanded Surveillance Testing for Students and Staff: To build on the surveillance testing program that CPS launched earlier this month when pre-k and cluster teachers returned to schools, the district has agreed to double the testing frequency for all school-based staff and will offer surveillance testing for students. Under the district’s new proposal, school-based staff will be offered tests twice a month, and students who attend school in 10 zip codes with the highest COVID-19 positivity rates will be offered free covid tests each month.
- Vaccination Prioritization for Hardest-Hit Communities: Last week, the district launched its vaccination framework, which will be used when the district begins receiving COVID-19 vaccine doses in the coming weeks. Under the district’s new proposal, CPS will prioritize vaccinations for in-person school staff who work at schools located in areas with the highest COVID-19 positivity rates.
- Expanded Accommodations for Remote Work: In addition to guaranteeing accommodations for all teachers and support staff who either have conditions that pose an elevated risk for COVID-19 or who are the primary caregivers for family members who have an increased risk of severe illness, the district is working to provide as many additional accommodations as possible. To help accomplish this, the district’s new offer outlines a series of strategies schools can use to increase accommodation levels while meeting necessary staffing to ensure all students who return can receive a quality education in a safe environment.
- Metrics to Pause Instruction as Needed: While the district has been using consistent criteria to determine when a classroom pod needs to be quarantined, the district’s new proposal sets clear guidance for both the quarantine of individual pods, and the suspension of in-person instruction at both the school and district levels. To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 among school communities, a school will revert to online learning for 14 days if public health officials establish that transmission occurred across three separate pods and contact tracing cannot attribute it to an isolated incident. At the district level, in-person learning may be suspended if the positivity rate of district surveillance tests reaches three percent. In that event, a joint CPS/CTU surveillance committee will make a recommendation to the CEO and Union President to determine if all students should revert to remote learning for a period of time.
- Health and Safety Committees: The district and CTU have aligned on the key terms of an agreement to ensure union members and other school staff have a role to play in promoting safe learning environments. The district will establish district- and school-level health and safety committees charged with ensuring safety and mitigation measures are implemented appropriately and consistently.
We are fully committed to reaching an agreement as quickly as possible, but the truth is that we have been aligned with CTU on core elements of our plan for a while now, and we have met more than 60 times to thoroughly discuss these issues. In fact, the key elements of our plan that most significantly ensure health and safety for everyone have been set for weeks. Key areas include:
- Health and Safety Protocols: The health and safety of everyone in our schools is priority number one, and we have worked with the Chicago Department of Public Health to ensure our plan meets and exceeds the recommendations for safely operating during the pandemic. Key mitigations include health screenings,temperature checks, access to hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes, face coverings, PPE, regular cleaning and disinfection protocols, and social distancing.
- Ventilation: In addition to the Centers for Disease Control’s primary recommendations for preventing the spread of COVID-19, the district has undertaken an extensive effort to ensure all classrooms used this year are properly ventilated. Independent, state-certified environmental specialists have tested every school’s indoor air quality, and ventilation checks have been done by engineers in all classrooms. To provide an additional layer of protection, the district has purchased 27,000 HEPA air purifiers for all classrooms and office spaces. Families can view the results of their school’s air quality assessments at cps.edu/airquality.
- Contact Tracing: To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the district has established a 10-person contact tracing team to investigate all known cases of COVID in district schools. Working in close coordination with the Chicago Department of Public Health, the district’s contact tracing team notifies all close contacts and ensures that proper notifications are sent to each school community in a timely manner.
Our discussions with CTU continue to address important topics, including the understandable hesitation and anxiety of teachers and staff. Union leadership has unfortunately continued to make demands that simply don’t align with local, state, or federal public health guidance. CTU leadership is now demanding that in order for CPS to return to in-person learning, their members must be vaccinated ahead of other city residents, including the elderly, first responders, grocery store employees, and other school staff members who have been in schools regularly since the pandemic began. We have successfully advocated for our teachers to be prioritized, but the limited vaccine supply from the federal government is impacting our ability to rapidly vaccinate staff, and city leaders cannot cast aside an equitable vaccination plan and deprioritize the needs of other deserving community members who are at greater risk and performed essential work throughout the closure.
Our top priority remains providing all students the safe instruction that is right for them at this time — whether they want to learn in person or at home — and our engagement with the union remains ongoing in an effort to reach an agreement. But as it stands, union leadership has directed pre-k and cluster staff not to report to duty on Wednesday. Without assurance that there is adequate teaching staff for in-person learning, we must prioritize student safety and ask that parents keep their children home for remote learning tomorrow. We remain committed to reaching an agreement that protects the February 1st return to in-person learning for K-8 students, and we will be in touch with further updates as this situation develops.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations: [ SPANISH ]
Dear Families,
CPS and CTU officials have been meeting over the weekend with the goal of reaching an agreement that provides for a smooth expansion of in-person learning. We now agree on far more than we disagree, but our discussions remain ongoing, and additional time is needed to reach a resolution. To ensure we have the time needed to resolve our discussions without risking disruption to student learning, we have agreed to a request from CTU leadership to push back the return of K-8 teachers and staff to Wednesday, Jan. 27.
Pre-k and cluster classroom staff will continue to report to work tomorrow to ensure safe, in-person instruction can continue for the students who returned to classrooms earlier this month. And remote instruction will continue without interruption for students who have been learning from home.
The scheduled return date for students in grades K-8 remains Monday, Feb. 1, and it is our goal to reach an agreement with CTU as soon as possible to ensure tens of thousands of additional students have the opportunity to safely return to our classrooms. Students in over 130 private and parochial schools and over 2,000 early learning centers across the city have been safely learning in their classrooms since the fall, and we must provide that same option to our families who, through no fault of their own, have been unable to make remote learning work for their children. We’ve seen grades, attendance, and enrollment drop significantly for many of our students in recent months, and the impact has been felt most by our Black and Latinx students.
We are pursuing this return because local, state and federal health officials have made it clear that schools can operate safely with proper mitigations. Working closely with our partners at the Chicago Department of Public Health, we have developed a comprehensive health and safety plan that meets and exceeds the recommended mitigations, and we have spared no expense — investing over $100 million — to make this plan a reality. In addition to providing accommodations for all staff who have high-risk medical conditions, we are working hard to find ways to accommodate teachers with vulnerable family members at home in a way that does not jeopardize student learning.
COVID-19 has impacted all of us in profound ways, but its greatest impact has been on those in our community who were already in greatest need of assistance. We know that in-person instruction is not right for everyone and that some staff members have concerns about returning, but it is our job to create options for our families while providing staff the resources they need for a safe return.
Our discussions with CTU will continue throughout the day and into the early part of the week, if needed. We will keep you updated as discussions progress, and we thank you for your continued patience as we work to reach a resolution that is in the best interest of our entire school community.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
TRANSLATIONS: [ SPANISH | POLISH | CHINESE | URDU | ARABIC ]
Dear CPS Families,
For months, we have been preparing for the day when we could safely reopen our schools. That day finally arrived this week, and it was a joy to see thousands of students who had been away from their classrooms for 10 months eagerly walk through our doors. Our students, teachers, and staff followed health and safety protocols and as a district, we were able to successfully welcome back our students in pre-k and cluster programs.
We also learned a lot in this first week about how we can better support our returning families and staff. This includes making the health screener more easily accessible, and helping students and staff acclimate to the new normal. It’s true that with face coverings, temperature checks, and social distancing, school looks very different right now. But watching our students return, it was clear all they saw was each other and the teachers and staff who were ready to welcome them back.
We are grateful to the teachers and school-based staff who have returned to their classrooms, and we are continuing to meet regularly with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). While we have not yet reached a final agreement, the enclosed chart shows that we agree on all major health and safety protocols, as well as a number of other key issues. Our disagreements are largely due to CTU’s insistence that we stray from public health guidance. We remain committed to working with the CTU toward a smooth and cooperative reopening our students and families deserve.
Our top priority remains providing all students with a high-quality education wherever they are learning, and keeping all those who have returned to school buildings healthy and safe. We are also committed to communicating clearly and transparently about any cases of COVID-19 in our schools. While being careful to protect the privacy of our students and staff, CPS has created a COVID-19 tracker with updated information on COVID-19 cases throughout the district.
We thank you for your partnership as we continue gradually and safely reopening our schools. We will continue to follow the guidance of our public health experts and look forward to welcoming thousands more students back to school in the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations: [ SPANISH | POLISH | CHINESE | URDU | ARABIC ]
Dear CPS Families,
Whether they are sitting in a classroom or at the kitchen table, all of our children have the absolute right to a rigorous, high-quality education. This is why CPS has created a school reopening plan that gives every family the flexibility to decide what is right for them. But regardless of where the learning is happening, we remain committed to supporting every student’s unique needs and we are excited to welcome back many of our students enrolled in pre-k and cluster programs on Monday.
For families whose children are returning to school buildings—our top priority will always be keeping your students safe. We would not be reopening school buildings unless our public health officials believed it was safe to do so. We have been working with the Chicago Department of Public Health every step of the way, and we will continue following their guidance and recommendations as we work to maintain healthy learning environments for our returning students and staff. Our schools are staffed and ready for the return of students on Monday, and we look forward to seeing our children reunited with their teachers and friends.
For families who have chosen to continue learning at home—your children will continue to receive high-quality instruction and stay connected with their teachers and classmates. We look forward to welcoming your children back to school when you feel that is the right decision for your family. Until then, if you have needs around technology or internet connectivity, please feel free to call our Parent Tech Support Hotline at 773-417-1060.
We firmly believe that the best place for students is in the classroom, and have agonized over the struggle so many of our children have experienced during these months of remote learning. With the guidance of our public health officials, we are confident we can reopen schools in a safe and responsible manner for all students beginning with our most vulnerable. We look forward to welcoming tens of thousands of our students back to school in the coming weeks. Thank you for your continued patience and support through these unprecedented times.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsStudent Attendance Expectations for Remote and Hybrid Learners
To accommodate each family’s preferred learning preference, your child’s school created a unique school schedule and implemented specific health protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 for in-person learners. For these reasons, it is critical that families adhere to their preferred learning model.
- Families who chose to return to in-person learning are expected to send their child to school on all scheduled in-person days. If a child does not pass the daily health screener, they are expected to stay home and participate in remote learning if it is available and the child is well enough to do so.
- If a child arrives at school when they are not scheduled to learn in person—either because they chose to continue learning remotely full time or because they chose hybrid learning and arrived at school on a day they are scheduled for remote learning—the child will be expected to return home and participate in remote learning that day. The child will not be added to an existing pod of in-person learners. Each pod has been carefully formed to allow for health screening, social distancing, and contact tracing, and changes to a pod could compromise the health and safety of those students and staff. Students who arrive at school without a parent will be supervised in an area away from other students until they can be picked up.
- As has always been the case, families who selected in-person learning may switch to remote learning at any time. Please notify your school if you would like to switch your child from in-person to remote learning. Families who selected remote learning and would like to switch to in-person learning will have the opportunity to do so for the fourth quarter.
In alignment with Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) guidance, teachers will take attendance at the beginning of each day, as they have been doing for the entire 2020-21 school year.
- Here are tips for building good attendance habits.
- Please note that the following circumstances do not automatically qualify as an excused absence.
- Mandatory isolation or quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19, and
- Failure to pass the daily health screener.
- As always, student illness will be considered an excused absence.
- If your child is learning remotely, their attendance will be taken at the start of real-time instruction.
If your child is unable to participate in remote or hybrid learning for any reason, please report the absence. During the pandemic, it is preferred that you call the school to report the absence. Please provide the following information:
- Name of absent student
- Date of absence
- Reason for absence
- Name of the caller
- Caller’s relationship to the student.
Parents can also report absences by sending a written note to the school. Parents can not report absences via email or text message.
Absences will be excused for the following reasons:
- Student illness
- Observance of a religious holiday
- Death in the immediate family
- Family emergency
- Circumstances that cause reasonable concern for a child’s safety or health
- Sounding taps at a military honors funeral held in Illinois for a deceased veteran
- A student’s parent or legal guardian is an active duty member of the uniformed services and has been called to duty for, is on leave from, or has immediately returned from deployment to a combat zone or combat-support postings
- Other situations beyond the control of the student (i.e., connectivity)
2020
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Translations - [ SPANISH | POLISH | CHINESE | URDU | ARABIC ]
Dear CPS Families,
As 2020 draws to a close, CPS is working tirelessly to ensure we are ready to safely reopen our schools in the new year. While COVID-19 remains a serious threat, leading public health officials and medical professionals are confident we can welcome teachers, staff, and students back to school buildings in a safe and responsible manner using proper health and safety protocols.
Our decision to return to in-person instruction is grounded in the latest public health guidance, and is centered on the needs of the 77,000 families who want to see their children back in school. It is also a clear issue of equity, which is at the heart of everything we do at CPS. Despite the heroic efforts of our teachers to make remote learning a success, it simply cannot replace what students experience in the classroom. This is especially true for our most vulnerable children, whose unique need for in-person learning has been brought to light during the pandemic.
In preparing to reopen schools, we have followed the guidance of the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), to ensure our buildings are fully ready to welcome staff back this Monday, January 4, followed by our first pods of students on Monday, January 11. When students return to school, they will see evidence of this preparation in the form of HEPA air purifiers installed in their classrooms; new signage to help encourage social distancing and good hygiene practices; access to a set of free face coverings; and enhanced cleaning protocols throughout their schools.
To help make sure families are prepared for this transition, we have compiled the below list of frequently asked questions and answers. Please contact your school directly for their reopening plans. If you have additional questions that are not addressed, please call the CPS Command Center at (773) 553-KIDS (5437) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., or email familyservices@cps.edu.
We thank you for your continued partnership and look forward to beginning this new year with thousands of our students back in the classroom.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsWhat is the district’s reopening timeline?
The transition to in-person learning opportunities will occur over the following timeline:
January 4-8
Early childhood teachers, special education teachers, SECAs, and other classroom assistants assigned to cluster classrooms, as well as some RSPs and clinicians who support students in these classrooms will come back on January 4.
Instruction for ECE and cluster programs will continue to be delivered fully remote from schools from January 4-8.
*Teachers and staff who are on approved leave or have received an accommodation to telework from home are exempted from reporting in person.
January 11
Students in pre-k and cluster programs who chose in-person learning will return to school.
January 25-29
All K-8 elementary school teachers and staff return to school.
Instruction will continue to be delivered fully remote to students in Grades K–8 between January 25-29.
*Teachers and staff who are on approved leave or received an accommodation to telework from home are exempted from reporting to school in person.
February 1
Students in Grades K–8 who chose in-person instruction return to school.
How will schools implement the district’s plan?
- While all schools will follow the same timeline for reopening, each community’s situation and needs are different. To help ensure reopening is responsive to local needs, every school has made their own reopening plans that follow the district’s safety guidelines. Individual school plans cover classroom assignments and scheduling details. You can view the district’s full reopening guidance here.
What is CPS doing to keep students and staff safe?
- The district has developed extensive contact tracing processes, as well as protocols for alerting the wider school community of a COVID-19 case when needed.
- Every classroom will have a HEPA air purifier that will remove 99.99% of airborne mold, bacteria, and viruses to reduce the risk of indoor transmission of viruses and bacteria.
- We hired independent state-certified environmental specialists to test schools for indoor air quality. Any classroom that is not properly ventilated will be fixed and will not be used until it meets ASHRAE’s standards. Please visit cps.edu/airquality to learn more.
- Staff will be encouraged to participate in the district’s comprehensive COVID-19 surveillance testing program.
- Students and staff who are symptomatic or have had close contact with someone who tested positive will not be allowed to enter the building and will be provided access to free COVID-19 tests through either established primary care providers or city partners.
- Anyone entering a school building for more than 10 minutes will be required to complete a health screener, pass a temperature check, and be required to wear a face covering, which the district will provide for every student and staff member.
- Signs have been installed throughout the building to help students socially distance, and desks and classroom furniture will be spaced further apart.
- Hand sanitizer stations are placed throughout the building to help everyone practice good hand hygiene.
- Classrooms have been cleaned from top to bottom and facilities staff members will implement an enhanced cleaning routine.
Will there be any changes to student transportation in 2021?
CPS bus routes will begin again on January 11, 2021, for students enrolled in pre-k and moderate and intensive cluster programs. To protect the health of our students and staff, all of our bus routes will follow safety protocols including mandatory temperature checks and assigned seating to ensure social distancing. For more details, please review our 2021 student transportation overview.
Are there any childcare options available for students who are not learning in person?
Child Learning Hubs are available from 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Learning hubs are hosted by either CPS or community-based organizations and allow a limited number of students to participate in online classes while being supervised by an adult in a safe environment. If you are interested in enrolling your child in a Child Learning Hub, please complete this survey.
What happens next?
Please update your contact information with your school to ensure you receive all district communications. For more information and resources, please visit cps.edu/reopening and review our Reopening Guide for Parents.
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Dear CPS Family,
As district leaders, we are in awe of the resilience, dedication, and passion our community has shown during this challenging year. Each and every one of us — students, parents, teachers, principals, and support staff — have gone above and beyond to ensure that our schools continue to build up future generations of leaders in our communities. 2020 is nearly behind us, and we hope you can take these next two weeks to unwind and reflect on all that we have accomplished over the past year.
We wish you and your family a safe and restful winter break.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsReopening
Much like this past year, our plans for 2021 will be rooted in equity and a desire to meet every student and family where they are. This starts with gradually welcoming back the more than 77,000 CPS students whose families have asked to return to classrooms. From HEPA air purifiers to building repairs to hand sanitizers and face coverings, the district has made over $70 million in safety-focused investments to prepare our schools to safely reopen. And thanks to the hard work of our principals and teachers, we will be ready to welcome our students back in the classroom where we know they learn best. This video outlines the steps our schools are taking to safely reopen schools for students and staff.
Grab and Go Meal Site Winter Break Hours
During winter break, limited meal sites will be open between 9–11 a.m. from December 21–23 and 28–30. Meal packages picked up during winter break will include four meals. Meal sites will be closed December 24-25, 31 and January 1.
For updated meal sites, please visit cps.edu/mealsites.
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Dear CPS Community,
Our district’s high school students have been behind many of the accomplishments that have defined our historic academic progress over the past decade—from our record-setting graduation rate to scholarship dollars that have more than quadrupled since 2012. They deserve an immense amount of praise for these achievements, and they also deserve a comprehensive plan that will sustain this progress for years to come.
Today, CPS is launching its High School Strategy, an equity-focused plan to support high school students that reflects the core values outlined in the district’s Five-Year Vision. It identifies four key areas of growth that the district will invest $5 million into over the next four years:
- Strengthening Instruction
- Leading Ongoing Development
- Enhancing School Organization
- Building Postsecondary Pathways
Please join us and a diverse group of principals, educators, and students tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. for a virtual roundtable to discuss how these priorities will positively impact the experiences of our high school students moving forward. You can watch this event by visiting the district’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/chipubschools. Below are some of the key investments you can expect us to cover.
Expanding Access to Rigorous, College-Level Classes
To help more high school students get a head start on achieving postsecondary success, the district will focus on expanding Advanced Placement (AP) opportunities at neighborhood high schools across the city. Increasing equitable access to AP courses for Black and Latinx students will start by expanding the district’s AP Capstone Program—a two-year diploma program that guides students to complete an original, college-level research paper—from 12 schools to 30 schools by the 2023-24 school year.
CPS is also committed to promoting equity by helping more students access advanced math while in elementary school so that they can make the most of their high school years. Through the district’s new Early High School Math Initiative, the district is working to ensure all qualified students can access algebra in elementary school and complete calculus in high school. This initiative to promote equitable access to advanced math instruction will ensure every single CPS elementary school can offer at least one algebra course by 2023-24 and that students who don’t currently attend elementary schools with algebra can complete virtual classes led by a certified CPS teacher. These virtual classes, which currently support more than 500 students from 80 elementary schools, were developed as a response to COVID-19 and will continue until all schools can support their own algebra classes.
Increasing Access to Selective Enrollment High Schools for Diverse Learners
Starting with the 2021-22 school year, the district will require selective enrollment high schools (SEHS) to offer a proportional number of their incoming freshman seats to diverse learners, who currently make up over 14 percent of the district’s current student population. This new requirement will more than double the number of seats available to students with IEPs and help create more diverse and inclusive schools for all students.
The district has established a student support task force to ensure diverse learners will have the supports they need to succeed and help schools create a welcoming environment for each incoming member of the Class of 2025.
Continuing Partnership with City Colleges of Chicago
Earlier this year, CPS collaborated with City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) to launch the Chicago Roadmap, a strategic plan intended to double the rate at which CPS graduates who matriculate to City Colleges earn a college degree. The district’s High School Strategy will directly support this effort by designing a College and Career Competency Curriculum for all high school students that will help them identify their career interests and develop a detailed postsecondary plan in alignment with the district’s Learn.Plan.Succeed. initiative.
The district will also work directly with CCC over the next four years to build on its dual credit opportunities for students with pathways in health sciences, advanced manufacturing engineering, and information technology. This expansion will help at least 100 high schools enroll more than 6,000 students total in dual credit courses by 2023-24 .
These ambitious goals reflect our collective commitment to ensure that high school is a meaningful launchpad that propels our students toward postsecondary success and the career of their dreams. We are confident that our high school students will continue to be at the forefront of our district’s progress for many years to come.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Dear CPS Families,
As we prepare to safely reopen schools, we want to ensure we address the questions and concerns we are hearing from families. To help make this information easy to find, we created a Facts About Reopening document to answer common concerns and misconceptions. We encourage you to take a look at the full document here:
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Dear CPS Families,
The pandemic has impacted every aspect of our school year, including the important process our students go through when choosing the school options that will best match their talents, interests, and abilities. So to ensure everyone has the time they need to make this important decision, we are extending the GoCPS application deadline from Friday, December 11, 2020 to Friday, January 8, 2021.
We hope that this added time will give students and families the opportunity they need to carefully consider the many school options that are available throughout the district. As a result of this extension, offers for the 2021-22 school year will come out slightly later than in years past, and we will provide an update with the exact date. In the meantime, we urge our students to look at all of their options, from their neighborhood schools to offerings in STEM, IB, world language, and selective-enrollment, among others, to determine which environment will best meet their needs.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools
Expanding Child Learning HubsAs students continue learning at home through the end of 2020, we want to support more CPS families by expanding our Child Learning Hubs. These sites are open from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and give elementary and middle school students a safe, supportive place to engage in online learning. Space is currently available in some of our Child Learning Hubs, so if you need supervision for your student during the work day, we encourage you to complete this survey.
Will Your Child Be Returning to In-Person Learning? Please Let Us Know by December 7
Data continues to show schools are not COVID-19 superspreaders and can safely reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic. To be fully prepared for the reopening of school buildings in 2021, we need to know exactly who is planning to return to in-person learning. If you have a child in Pre-K, elementary grades, and/or cluster programs, you should have received an intent-to-return form with a deadline of Monday, December 7.
If you have not done so already, please complete this form by this Monday, December 7, so we know if we should expect to see your child back in the classroom in early 2021. If you did not receive the form or have questions, please contact your school directly.Expanding Internet Access to More CPS Families
Since its launch in June 2020, Chicago Connected has provided more than 50,000 CPS students with access to free, high-speed internet in their homes. Now, in order to support more CPS families during online learning, we have expanded the program’s eligibility criteria to include all low-income students who do not have wired internet. Expanding internet access during and beyond the pandemic is an important step toward bridging the digital divide, which aligns perfectly with our commitment to improving equity across the district. Families can check their eligibility for Chicago Connected by visiting www.cps.edu/getconnected.
Historic Surprise for CPS High School Students
Just prior to Thanksgiving, former President Barack Obama gave CPS seniors the surprise of a lifetime by popping into their live Zoom meeting. He was there to congratulate students for the way they have persevered throughout the pandemic and encouraged them to continue focusing on what’s most important—graduating high school. President Obama also gave all CPS high school students free online access to his new memoir, “A Promised Land” with a book discussion to follow in January 2021. Check out the video here. We are profoundly grateful to President Obama for taking the time to speak with our students and for giving them the chance to engage with the journey and insights he explores in his book.
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In mid-March, when the pandemic was accelerating, alongside other school districts across the country, we made the necessary decision to pivot to online learning when we had little insight into the impact on children and the role they play in carrying the virus.
Today, however, that is no longer the case. While COVID-19 remains an incredibly serious threat to our community, the public health data in Chicago and across the nation show that schools are rarely a source of COVID-19 transmission. With this new understanding of COVID-19, we must challenge the assumption that school buildings must stay closed indefinitely, and do everything we can to bring students back to school beginning with our youngest learners and students with special needs.
Getting students into schools at an early age is arguably the most consequential intervention in our toolbox to boost a student’s long-term academic success, career prospects, and lifetime earnings. This year, however, enrollment in pre-k plummeted 44 percent among Black students and 29 percent among Latinx students. As a matter of equity, this is simply unacceptable.
And pre-k students are far from the only ones who need our help. Due to the immense burden placed on parents to support home-based learning, we have also seen attendance plummet amongst our students with significant needs who would normally receive intensive therapeutic support at school. In a recent survey, more than five thousand families told us they wanted to come back to school because online learning was simply not working for their child.
In close collaboration with the Chicago Department of Public Health, we have decided to welcome a small group of students enrolled in pre-k and cluster programs back to school beginning December 7, and to afford ample time to prepare classrooms, we will welcome their teachers back to school on November 30.
Our goal is to bring additional grades back in early 2021, and we will be reengaging parents and providing more details later this year.
In the coming weeks, families who chose to return to school and a small number of educators who support pre-k and cluster programs should expect to hear from their school principals with next steps. Families will have the option to continue learning at home.
School buildings will look different
Schools will look and feel very different when this small group of teachers and students return. The average school community will welcome back less than 15 students or approximately one classroom.
To support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s five key strategies for mitigating COVID-19 transmission, schools will take the following safety measures:
- Anyone entering a school building will have their temperature checked and be required to wear a face covering, which the district will provide for every student and staff member.
- Signs have been installed throughout the building to help students socially distance.
- Hand sanitizer stations are placed throughout the building to help everyone practice good hand hygiene.
- Classrooms have been cleaned from top to bottom and facilities staff members will implement an enhanced cleaning routine.
- Everyone will be required to complete a health screener before coming to school to support CDPH’s contact tracing and ensure they are symptom-free. Students and staff who are symptomatic or have had close contact with someone who tested positive will be provided access to free COVID-19 tests.
To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, desks and classroom furniture will be spaced further apart, and out of an abundance of caution, every classroom will have a HEPA air purifier that will remove 99.99% of airborne mold, bacteria, and viruses. By placing a HEPA air purifier directly in the classroom near students and staff, we can better capture particles, clean the air, and reduce the risk of indoor transmission of viruses and bacteria.
We also hired independent state-certified environmental specialists to test schools for indoor air quality, and classrooms have been checked to ensure they are properly ventilated and meet ASHRAE’s standards. Families can check the status of their child’s classroom by visiting cps.edu/airquality.
Public health data supports reopening schools for high-priority students
For many months, CDPH has investigated all cases of COVID-19 involving minors, with a particular focus on child care centers, athletic settings, summer camps, and perhaps most importantly, private and parochial schools that have been open for in-person learning.
The data shows that when the proper precautions are taken, transmission in these settings is rare. Students in parochial and private schools have had half the rate of COVID-19 transmission compared to overall figures for youth in Chicago. To give you a sense of scope, the Archdiocese of Chicago has more than 20,000 students and staff in school, and since the beginning of the year, they have reported just one case of COVID-19 that was associated with a school.
The national data and the experience of other cities tells a similar story. Study after study shows that where schools have strong mitigation practices in place — like the ones CPS and CDPH developed together — the risk of COVID-19 spread is low, and often lower than the community at large. While COVID-19 remains a serious risk to public health, we have not seen evidence of transmission among students or staff.
This is an important data point because it tells us that schools can mitigate risk even as COVID-19 remains an active presence in our communities. And while it is no surprise that a lack of in-school instruction presents problems, the data shows us that the impact — especially on our youngest learners and those who have the most significant learning needs — is profound.
Reopening schools safely and responsibly for a small number of students
This pandemic has brought long-standing inequities into the light and its impact on all of our children will linger for years. We must talk honestly about how we can reopen schools safely while we wait for a vaccine that is still far off on the horizon.
The data has shown us that if we do not act with urgency, we risk the education of a generation of students. Just as access to health care is both essential and a human right, so too is access to a high-quality education.
None of this would matter if we were not confident in our ability to safely reopen school buildings through a combination of symptom screening, a universal mask mandate, social distancing and cohorting, hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, proper air ventilation and purification, and other measures that we have put in place. Combined with the work that is already happening around case investigation, contact tracing, testing, and quarantine when cases are detected, we believe we are able to minimize risk to the greatest extent possible.
We were right to proceed with great caution when our understanding of the virus was limited, but now that we have more data on the safety of schools, we must do everything we can to safely bring back our students.
The toll of a school year spent exclusively in front of a computer screen will be severe and hurt our highest-need communities most deeply for decades to come. The stakes could not be higher for all of us. We understand this is a personal decision for families and we will continue to provide a high-quality education for every student learning online and in-person.
For more information on our plan to reopen schools, please visit cps.edu/reopening2020.
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Dear CPS Community,
Now more than ever, we know how important it is to provide students with opportunities that allow them to build skills and work toward positive goals, which is why we have committed to supporting state-authorized high school sports this school year.
As we approach the beginning of the winter sports season, Governor J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) have released updated guidance on low-risk winter sports that can proceed this year. Under the revised guidance from state leaders, the following CPS high school sports are currently scheduled to move forward in the winter:
- Competitive Cheerleading
- Competitive Dance
- Girls and Boys Bowling
- Boys Swimming and Diving
The district is in full support of this guidance and will support schools that wish to participate under all necessary health and safety guidelines. Teams will play shortened regular season schedules and state series will be determined on a case-by-case basis. A full listing of the changes to the schedule and detailed winter sports protocols will be released by the district in the near future.
Due to concerns about the transmission of COVID-19, Governor Pritzker and IDPH announced that the following high-risk winter sports will be postponed or moved to spring or summer 2021:
- Girls and Boys High School Basketball is postponed until further notice
- Girls and Boys Elementary School Basketball is postponed until further notice
- Wrestling (Tentative start date: April 19-June 26, 2021)
While the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) has not removed high school basketball from its winter sports calendar, Governor Pritzker and IDPH have determined that basketball presents a greater risk of COVID-19 transmission and is not safe to play this winter.
Our district has a rich basketball tradition, and we know that this is not the outcome so many of our students, parents and coaches wanted to see, but Gov. Pritzker, IDPH, and the Illinois State Board of Education have made it clear that basketball should not be played this winter as it presents a significant risk to participants and members of the school community. We are following their guidance and committed to supporting all sports that can proceed safely this winter.
As we’ve shared previously, it will take all of us working together to make this school year a success. Please continue to be well and stay safe.
Sincerely,
LaTanya D. McDade David Rosengard Chief Education Officer Executive Director of Sports Administration Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH | CHINESE | POLISH | URDU | ARABIC ]
Dear CPS Families,
As we approach the end of the first quarter of our school year, we are reminded of the immense work and dedication of our teachers, staff, and families who have rallied together to ensure that our students can continue to receive a high-quality education, and yet, there are immense challenges that remain for our highest-need students. Study after study has shown us that online learning is not working for many of our students.
While COVID-19 remains an incredibly serious threat, data from schools in Chicago and across the nation show that schools are rarely a source of spread. With this new understanding of COVID-19, we must challenge the assumption that school buildings must stay closed indefinitely, and do everything we can to bring students back to school beginning with our youngest learners and students with special needs.
Earlier this week, we sent an intent form to families with children enrolled in pre-k or mild and intensive cluster programs to better understand their desire to return to in-person instruction. This form was sent to the primary contact listed in Aspen, our student information system. If you did not receive an intent form, please contact your school. In addition to updating your contact information, they can help you register your intent to return to in-person learning or continue learning from home.
Our top priority remains the health and safety of our students and their families, and we will not reopen schools if our public health officials do not believe we can do so in a safe and responsible manner. We will continue to assess the public health situation and work closely with our public health officials to ensure the latest public health guidance is being followed.
We ask all families with a child in pre-k or a cluster program to please complete the form by October 28.
- ALL families will be able to choose in-person learning if it proceeds in the third quarter — regardless of the choice made in the second quarter.
- If you have already completed the form, you can change your decision up until October 28.
- If you choose to continue learning at home, or do not complete the form by the deadline, your child will continue to participate in virtual instruction throughout the second quarter.
- Please note that due to routine technology maintenance, the intent form will not be available from 6 p.m. Saturday, October 24 to 4 a.m. Sunday, October 25.
- If you have any questions, please consult our FAQ page or visit cps.edu/reopening2020 for additional information.
Later this fall, we will engage the broader CPS community about potentially expanding in-person learning for additional grades. As always, thank you for your continued support. For more information on our plan to keep students safe, visit cps.edu/reopening2020.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsGoogle Breakout Rooms
Your child’s teacher may be using a new feature in Google Meet to enhance your child’s experience with online learning. During real-time instruction, teachers can now create breakout rooms to divide students into small groups. Breakout rooms replicate in-person learning by providing opportunities for small group instruction and student collaboration and discussion around a specific topic. To ensure this tool is used safely and appropriately, we have provided teachers with detailed guidelines and recommendations on using breakout rooms in Google Meet.Please be aware that breakout rooms don’t work on mobile devices, and we are asking teachers to poll their classrooms before initiating breakouts to ensure students can access this feature. If you have questions regarding how your child will use breakout rooms in Google Meet, please contact your child’s teacher.
LSC Elections
Make your voice heard in your school community! For the first time ever, CPS parents, guardians, and staff have the option to vote for the LSC representatives by mail. We will be sending families and staff members a mail-in ballot with a prepaid return envelope later this month. Mail-in ballots will need to be received at the school by the end of the LSC election day. Parents, guardians, and staff can also visit their respective school to drop off their mail-in ballot at their school or vote in-person .
For in-person voting, the district is implementing stringent health and safety measures, including enforcing social distancing, requiring face coverings, and ensuring a health screener and temperature check is completed prior to entering school buildings. The district will also offer curbside voting for individuals with disabilities and virtual voting for students.Election schedule:
In-person voting for parents, guardians, staff members, and community members:- Elementary schools: November 18 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
- High schools: November 19 between 7 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Mail-in voting for parents, legal guardians and staff members:
- Mail-in ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on the date of election (November 18 for elementary school elections, November 19 for high schools)
Virtual voting for students:
- Students will receive electronic ballots from principals on November 16 to vote on November 17.
Learn more about our LSC elections on our blog.
Principal Appreciation Month
Join us in wishing our principals a Happy Principal Appreciation Day! We will continue to elevate the incredible work of our principals throughout this Principal Appreciation Month. View a video message from Dr. Jackson, read about outstanding principals such as Dr. Jo Easterling-Hood of McDowell Elementary and Dr. Jacqueline Medina of Talman Elementary, and join us in sharing appreciation for our principals on social media by using #PrincipalPrideChi and tag @chipubschools on Twitter and Instagram or @chicagopublicschools on Facebook.October Board of Education Meeting
The October Board of Education meeting will be held Wednesday, October 28 at 10:30 a.m. As always, tune in to our YouTube channel to watch the live broadcast and hear updates from district leaders, Board members, and community members. - ALL families will be able to choose in-person learning if it proceeds in the third quarter — regardless of the choice made in the second quarter.
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Translations - [ URDU | SPANISH | POLISH | ARABIC | CHINESE ]
October 16, 2020
Dear CPS Families,
Our top priority has always been to provide students with a world-class education while keeping our CPS communities healthy and safe. Thanks to the hard work of our educators and school leaders, our students’ online learning experience has improved dramatically since the spring. However, it cannot replace a traditional classroom, especially for our youngest learners and students enrolled in moderate and intensive cluster programs who cannot be served well enough in any remote learning format. As a matter of equity, it is critically important that we push ourselves and look for opportunities to offer in-person learning to ensure our students can continue to learn and thrive.
Ensuring equity and protecting our most vulnerable students
While our students’ overall attendance and engagement levels has been strong this school year considering the challenges our students have had to overcome, the declining enrollment and attendance data that we have seen among our students in pre-k and cluster programs is unacceptable. Consistent with trends that we have seen across the country, pre-k students, students in cluster programs, and Black and Latinx students are engaging at significantly lower rates than in previous years. It is evident that online learning is not working for many of our students, and we must explore every possible opportunity to safely bring students back to school.
The availability of safe, in-person instruction for our most vulnerable students is an issue of equity, and that means that we — educators, families, and students — must address this issue head-on and provide our highest-need students with a safe and supportive learning environment. While we will begin the second quarter learning at home, our goal is to reopen school buildings for pre-k and students enrolled in moderate and intensive cluster programs later in the second quarter.
Welcoming students back to school buildings in a safe and responsible manner
Beginning with our youngest learners who would benefit most from in-person learning, our phased reopening would welcome students in pre-k and most students in cluster programs for five days a week of in-person learning. Some specialty schools may follow a hybrid model in order to allow for social distancing.
Since the spring, the district has taken the extensive measures outlined below to ensure the health and safety of our students. Should schools reopen, students and staff will notice a variety of new safety measures including health screeners, temperature checks, strict adherence to social distancing, and a requirement to wear face coverings at all times. According to our public health officials, the limited class size of our pre-k program (15 students) allows for proper social distancing, and in-person instruction can be provided safely. Many daycares and preschools have been open since the spring with very few cases of COVID-19 transmission, and national data has shown that schools do not seem to be a significant source of transmission.
Parents of students who are enrolled in cluster programs have also told us that online learning is particularly difficult for their children, and reopening cluster programs in schools will allow us to provide critical in-person therapeutic services for our students.
Families with children in pre-k or enrolled in moderate and intensive cluster programs
Beginning next week, the district will send an intent form to all families with children in pre-k or cluster programming seeking to understand their desire to return to in-person learning. To ensure that schools are staffed and have adequate time to plan for reopening, it’s important that we know how many families are comfortable sending children back to school. Families will have until October 28 to complete the intent form. Families who choose to continue learning at home will not be able to enroll in in-person learning until the third quarter. Please ensure your school has the most up-to-date contact information for your family to ensure you receive the form.
Listening to families and additional opportunities to engage this fall
As we have committed from the beginning, we would only consider reopening schools if our public health officials believed it was safe to do so. However, we recognize and support our families’ right to make a decision that best fits their needs. We have asked our school leaders to begin conversations with their pre-k and cluster families to gain a better understanding of their needs. Later this fall, we will engage the community about potentially expanding in-person learning for additional grades in January 2021 after the district has fully operationalized the new policies and procedures that will be common in our schools.
The health and safety of our students and staff remains our top priority, and we will continue to work closely with public health officials to ensure we are following the latest public health guidance.
We thank you for all that you have done to make learning at home a success. Please complete the intent form by October 28 if you have a child in pre-k or a cluster program. For additional information, please visit cps.edu/reopening2020.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD LaTanya D. McDade
Chief Executive Officer Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public SchoolsAdditional information on pre-k and cluster programming and health and safety protocols
Providing a safe and clean learning environment
The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) supports the phased reopening of schools given the relative stability of the public health situation at this time. Aligned with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDPH will support in-person instruction while the city’s COVID-19 test positivity rate remains below five percent.
While a level of risk exists for any public gathering, the district has developed a comprehensive plan that includes health and safety policies and procedures aligned to local, state, and federal guidance. Measures established in our Reopening Framework include:
- Face Coverings: Cloth face coverings will be provided to all staff and students and required at all times.
- Pods: Students and educators will be grouped into stable pods or small class sizes to minimize exposure to other students, allow for social distancing in classrooms, and support contact tracing.
- Daily Screenings: Temperature checks, hand washing, and daily health screenings are required before students enter the classroom.
- Testing: To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the district will ensure that any student or staff member who is symptomatic or a close contact of someone who tested positive has access to a free COVID-19 test.
- Contact Tracing: To help reduce the transmission of COVID-19, CPS has hired dedicated staff to support the intake of cases and provide proper notification. CPS will work in coordination with CDPH to ensure that those identified as close contacts have rapid contact tracing and are connected to city resources such as monitoring and testing.
- Additional Custodians: To ensure comprehensive cleaning protocols are completed every day, the district is hiring 400 additional custodians.
- Sanitizer and Soap: The district invested over $3.5 million to secure over 50,000 hand sanitizer dispensers in all high-traffic areas and soap dispensers to support regular hand washing and sanitizing.
- Disinfectant Wipes: The district allocated over $2 million to purchase 86,000 containers of EPA approved disinfectant wipes for classrooms, offices and other high-touch areas.
- Hospital-Grade Disinfectant Sprayers: Every CPS school has a hospital-grade mister spray unit that will evenly apply EPA-approved disinfectant for maximum disinfection.
- Community Notifications: CPS adopted consistent procedures and community notification protocols developed by CDPH to respond to any confirmed cases of COVID-19. To ensure public awareness, the district is tracking confirmed COVID cases at cps.edu/school-reopening-2020.
- Sneeze Guards and Signage: All schools installed sneeze guards and other physical barriers to protect staff when visitors arrive, and posted signage throughout school facilities to emphasize new policies and procedures.
In addition to these measures, the district has begun an audit of all schools to ensure every classroom is properly ventilated and inspected by an independent industrial hygienist. These assessments will be completed by early November, and we will make reports publicly available following completion of the review. Any classroom that does not have proper ventilation — meaning consistent fresh air intake and exhaust, aligned with national best practices to increase airflow in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 — will be addressed or closed until repairs are completed.
Pre-k and Cluster Programming
Under the district’s proposal, all pre-k students in full-day, half-day, and tuition-based pre-k programs would attend school five days a week. Families who are not ready to come back can choose to opt out by completing the intent form and their child would receive a combination of live and independent learning outlined in the chart below.
Pre-k in-person learning
(In-person class size is up to 15 students)
Full-day programs 7 hours per day, 5 days per week Half-day programs 2.5-3 hours per day, 5 days per week
*Please note, third shift programs will remain virtual
Tuition-based programs 10 hours per day, 5 days per week At-home learning
(For families who opt out of in-person learning)
Virtual learning 60 minutes of real-time instruction and 90 minutes of independent learning activities per day Most students in cluster programs would receive in-person instruction five days a week. However, due to social distancing requirements, some schools may follow a hybrid model to allow for social distancing and ensure a safe learning environment. All IEP requirements will be followed.
Staff supporting cluster programs will also be provided with appropriate task-specific PPE including gloves, gowns, face coverings, and shields.
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Translations - [ SPANISH ]
September 22, 2020
Dear CPS Families,
Comparing where our students were in 2010 to where they are now can almost leave you speechless. They have made historic academic progress across every metric and continue to inspire us with their determination, creativity, and hard work every single day.
Today, as part of our commitment to being transparent with our families, we are sharing the district’s annual Academic Report Card, which marks another year of encouraging growth from students across Chicago. Our educators, counselors, support staff, and school leaders deserve recognition for all the hard work that has led to these accomplishments—including our highest-ever graduation rate of 82.5 percent and $1.16 billion in scholarship offers earned by the Class of 2020. We know our students and teachers will continue to work hard this school year to foster further progress and achieve even more record-breaking statistics.
The core values established by our five-year vision, in particular our commitments to equity, academic excellence, and a student-centered learning environment, are at the heart of each accomplishment highlighted in this year’s Academic Report Card. Our commitment to equity is seen through the Chicago Connected initiative that has provided over 35,000 students with high-speed internet at no cost. Our commitment to being a student-centered district is seen through our Learn.Plan.Succeed initiative, which helped 97.5 percent of the Class of 2020 submit a concrete postsecondary plan. And our commitment to academic excellence is seen just about everywhere—from a record number of early college and career credentials earned to remarkable progress from our district’s English learners.
This report card reflects not only our students’ accomplishments, but their resilience and ambition. Behind every one of these metrics are the stories of the bright, creative children who make up the truly one-of-a-kind school district that we are so proud to lead. Our students deserve every opportunity to thrive, and we are committed to expanding academic programs, high-quality curriculum and instructional resources, and social-emotional support to help each one of them realize their full potential.
Now, we are beginning a new school year and a new decade. And, for all of us, it may feel as if we’ve already been handed a decade’s worth of challenges in these past nine months. But we’ve got this. If our district can raise its graduation rate by over 26 percentage points in 10 years and fundamentally change the lives of a generation of Chicago’s youth, we can create enriching and high-quality remote learning experiences for our students. If we can help our students earn over $1 billion in scholarships for five straight years, we can make sure that every student has what they need to succeed. And at this very moment, if we can commit ourselves to the hard work ahead this year, we can ensure our students will learn and continue to achieve.
The unusual start to this school year must not alter our priorities, which are to let our students know how invested we are in their futures and do everything we can to meet their unique needs. The most critical of those needs is a high-quality education, and by providing them with the resources they need to learn successfully at home, we feel certain that next year’s Academic Report Card will reflect continued growth by our students. We also believe it will serve as a testimonial of how well we grew together during this unprecedented time.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
September 18, 2020
Dear Parents and Families,
With students starting the school year learning at home and uncertainty around how COVID-19 will impact the full school year, we must ensure our policies and operations continue to serve the best interests of our schools, students, and families. It is critical that our students remain on a positive academic path and are afforded opportunities to continue pursuing scholarships and applying for college. We recently shared updates made to the GoCPS application process to provide families with equitable access to high-quality school options, and today we are writing to share important updates regarding school accountability and SAT testing.
Schools will not receive SQRP ratings this school year
The district has decided to suspend the School Quality Rating Policy (SQRP), which is the district’s policy for measuring annual school performance, for another year. With no new school accountability scores for each school, each school’s current accountability status, which was last updated in fall 2019, will carry over through the 2020-21 school year. We will continue our plans to engage in a formal process to develop a new accountability system starting with data from the 2022–23 school year. Our process will include a thorough public engagement plan, and we will share more about these public discussions as information becomes available.
Optional fall SAT and PSAT/NMSQT testing dates
Last school year, our current 12th-grade students were unable to take the PSAT/NMSQT in the fall due to the work stoppage and the SAT in the spring due to COVID-19. As a result, these students do not have a college-reportable SAT score, have yet to meet the state testing requirement for graduation, and were unable to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship. To support these students, the Illinois State Board of Education is funding optional SAT administrations with essay on September 23, October 14, and October 27. The optional September 23 test date will also afford 12th-grade students the opportunity to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship.
We understand that not all families will be comfortable testing in person at this time, which is why we are also ensuring that testing dates are available later this school year. Each eligible grade 12 student may participate in one of the dates this fall or the regularly scheduled SAT day on April 13, 2021. Current test dates for our 11th-grade students to take the PSAT/NMSQT test are October 14, October 29, and January 26.
We will continue to provide you with updates as the year progresses, and please visit cps.edu/reopening2020 for the latest updates and additional resources.Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
September 11, 2020
Dear CPS Families,
I hope your first week back went as smoothly as possible. Thanks to the hard work of our students, families and staff, we’re off to a very strong start. More than 84 percent of students logged in and participated in their virtual classes on the first day of school and that daily attendance rate has continued rising all week as we continued to work through the challenges of online learning. We are thrilled that students are able to continue their studies and are committed to making sure they have a positive, productive experience every day they are learning at home.
This is a new experience for all of us, so it is natural to have questions. To help get our families the information you need, we have gathered the most commonly asked questions from the first week of school and provided the answers here. We will continue updating this FAQ document as more questions come up, so please check back regularly.
We thank you for your partnership and look forward to working together to make this a successful school year.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsHere are a few examples of what you will find in the full FAQ:
I don't think my family qualifies for Chicago Connected. How can we get internet service at home?
More than 100,000 CPS students are eligible for Chicago Connected, so don’t assume your family does not qualify. You can check your eligibility here.I am not able to purchase a device for my child. Who can I contact to get my child a laptop or tablet?
CPS is committed to providing any child in need with a device so that they can learn successfully at home. Please contact your principal or school technology coordinator for information and next steps.How can my child log in to their CPS account?
Students should visit cps.edu/portal to log on to their CPS accounts.If you do not remember your CPS account information, follow the steps in our password reset guide. ( Spanish | Polish | Arabic | Urdu | Chinese)
If your child does not have a CPS.edu account, click here for instructions on how to set up the account for the first time, also known as “claiming an account.” ( Spanish | Polish | Arabic | Urdu | Chinese)
Why do GoGuardian or other extensions continue to run after logging out of class?
Student extensions such as GoGuardian allow for teacher monitoring and classroom management while a student is logged into Chrome using their CPS credentials. The tracking of these apps is limited to the browser history of the logged-in CPS account, and gathers no information about the other Chrome users on the device. The only account data that is being collected is limited to the specific Chrome browser where the CPS student is logged in.When logging out of a classroom, be sure your child logs out of their account and the browser itself as well.
Why is my child's teacher recording classroom sessions, and do they need my consent?
Teachers may record virtual classroom sessions to ensure students can refer back to previously taught lessons, and ensure mastery of concepts. While active consent is not required from classroom participants, teachers should provide notice to students and parents that the class will be recorded.
Educators are required to have their camera on during real-time, virtual instruction, and students are encouraged to have their camera turned on in order to facilitate a better learning environment where non-verbal cues such as head nods, furrowed brows, and smiles can be registered by the teacher. However, a parent may choose to turn off their student's camera if they do not wish to have their child appear on camera in a recording.Per the Standards for Professional Staff/Student Boundaries guidance that was released yesterday, if a teacher is conducting a 1:1 session with a student, the teacher must record and active consent must be given by a parent for that recording to occur.
Can I sign up for child supervision during remote learning?
If you are interested in child supervision support during remote learning, please complete this survey. CPS is prioritizing students in temporary living situations and students under the age of 14 who live in high hardship zip codes. CPS will be reaching out to the next wave of students who filled out the survey and qualify to enroll in available slots in the coming days.Who can I contact with questions about devices and technology-related issues?
Parents who need technical support for their child's CPS-issued device or have general questions about Chicago Connected can call the Parent Tech Support Hotline at 773-417-1060.For all other inquiries, including meal site locations, please call (773) 553-KIDS.
CPS employees who need technical support can call the IT Service Desk at (773) 553-3925.
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Translations - [ SPANISH ]
September 8, 2020
Dear CPS Family,
How do we start a school year without school buildings? Where will friends huddle to share stories about the past summer? How do we make virtual classrooms feel like the real thing? And most importantly, how do we ensure our students can continue learning and growing through all of this?
These questions have weighed on us for months, and we’re not sure there are easy answers. As parents and as educators, we know how difficult it has been for all of us. Parents tasked to be part-time teachers; educators parenting while teaching from home; and students studying in whatever quiet space that can be found when everyone is home.
But through the frustration, anxiety, and stress that we are all feeling, there’s a silver lining: the bonds we have forged will help us continue to learn and grow even while we are apart. The passion and commitment of our educators, administrators, and support staff is still with us and, together, we will rise to meet this challenge.
At this moment, there is an opportunity for us to grow closer together if we can accept that we are responsible for each other. We want to challenge all of us to say, “I can help” when new challenges appear this year. And they will.
Our nutrition team said, “We can help” and served more than 22 million meals for our families since the spring. Our custodial team said, “We can help” and cleaned over 51,000 classrooms this summer. It’s going to take all of us working together to ensure students will continue to thrive no matter what is thrown at them.
We did not take the summer off. Every minute was spent planning for every potential scenario that could come this fall. Our administrators worked around the clock to make sure every student’s unique needs were met.
The needs of our students were the top priority behind every decision we made. Remote learning will be better organized and more enriching for our students this year, and we will continue to work with families to remove the barriers that keep students from being engaged. We are committed to making sure learning at home feels as close to a normal school experience as possible. Assignments will be graded, attendance will be taken, and students should expect to be held to the same high standards.
The district is here to help. If you don’t know how to set up your child’s CPS account, here are the directions. If your student needs a device, schools will provide them. The 36,000 additional Chromebooks we ordered this summer have made that possible.
If you need access to high-speed internet, we can help. Through Chicago Connected, we can provide you with up to four years of high-speed internet service at no cost.
Finally, we have partnered with Google Education to provide a series of virtual trainings through the first week of school. They cover everything from the basics to specialized trainings for our diverse learners and families with Pre-K students to second graders. We’re going to continue producing more resources as the year progresses, and if there’s something that you think we can help you with, please email us at familyservices@cps.edu or talk to us on social media. Whatever is easiest for you. We are here to help.
Today is the first day of school, and even though it may feel different, it is the beginning of another year brimming with opportunities for students to grow academically, socially, and civically. School buildings are an important hub of our community, but they are not what makes us a community. We don’t need a building to nurture and grow the bonds and connections between students, teachers, and parents. We are enough for our students to succeed—we know we will come together to ensure they have a great first day of school, and another 179 great days after that.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
September 4, 2020
Dear CPS Families,
The first day of school is just a few days away. To make sure your child can successfully start the school year learning from home, we have created a comprehensive back-to-school website — cps.edu/reopening2020 — with important details on how to get connected before the first day of school on Tuesday, September 8. Before we discuss how to best prepare for the 2020–21 school year, we want to share some exciting news.
This year, we are starting on a high note. In 2020, CPS students set a new record for the district’s highest-ever graduation rate — 82.5 percent. This achievement was driven by the academic progress of African American and Latinx students and is the result of hard work from our principals, teachers, support staff, and families in every neighborhood in Chicago. We are incredibly proud of our students and are confident that we can take another big step forward this year by prioritizing equity-focused initiatives, such as providing a device to every student who needs one, helping families connect to high-speed internet, increasing access to college-level programming, and hiring additional support staff.
Preparing for a successful first day of school on Tuesday, September 8
Because we’re starting the school year learning from home, the following steps are critical to ensuring your child is connected and ready to learn from day one.
- Your child will need a device that connects to the internet in order to learn from home, and CPS has committed to providing a device to every child who needs one. Please contact your child’s school if your child needs a device for learning.
- Connect your child’s device to your internet. If you do not have access to the internet, please visit cps.edu/getconnected to see if you’re eligible for up to four years of internet service at no cost through Chicago Connected or to explore affordable internet service options.
- Please ensure your child can log in successfully before the first day of school. If your child does not have a CPS username and password, you can help them set up their account using these instructions. If you have questions on how to complete this process, please contact your child’s school.
- Attendance will be taken daily. On the first day of school, your child will need to log in to cps.edu/portal with their CPS username and password to access their virtual classroom and have their attendance taken. If you don’t know your child’s scheduled start time or which Google application (Classroom or Meet) to use to join the class, please contact your child’s school.
Protecting our students’ privacy during online learning
In addition to ensuring our students have the tools they need to successfully learn from home, CPS is committed to doing everything we can to protect the online privacy and safety of our school communities during remote learning.
- Guests and outside visitors are prohibited from joining virtual classes.
It is important to remember that during remote learning, students and teachers will be bringing a virtual classroom into the privacy of their home or living situation. It is our collective responsibility to respect and protect each other’s privacy and any personal or sensitive information we may learn through a virtual classroom. Therefore, the district is prohibiting any outside visitors from participating in or observing a virtual classroom unless legally required or consent has been obtained. - Teachers should remind students and families that everyone must respect each other’s privacy as much as possible during remote learning.
Learn more about how to best respect and protect one another’s privacy during remote learning here. And as a reminder, our Acceptable Use Policy outlines the district’s rules for staff and students interacting on digital platforms.
An update on child supervision during school hours
Last week, CPS and the City of Chicago surveyed families to understand who may need help this fall finding a safe space for their child during traditional school hours. After reviewing survey results, we reached out to eligible families to register for a seat at one of the six sites that will be available beginning the first day of school. All supervision sites will provide children under 14 years of age with the ability to participate in their school’s remote learning program from a safe space that follows the City of Chicago’s Be Safe: PK-12 Education Guidelines. In the coming weeks, as part of a larger city initiative that is being developed, we are planning on adding more supervision sites to meet the needs of our families, and we will share additional information as soon as possible. Families who need assistance with childcare can find additional resources on the Chicago Early Learning site.We are incredibly grateful for your continued support as we get ready for a first day unlike any other. While there will be challenges, we know that our students’ resilience, hard work, and determination will lead to great things this year. For more information and resources, including a comprehensive FAQ, we encourage you to visit cps.edu/reopening2020.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
September 2, 2020
Dear CPS Families,
With less than one week to go before the first day of school, we are working around the clock to ensure our students are ready to learn successfully at home. This includes helping more families get online through Chicago Connected and making sure children will have everything they need to thrive, including continued access to healthy meals.
Increasing the number of meal sites across the city
CPS has served more than 21 million grab-and-go meals to families since spring, and while students are learning at home through at least the first quarter, we are committed to providing meal service to our students.
Beginning Tuesday, September 8, we will have more than 450 meal sites for the 2020–21 school year. Students, parents, or guardians may pick up free meals at the nearest school from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. Please find the nearest meal distribution site using this map which will be updated this Friday with the latest set of meal sites. If families are unable to visit a meal site in-person, the district will continue to provide free delivery for those who need additional support.
The district’s 277 summer meal sites will be closed this Friday, September 4 and Monday, September 7 so that our nutrition staff can spend Labor Day at home with their families.
Schools will be closed on November 3 in observance of Election Day. Classes will now be in session on Veterans Day, November 11.
Earlier this summer, Governor Pritzker signed legislation making Election Day, November 3, a state holiday in Illinois and requiring K-12 schools to be closed to ensure all Illinoisans are able to vote and fully participate in our democracy.
Veterans Day, November 11, which is normally a day off for students and staff, will now be a regular instructional day to ensure students do not lose invaluable instruction time. The Chicago Board of Education approved of the calendar change during the August Board meeting. While schools will be closed in observance of Veterans Day on November 3, we will honor our veterans with a moment of silence and students will be provided with instructional activities recognizing the service and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans on November 11.
We appreciate your continued patience, engagement, and support, and look forward to beginning another successful school year with our students on Tuesday, September 8.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
September 2, 2020
Dear CPS Families,
To help our students and families prepare for the first day of school on September 8, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is partnering with Google for Education to provide virtual, real-time trainings for families as they get ready for the new school year. All CPS staff and students will be using Google Education Suite this fall, and these trainings will help you support your child with online learning.
At-home learning will work best if all educators, students, and families feel confident using Google Education Suite tools. Beginning Thursday, September 3, 2020, CPS and Google Education will offer families the following trainings:
- Google Basics for CPS Families: Learn about the basic Google tools your child will use to learn at home, as well as tips on how to help your child use these tools.
- Google/Classroom Meet: Preview how your child will access their school work, receive direct instruction, and join their classmates for real-time virtual classes from their teachers each day.
- Google on an iPad (PreK-2): Get tips on how to access the Google Education Suite through an iPad for our youngest learners, including what applications you should download to the device before the first day of school.
- Google Accessibility: Explore accessibility options on Google to help your child access online learning according to their own unique learning style, needs, and ability.
We will post the session schedule on our new back-to-school website at cps.edu/reopening2020––a one-stop shop for all the information and resources you need to prepare for the first day of the 2020–21 school year. Resources available on this site include:
- Additional Google Education training videos
- An overview of the district’s plan for remote learning
- Details on obtaining laptops, tablets, and high-speed internet service at no cost
- Information on accessing your child’s CPS.edu email address, which he or she will need to begin school on the first day
- Back-to-school packets for each grade level, including enrollment and health forms
While we look forward to welcoming your child back to school in person, CPS remains committed to providing our students with an engaging, high-quality experience while they are learning at home. If your child needs a device or help with accessing their CPS.edu account, please call your child’s school. If you need help obtaining internet service at home, please visit cps.edu/getconnected to check if you’re eligible for up to four years of internet service at no cost or to explore affordable internet service options.
We thank you for partnering with us in your child’s education and urge you to visit cps.edu/reopening2020 to get ready for the first day of school.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
August 31, 2020
Dear CPS Parents and Families,
While we have found ourselves in unprecedented times due to the global pandemic, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) remains committed to fulfilling the promise we made in our Five-Year Vision to provide families with equitable access to high-quality school options. To support our parents in choosing schools that best meet their children’s needs while students are learning at home due to COVID-19, we are writing to update you on changes we will be making to the GoCPS application process.
Revised criteria for high school admissions
Because assessment and grading policies were impacted last year due to COVID-19, we are updating our criteria for admission to high schools.
NWEA scores
Seventh grade spring NWEA scores are used in the application and selection processes to determine students’ eligibility in the high school selective enrollment process, in addition to the enrollment process of over 100 academic programs, including International Baccalaureate (IB).Typically, students must score a minimum percentile of 24 on both their spring reading and math NWEA exams in the year prior to applying (i.e., seventh grade spring scores for high school programs). Students with IEPs and English learners must have a combined percentile of 48, but do not need to achieve the 24th percentile on each exam.
To determine eligibility for students applying for high school admission for the fall of 2021, CPS will consider students’ highest NWEA scores from any of the following prior administrations:
- Winter 2019
- Fall 2019
- Spring 2019If students do not have any valid NWEA scores from these administration windows, or have not taken the NWEA with CPS, the district will be administering the exam in October, on select weekends, for interested families. More information on signing up for the Fall NWEA is available at go.cps.edu under “NWEA MAP”.
To determine selections, CPS will consider students’ highest NWEA scores from any of the prior administrations listed above and the Winter 2020 administration of NWEA.
Grades
Many programs consider students’ grades and GPA as a component of the selection process. During remote learning last spring, most students received final grades that accurately reflected their learning and work. However, we know some students were not able to participate in virtual remote learning. For the 2020–21 high school admission process , the district will use the highest scores of either their final grades or the average of their first and second quarter grades.Selective Enrollment Exam
The selective enrollment exam is administered during the winter of eighth grade as a component of the selection process for selective enrollment high schools. CPS plans to administer this exam in person as scheduled during the winter of SY2020–21 with proper health and safety protocols in place. The dates of the selective enrollment exam will be announced in the fall.Attendance
Some high schools consider attendance during the application and selection process. Because attendance was not tracked during remote learning in the spring, attendance will not be used as an admissions criteria for the fall of 2021.International Baccalaureate (IB) Information Sessions
IB programs required students to attend an information session; however, students’ abilities to attend these information sessions has varied leading to inequitable outcomes for applicants to IB programs. In light of the transition to remote learning, these information sessions will not be required for the SY2020–21 application process.Auditions
Auditions for students applying to fine and performing arts programs will be conducted remotely. Auditions vary depending upon the program; school staff will have additional information about auditions and how they will be conducted in the fall.Selective Enrollment Elementary School Admissions (including academic centers)
Testing for selective enrollment elementary school programs including gifted and classical programs will also be administered in person during the winter of SY2020-21 with proper health and safety protocols in place. The dates of these exams will be announced in the fall.
Students applying to fifth through eighth grade must achieve a minimum NWEA score to apply to gifted, classical programs and academic centers. For these students, CPS will consider students’ highest NWEA scores from any of the following prior administrations:
- Winter 2019
- Fall 2019
- Spring 2019To determine selections, CPS will consider students’ highest NWEA scores from any of the prior administrations listed above and the Winter 2020 administration of NWEA.
Increased access for students with disabilities in high school cluster programs
Cluster programs are designed for students requiring a significantly modified curriculum with moderate to intensive supports in a separate classroom from general education peers for the majority of the day. Prior to the upcoming application cycle, cluster students could not participate in the GoCPS high school application process. This fall, eighth grade cluster students will be able to apply to cluster programs (and other high school programs, as appropriate) through GoCPS, similar to the application process for their general education peers.
Remote tours, information sessions, open houses and other events
Learning about school options by attending tours, open houses, and other events is an important part of choosing the right fit for your child. With students starting the school year learning at home and the continued need for social distancing, schools will conduct events and tours remotely. Event details will be posted on go.cps.edu as we receive information from schools, as well as individual school websites.
Although the school year will look different this year, families will still have ample time to research their options and apply to their preferred high schools. Key dates are as follows:
- September 14, 2020: The GoCPS website, with refreshed content for the upcoming admissions cycle, will be available for families to start researching their options.
- October 12, 2020: The application opens for families to begin to apply.
- December 11: Deadline for families to submit their applications.
For more information, please visit go.cps.edu or contact the Office of Access and Enrollment at gocps@cps.edu or 773-553-2060.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
August 25, 2020
Dear CPS Families,
As we prepare to begin the school year learning at home, we want to make sure students have the basic tools they need to be successful — that means access to computers, internet service, and a CPS login. In partnership with Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and 35 community partners, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has already connected more than 18,000 students to high-speed internet service at no cost, but there are still 82,000 eligible students who have yet to register for Chicago Connected. Here is how you can help families get connected for the first day of school.
Tell Your Friends and Family About Chicago ConnectedEligible CPS families can now receive high-speed internet in their homes immediately at no cost for up to four years. There are no installation or upfront equipment fees and families are not required to provide a social security number.
To find out if you are eligible, check out Chicago Connected's eligibility tool. If you are eligible, you’ll be provided an activation code for Comcast or RCN. You can also connect with your school to confirm your eligibility and receive your activation code.
We have partnered with T-Mobile to reserve 12,000 internet hotspots for all students in transitional living situations (STLS), unstable housing, or lives outside of the broadband service area. Schools are prepared to provide STLS students with a laptop and an internet hotspot to ensure they’re ready for the first day of school.
The district contacted eligible families by U.S. mail, text messages, robocalls, and emails over the summer, and we will continue contacting families in the weeks ahead. But we know that hearing about this opportunity from trusted friends and family can be even more impactful, so please help spread the word about this free program. It’s critically important that families in need have access to high-speed internet for the first day of school, which is Tuesday, September 8.
Providing Devices to Students Who May Still Need One for the First Day of School
We have distributed 128,000 laptops, iPads, and Chromebooks, and have purchased an additional 36,000 devices to ensure all students have a device prior to the start of school. If you need a device, connect with your school directly. We have asked our schools to provide every student in need with a device.
Do You Know Your Child’s CPS Email?
Your child will need to access their CPS account for the first day of school. Attendance and classroom participation will be tracked through their CPS email. If you do not know your CPS login, connect with your school and ask for assistance as soon as possible. This is how your child will access their classroom instruction and assignments while learning at home.
We thank you for your continued partnership and look forward to a safe and productive school year where our students will build on their progress and learn to shine in new ways.
Sincerely,Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
August 21, 2020
Dear CPS Families and Staff,
CPS and the City of Chicago are surveying families to better understand who may need help this fall finding a safe space for their children during traditional school hours. As we assess parental needs throughout the city, we are evaluating opportunities to provide potential support with child supervision for families who have school-age children under 14 years of age.
Families who live in high-need communities or transitional housing will be prioritized.
We are currently evaluating potential opportunities to establish sites across the city where families can register their children to attend during remote learning days. Here is what a family may expect at a potential child supervision site:
- Children will be assigned to spaces with children of the same age group and an adult who will be assigned to the group for the duration of the program. The number of children per room will be limited to ensure proper social distancing per City of Chicago’s Be Safe: PK-12 Education Guidelines.
- While the adult will ensure that your child will have a safe and suitable space to engage in remote learning, please note that they will not be qualified to teach or provide educational support.
- Children will be provided with breakfast and lunch every day.
- Children and staff will be required to follow all health and safety protocols including wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and completing a daily symptom screener.
- To ensure proper social distancing, families will follow a staggered schedule and be assigned a time to pick up and drop off their children.
- This program will be prioritized according to need. Families with school-age children under 14 years of age who live in high-need communities or transitional housing will be prioritized.
- Computing devices will not be provided although high-speed internet access will be available at the site. Families are required to bring their own computing devices or get a loaner device from their child's school.
If you are interested in potential assistance, please complete the survey by Friday, August 28, at 5 p.m. Please be sure to provide your contact information so we can follow up in the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
LaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
August 18, 2020
Dear CPS Families,
Earlier this month, we announced that all Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students will begin the coming school year learning at home. Throughout our response to COVID-19, our top priority has been, and will continue to be, keeping our students and school communities safe. Today, we are sharing our Final Reopening Framework for the start of the 2020–21 school year. This framework gives CPS the flexibility to begin the school year learning at home and transition to hybrid learning once our public health experts determine it is safe to do so.
Mirroring a Normal School Day at Home
When students start school on September 8, their day-to-day experience will look very different than it did during remote learning last spring. We are using the insight we gained last year to provide our educators with new resources, tools, and expectations to ensure students continue to receive a high-quality education.
Families should expect an experience that mirrors what students would normally experience at school. Teachers will take attendance daily, use Google Suite tools to post work and host live instruction, and be available during school hours to provide students with feedback, support, and host parent conferences as needed. This will help teachers better understand individual student learning and provide support in a timely manner.
Students in kindergarten through grade 12 will engage in live, real-time instruction with their teachers for at least three hours per day, with high school students participating in live instruction for 80 percent of the school day. The remainder of the school day will be made up of independent learning and small group activities with other students through Google Education Suite. These changes will help provide critical structure in an age-appropriate manner and keep children engaged for the entirety of each school day. Expect to receive details of your child’s schedule in the coming weeks.
Implementing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and 504 Plans
We will continue to ensure that our diverse learners make progress on their IEP goals and the general education curriculum. IEP teams will determine how to meet the individual needs of students with disabilities from home in a safe, supportive manner. Educators and related service providers will provide live, real-time instruction as well as individual check-ins and independent learning activities.
Providing Real-time Instruction for English Learners
Bilingual education teachers will continue collaborating with classroom teachers to deliver instruction that meets the language needs of our English learners (ELs). In order to support students’ language development, ELs will receive live, real-time instruction and independent learning activities this fall.
Educating the Whole Child
We know children may experience a combination of stress, fear, and anxiety as the school year approaches, and easing these feelings and building supportive learning environments will be critical to their success this coming school year. This year, we will offer additional mental health interventions and supports, introduce grief curriculum, expand small group trauma interventions, and provide virtual classroom-based activities for managing stress and anxiety. We will continue to be intentional about prioritizing social-emotional learning and sharing mental health resources with students and families throughout the year. Parents can contact their school social worker or counselor to request more information about these services or resources.
Expanding Equitable Access to Technology and High-Speed Internet
To ensure every CPS student will have a high-quality digital experience learning at home this fall, CPS will provide 36,000 computing devices to children who still need one––in addition to the 128,000 devices distributed last spring. And through Chicago Connected, more than 100,000 families from limited-income backgrounds will be able to get high-speed internet at no cost. Families can check their eligibility and access their activation code by simply entering their child’s student ID number and birthdate into our eligibility tool at Chicago Connected. You can find your child’s student ID on their report or progress report. If you need assistance, please call your child’s school.
In the coming days, we will be releasing additional resources for parents and students that will help our families prepare for learning at home during this first quarter. We will also begin introducing new virtual training sessions through our Parent Universities to help our families transition to online learning in addition to the courses available on the Office of Family and Community Engagement’s YouTube channel.
We thank you for your continued patience and engagement and look forward to providing your children with the high-quality education they deserve while keeping everyone healthy and safe.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
August 7, 2020
Dear CPS Families,
Our goal for the upcoming school year is to provide the strongest possible education in these challenging times, and as we announced on Wednesday, we believe an improved remote learning model that engages students for the full school day is the right way to begin the new school year based on both the evolving public health situation and feedback from our families.
The next step in preparing to open our schools is the release of our final reopening framework, which we now plan to issue in the days ahead. We are taking additional time to work with school leaders and labor partners to ensure the plan we finalize for the new school year is thorough and thoughtful, and we will be sharing those guidelines as soon as they are ready. It's important that we head into the new school year with clear and consistent expectations for staff, an understanding of how remote learning will impact out-of-school-time clubs and activities, and further guidance on other supports for students and staff. We thank you for your patience as we navigate these unprecedented challenges, and appreciate your continued engagement and support.
A device for every child who needs one and access to high-speed internet
Learning at home starts with having a computing device, and we are committed to ensuring that every child has what they need to succeed. If you need a device, please call your school to ask for assistance. If your child’s school no longer has devices available, we will work with the school to ensure you receive one. If you need additional assistance, please contact our family hotline at 773-417-1060 or email familyservices@cps.edu. We ask that you work through your school first to allow our hotline staff to prioritize families who need assistance accessing meals or other emergency services. But in the event that you need their support, they will be there to help you.Through Chicago Connected, we partnered with Comcast and RCN to provide high-speed internet access at no cost to 100,000 CPS students. Eligible families received robocalls, text messages, and letters in the mail. If you accidentally discarded the letter or believe you may be eligible for Chicago Connected, please call your child’s school. Principals have been provided a roster of eligible students and will be able to provide you with the next steps to sign up for the program at no cost.
Beginning the year at home does not currently impact the fall sports season
As it currently stands, the fall sports season is set to begin the week of August 17th, which is one week before the state practice window begins. We are taking the extra week to ensure all necessary supports are in place for a successful start to the season. As the public health guidance evolves, we will work closely with IHSA to provide families with the latest updates.Under IHSA’s revised calendar that was released last week, the following sports are currently scheduled to move forward in the fall:
Girls and Boys Cross Country;
Girls and Boys Golf;
Girls Swimming and Diving; and
Girls Tennis.While the following traditional fall sports will move to Spring 2021:
Boys Football;
Boys Soccer; and
Girls Volleyball.
Teams will play shortened regular-season schedules and state series will be determined on a case-by-case basis. A full listing of the changes to the schedule can be found here.This coming school year will be unlike any other we will have had in our lifetime. There is not a single person on our team who isn’t 100 percent committed to doing everything in our power to make sure our students can continue to thrive. As we navigate the challenges that this year will bring, we will be singularly focused on doing what’s best for our students while also ensuring the health and wellness of every single member of our CPS community.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
August 5, 2020
Dear CPS Families,
Our top priority in planning for the fall has been to provide a high-quality education for every child while keeping all our school communities healthy and safe. Today, after carefully considering advice from public health experts and feedback from many of you, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) will begin the year learning at home through the end of the first quarter.
Prior to the beginning of the second quarter, we will assess the state of COVID-19 and the safety of switching to a hybrid learning model similar to what we proposed in our preliminary reopening framework.
Listening to public health officials and affording families time to plan
As we have committed to you and our families, our decision to reopen schools would prioritize the health and wellness of our school communities and be driven by science and the guidance of our public health officials. As educators and dedicated education professionals, we all want students to be in school, but at this time, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) believes that current COVID-19 transmission trends would not allow us to reopen schools in a safe and responsible manner given the sheer number of people we serve every day. And rather than waiting until the end of August to make a decision on reopening schools, we wanted to afford our parents and families ample time to plan for the fall.
Listening to our CPS families and educators
Through virtual community meetings and a myriad of surveys, over 87,000 CPS students, families, and staff members provided feedback on returning to school in the fall. While many families expressed a desire to begin the year in a hybrid model, a large number of families did not feel comfortable sending their children back to school—approximately only one in five African-American and Latinx families planned to send their children back to school in person this fall. Our decision to begin the school year remotely is a reflection of the feedback we received in response to our preliminary framework.
Lessons learned in the spring and how we’re planning to improve remote learning for students
Students will be learning at home this fall, but we’re committed to providing students with an engaging learning experience that is significantly different from what students and families experienced last year. Each day, students will be engaged for the entirety of a typical school day through a combination of live real-time instruction with classmates and teachers, small group activities, and independent learning. Established daily expectations, including classroom attendance and graded assignments, will also help students develop routines. A more detailed set of expectations for remote learning will be shared with families on Friday.
Expanding equitable access to technology and the internet
Unlike last school year when the district utilized digital and non-digital learning pathways to allow schools flexibility to respond to the emergency, teachers will provide digital instruction every day this school year.
We know students need consistent access to devices and high-speed internet to be successful in digital learning, and we are committed to providing devices for all students. Last school year, we distributed more than 128,000 computing devices to students, and we will provide an additional 36,000 devices to children who still need them prior to the start of school. We will continue to monitor our students’ needs and take all necessary steps to ensure students have access to devices.
Over the summer, we also began offering free, high-speed internet access to approximately 100,000 CPS students from limited-income backgrounds through our Chicago Connected initiative. Families eligible for this program have been contacted individually, and 35 Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) have been recruited to get students connected prior to the start of the school year.
Final reopening framework coming this Friday
Families should expect to receive our final reopening framework with detailed remote learning expectations this Friday. Later in the month, teachers and principals will receive specialized training and guidance on expectations for remote learning, and we will follow our remote learning plan through the end of the first quarter. Later this fall, CPS will consult with CDPH on the possibility of adopting a hybrid learning model for the second academic quarter, which will begin Monday, November 9.
We remain committed to helping every student reach their full potential, even under these unprecedented circumstances, and we are confident that with your support, CPS will remain a school district on the rise. Thank you for helping make our plans for the 2020-21 school year as strong as possible.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
July 10, 2020
Dear CPS Parents and Guardians,
Today, our district received notice of updates to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Return to Play guidelines, which include additional measures to align with guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
We have since updated the guidelines that we shared earlier today to align to the IHSA, and we wanted to make sure you were aware of the most recent updates. As part of the updated guidance, schools and student-athletes must adhere to the following requirements when athletic activities begin next week:
- NO competitions of any kind.
- NO contact drills or physical contact of any kind among student-athletes
- Student-athletes who are able to social distance while participating in physical activities outdoors are not required to wear a mask.
We know how important sports are to our students and look forward to seeing them safely enjoying these activities again this summer. We thank you for your continued support and invite you to reach out to your school directly with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsDavid Rosengard
Executive Director of Sports Administration
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Family
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) wants every learning environment to be as strong as it can be. Your voice is critical to making this happen, so I hope you will consider participating in one of the virtual community workshops that are coming up this summer.
This is your chance to provide feedback that will help us continue strengthening neighborhood schools. Our conversations will be guided by the information presented in the most recent Annual Regional Analysis (ARA), which explores enrollment patterns and program offerings for schools in every region of our city. You can access the most up-to-date ARA information in eight different languages at ara.cps.edu.
You can RSVP to attend a workshop using the links below. I hope you will strongly consider lending your voice to this critically-important conversation. You are the most important partners we have, and we need your support as we strive to achieve our vision of a high-quality education for every child from every community in Chicago.
- South ARA Community Meeting: Tuesday, June 30 from 5–6:30 p.m. Register here.
- Southwest ARA Community Meeting: Wednesday, July 1 from 5–6:30 p.m. Register here.
- Central ARA Community Meeting: Wednesday, July 8 from 5–6:30 p.m. Register here.
- North ARA Community Meeting: Thursday, July 9 from 5–6:30 p.m. Register here.
Children First Fund (CFF) established a $150K fund to assist the Class of 2020’s transition to college.
Our seniors have graduated, and for those heading to college, we want to ensure that financial barriers aren’t getting in their way. Something like textbook fees or a bus ticket to campus shouldn’t prevent our students from realizing their dream of attending college, which is why CFF donors, including anchor funders PepsiCo and Fifth-Third Bank, are stepping up to help.
Thanks to the generosity of the private and philanthropic community, CFF established the Graduating Senior Summer Melt Prevention Fund. Through their counselors, students can apply for microgrants of up to $1,000 to help pay for expenses such as books, college registration fees, and travel.
If you’re able, please consider helping us assist families through these difficult times by contributing to the Compassion Fund, our crisis-relief fund.
CPS playgrounds remain closed in alignment with Park District guidance
As Chicago cautiously begins to reopen parts of our city, we want to emphasize that all CPS playgrounds will remain closed in alignment with Park District guidance. We are looking forward to the day when our communities can use our playgrounds again, but these gathering spaces pose a risk for COVID-19 transmission and it is critically important that we do our part to keep ourselves and our communities healthy.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Families
Our 2019–20 school year is officially a wrap, and it was certainly unlike any we have experienced before. While this was a hard year, it was also full of immense growth, strength and accomplishment. Our staff and community members came together to support our schools through a difficult time. And I want to say a huge thank you to all of the parents, guardians, and family members who wore many hats these past few months and ensured our students continued their learning from home. I am so proud to be a member of the CPS family.
Please continue to keep your child engaged this summer.
As we all experienced firsthand this year, learning is not limited to the classroom. Keeping your child engaged over the summer is critical to ensuring he or she continues learning and is prepared for the next school year. We are fortunate to have community partners and educators from across the city working to ensure your child has access to free and fun online enrichment learning opportunities all summer long. You can take virtual field trips to Chicago’s most iconic museums and cultural institutions, attend a virtual online summer camp, and build stories through the Chicago Public Library's Summer Learning Challenge.
Grab-and-go meal sites will remain open this summer.
As a reminder, our summer grab-and-go meal sites will be open Monday, June 22 through Friday, August 28, from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. every weekday. Find the most up-to-date list of meal sites near you at cps.edu/mealsites. Please note that meal sites will be closed on Friday, June 19 due to a scheduled day off for staff.
Be on the lookout for opportunities to provide input on our plans for the next school year.
As I shared last week, we will soon be launching a series of surveys to get your feedback on how we can provide a safe, welcoming, and productive learning environment for students this fall. We sent a student survey yesterday to students in grades 4–12. Please check your child’s cps.edu email account. You and your family are critical partners in this work, and I look forward to hearing your feedback.
The district will move Local School Council elections to November.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the district was unable to hold the Local School Council (LSC) elections in April. LSCs play a critical role in our schools––making policy changes that directly impact student outcomes, selecting school leaders, and approving how school funds will be spent. Yesterday, Governor JB Pritzker signed a law that will allow the district to move the LSC election to November and extend current LSC terms until the new election takes place. The law also allows for flexible voting formats to protect the health and safety of all participants. We will share new election dates and voting formats with you as soon possible. Thank you to the dedicated, passionate members of our CPS community who are running for election to create positive, well-rounded learning environments where every child has the opportunity to succeed.
I hope you have a safe and healthy summer.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Families,
Although our school year is coming to a close, our grab-and-go meal sites will continue to provide our students with healthy meals during summer break. Beginning Monday, June 22 through Friday, August 28, hundreds of summer grab-and-go meal sites will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
In order to find the most up-to-date list of meal sites near you, please visit cps.edu/mealsites.
Please note that meal sites will be closed on Friday, June 19 due to a scheduled day off for staff. However, meal deliveries will continue on Friday, June 19, and the meal sites will provide families with extra food on Thursday, June 18.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the CPS Command Center at 773-553-KIDS (5437) or familyservices@cps.edu.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Parents and Families,
Please join us for the citywide graduation on Sunday at 1 p.m.
I want to begin with a few words about the CPS Class of 2020, who unfortunately will not have the commencement season they were anticipating only a few months ago. As a former high school principal, I know how much these ceremonies mean to students and their families. But, a global pandemic is not going to stop us from celebrating their success. We’ve been working with the city to organize a citywide virtual commencement that will air on broadcast TV and live stream on social media.
I want our young leaders to know how inspired I am by their generation. While I recorded my commencement remarks prior to the events that have transpired over the past two weeks, it is important that you know the transformative power of your generation. In a matter of weeks, you have helped transform the conversation happening around racial violence. Without your passion and participation, I don’t believe our nation would have come together over this simple truth: black lives matter.
Summer school will be virtual.
On June 4, ISBE released Updated Summer School and Other Allowable Activities Guidance. The district reviewed the guidance carefully and determined that it is in the best interests of our students and staff to move forward with virtual summer school, as planned. While we are developing plans for a potential return to in-person instruction in the fall, it would be premature for us to bring students and staff back at this time due to the on-going challenges associated with in-person instruction.
We are making plans for next year and need your feedback.
As we continue to plan for the next school year, it's critically important that we hear from you to ensure we are prepared to support safe and welcoming learning environments. To help inform our approach in the fall, we are beginning to launch a series of surveys and focus groups for students, families, and staff.
While there are myriad decisions that have to be worked through, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has established guidance for school districts that we will follow when it is possible to reopen schools. A school district as large and complex as ours requires thorough guidance that accounts for the wide variety of needs in our schools, and we are working through those scenarios so that in the weeks ahead we can present you with draft guidelines for reopening school buildings.
Although our draft guidelines are still being developed, we know now based on the CDC’s guidance that a number of significant changes will need to occur to safely re-open our school buildings.
Today, we know that a baseline of health and safety resources will need to be available in all schools:
- Everyone will need to wear face coverings, and the district will provide a limited set to students and staff members at the start of the school year;
- Hand sanitizer will need to be readily available throughout buildings
- Stringent cleaning and disinfection protocols will be in place;
- And students and staff will receive daily temperature checks.
Learning and social and emotional needs of our students will be greater than ever, and we will be prepared to support them. Your critical feedback will inform our planning process and help us ensure that students and staff transition successfully into the new school year.
All of these changes require significant planning and coordination at the district, school, and classroom levels. We will provide schools with clear guidance early this summer on how to develop the plans and structures needed to best support students.
We remain committed to starting the school year on Tuesday, September 8. However, what that looks like and how many students will be able to return at a time is also dependent on the phasing of Illinois’ reopening.
We look forward to hearing from you as our surveys launch in the days ahead, and we appreciate your partnership, engagement, and commitment as we work to make the most of what will be another unprecedented school year.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Parents and Families,
How are we going to move past our national turmoil? We’ve been struggling with this question and have yet to find a satisfactory answer. What we do know is that our school communities can be an important venue for open, honest discussion that allows us to critically consider how we got here as a country.
The outpouring of support in Chicago and across the country has filled many of us with hope that our nation may have finally decided things have to change. We support and stand with Chicagoans who are forcefully, yet peacefully, advocating for the rights of black and brown people. Unfortunately, this may be difficult to reconcile when wanton property damage is what gets the most attention in the news and on social media. However, we have to challenge ourselves to not lose sight of what drove hundreds of thousands of Americans to flood the streets, and the work that still lies ahead for all of us if we are to heal as a nation.
The work begins with having difficult conversations with the people we love and those we hardly know. Today, the district is releasing Say Their Names, a set of materials and resources to help you foster productive conversations. This toolkit was originally created as a resource for teachers, but now more than ever, it is critically important that we take these conversations out of the classroom and into our homes.
Update: Grab-and-go meals distribution will restart tomorrow, June 2, 2020.
The decision to temporarily suspend meal distribution for a day was a difficult one to make because we know how much our families are counting on us. We continue to monitor the evolving situation in our communities, and will be reopening our meal sites tomorrow pending any significant developments.
Beginning tomorrow, there will be support from the Chicago Police Department in the vicinity of grab-and-go meal sites to ensure families can pick up meals in a safe and welcoming environment.
If you have additional questions or concerns or would like to sign up for meal delivery, please don’t hesitate to call the CPS Command Center at 773-553-KIDS.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Parents and Families,
Earlier today, the district shared new data that shows the vast majority of students are accessing remote learning digitally through Google platforms. While this is positive news, we also acknowledge that we—administrators, educators, parents, and students—are still figuring out how to make remote learning work best for our community.
As district leaders and mothers of school-aged children, we know this transition to remote learning has come with its fair share of bumps in the road. However, the data we’re sharing today points to a positive trend that we are committed to building upon through the end of the year. And should we need to continue remote learning in the fall, we will have a lot of lessons learned to carry forward into the new school year.
Remote Learning District Overview | Week of May 11
The district uses data from Google Analytics and internal sources to understand how we can better support teachers, students, and families during remote learning.
Key takeaways from student engagement data:
- 93 percent of CPS students at district schools have digital access.
- The percentage of students using Google learning tools for remote learning at least once a week has increased from 70 percent during the first week of remote learning (April 13–April 17) to 77 percent during the week of May 11.
- 84 percent of students received at least one grade for an assignment during the week of May 11, which is an increase from 51 percent during the week grading guidance was released during the week of April 27.
- 85 percent of students were recorded as having contact with their school during the week of May 11 based on data reported by schools.
This is hopeful news for a district that serves a socioeconomically diverse student body. We believe that the interventions we put in place—from distributing more than 122,000 computing devices and more than 12 million meals—provided families with the resources they needed to support their children’s education from home.
As we move forward, we’re committed to improving remote learning and the ways in which we track student engagement. While it was important for the district to allow schools to use a variety of digital platforms when remote learning plans were quickly developed, we will be requiring all schools to adopt Google platforms should remote learning be needed in the fall. Using Google across all schools will ensure we have the most comprehensive data on student engagement, which will help us provide additional support for the students and schools who need it most.
We thank you for your continued support and patience. We will get through this together and look forward to providing you with an update on our progress after the last day of school.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Parents and Families,
Even in this unprecedented time, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) remains focused on providing your children with every resource they need to be successful, both for the rest of this school year and in the years to come. However, our CPS family must be fully accounted for to receive the federal funding needed to make this goal a reality. The key is getting as many families as possible counted in the 2020 Census, which is why we are declaring May 25-28 CPS Census Week.
As you can see from this video, the census will have a major impact on our city’s education system for the next decade. It is an issue of equity and civil rights, and we must do everything possible to make sure your children receive their fair share of state and federal funds.
You may hear your children talking about the census in the coming week, as we have urged our teachers to make it a priority in their remote learning lessons. Even at their young age, we want our children to understand why this is so important and how they can help make sure their families, friends, and neighbors are accurately counted.
If you have not yet completed the 2020 Census, we strongly urge you to do so during CPS Census Week - May 25-28. The week will feature many opportunities to support you, including virtual workshops geared toward helping families get their questions answered and make sure they are correctly counted. You can find a complete list of plans and activities in the Census Week Guide.
We understand that the idea of the census may be uncomfortable for some families in this political climate, and along with the City of Chicago, we are committed to the values established as a sanctuary city to protect all communities from this data being used inappropriately. There is NO citizenship question on the 2020 Census, and other information provided is protected by privacy laws.
We thank you for your support and urge you to reach out to your child’s teacher or principal if you have questions or concerns about completing the census. We look forward to educating your children on this important topic during CPS Census Week, and as always, remain committed to providing them with the high-quality learning opportunities they deserve.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Parents and Families,
As part of our commitment to engaging families around the district’s budgeting process, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is pleased to announce five virtual community meetings that will gather feedback from parents as we prepare our FY21 Capital Plan. Your input is key to achieving the district’s commitment to community engagement and equity during the budgeting process. These community meetings will provide you with an understanding of the district’s capital planning process and collect your input to help the district understand what investments would have the most positive impact on your children.
To keep everyone safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, the five meetings will be held virtually during the last week in May. We will use a Zoom format that will allow you to ask questions and provide feedback to district leaders. This is the first time CPS is holding community meetings to discuss capital priorities before the release of a capital budget, and we believe that doing so will result in a more informed, more equitable process. Following the release of our FY21 Capital Plan this summer, CPS will also hold public hearings to discuss the details of proposed capital investments.
Four of the capital budget meetings will correspond to geographic areas of the city, and a fifth citywide meeting will be held entirely in Spanish. Dates and times of all meetings are listed below. If you cannot attend one of the meetings, we will post meeting materials and a video at cps.edu/capitalmeetings.
These upcoming meetings are part of a larger strategy by Mayor Lightfoot and CPS to strengthen the school budgeting process through increased community engagement. Last month, the district released school budgets for the 2020-21 school year. These budgets, which included more than $125 million in additional funding for schools, were created with significant input gathered during an extensive community outreach process held earlier this year.
Your input is invaluable, and we strongly encourage your participation in the upcoming capital budget meetings. Thank you for your partnership during this unprecedented time. We remain committed to providing your children with the high-quality education they deserve.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsInformation on Virtual Capital Meetings
Please RSVP in advance using the links below:South (Networks 11, 12 ,13, 17)
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 from 3–4:30 p.m.
Link: https://cpscapitalplanning1.eventbrite.comSouthwest (Networks 7, 8, 9, 10, 16)
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 from 5–6:30 p.m.
Link: https://cpscapitalplanning2.eventbrite.comCentral/West (Networks 3, 5, 6, 7, 15)
Thursday, May 28, 2020 from 3–4:30 p.m.
Link: https://cpscapitalplanning3.eventbrite.comNorth/Northwest Meeting (Networks 1, 2, 4, 14)
Thursday, May 28, 2020 from 5–6:30 p.m.
Link: https://cpscapitalplanning4.eventbrite.comCity-wide Spanish-Language Meeting
Friday, May 29, 2020 from 3–4:30 p.m.
Link: https://cpscapitalplanning5.eventbrite.com -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear Colleagues, Families, and Supporters,
This week, we celebrated both Teacher Appreciation Week and National Nurses Week. In these unprecedented circumstances, these professionals are doing an outstanding job of meeting their students’ needs, from supporting their health and safety to providing the academic foundation they will need for success in college, career, and community. We thank all of our teachers and nurses for their unwavering dedication and hope each felt valued and supported by their Chicago Public Schools (CPS) family this week.
With Mother’s Day on Sunday, we also want to acknowledge the incredible moms who are part of our CPS community. Parents are always our most critical partners, but their role in education has taken on a whole new significance during this time of remote learning. Our teachers are doing everything they can to provide their students and their children a positive experience learning at home. We thank all of the mothers who are helping oversee their children’s education, often while balancing the demands of their own careers. You are all heroes, and we wish you a joyful and relaxing Mother’s Day.
As we approach the end of the school year, we are planning our process for ensuring students and staff can safely bring home their belongings from our schools. Additionally, in alignment with guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), we are planning to hold summer school virtually. Please be on the lookout for additional guidance on these plans in the coming weeks.
We know that our parents, students, partners, and staff are all wondering the same thing right now––what will school look like for CPS in the fall? At this point, there are many options on the table, and due to the evolving nature of the public health emergency, no decisions have been made yet for the fall.
While we hope that schools will open on time and at full capacity, we are establishing a variety of contingency plans to ensure families are supported and student learning can continue in the fall. Earlier this week, ISBE officials acknowledged a range of potential scenarios—including having students attend school on alternate days to continue remote learning—and we are working to ensure we are prepared for whatever course of action our local and state leaders and health officials determine is safe and responsive to the needs of our students, staff, and families.
CPS is planning for a robust 2020–21 school year that will provide your child with the quality education they deserve. With continued support from our educators, families, and partners, we have total confidence that we will finish this school year strong and begin our next one as a district on the rise.
We thank you for your patience and cooperation during this unprecedented time and promise to communicate with you regularly as plans take shape for the fall. Please stay healthy and safe until we can all reunite as one CPS family.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Families,
On April 17, Governor Pritzker announced that in-person instruction would be suspended for all Illinois schools through the end of the 2019-2020 school year. This was difficult news to hear, but we support the Governor’s decision to protect the health and safety of all Illinoisans.
While in-person instruction has ended for the year, remote learning is in full swing, and our teachers are doing their best to provide your children with the same high-quality instruction they had in the classroom. Today, we are writing to update you on how your child will be graded in the fourth quarter, as well as the recommendations we will be making to the Board of Education regarding graduation and promotion to the next grade level. We hope this information will help you keep your child engaged through the final two months of school while providing flexibility during this challenging time.
Grading and Promotion for Elementary Students
We recognize the challenges our students and families are facing due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, and we are recommending the Board of Education approve a modification to the promotion policy that will advance all elementary students to the next grade level in the fall. While student work will be graded to allow them to improve or maintain their third quarter grades, no student will receive a fourth quarter grade that falls below their third quarter grade. To ensure students are rewarded for their hard work while also providing flexibility, students will receive either a letter grade, Pass, or Incomplete based on the following criteria:
Quarter 4 (Q4) Transcript Grade Qualification Letter Grade - Achieved a Q4 grade that met or exceeded student’s Q3 grade
Pass (P)
GPA is not impacted.- Participated in digital instruction and earned a Q4 grade below Q3 grade
- No access to digital instruction but completed printed work packets
Incomplete (/)
GPA is not impacted. Student is prioritized for Summer School if it is determined that Summer School can be held this year.- No access to digital instruction and did not complete printed work packets or engage with teacher
- Had access to digital instruction and earned an F in Q4
GPAs, Promotion, and Graduation for High School Students
High schools will use a modified semester-based grading system that will provide students the opportunity to improve their GPA, which is important for students who are pursuing a postsecondary education. The grading system will also protect the academic standing of students who earn a lower grade in the fourth quarter. The district’s revised grading system will now allow students to improve their semester grade in order to earn a letter grade. At the high school level, students will receive either a letter grade, Pass, or Incomplete based on the following criteria:
Semester 2 (S2) Transcript Grade
Qualification
Letter Grade
- Achieved a cumulative S2 grade that met or exceeded student’s Q3 grade
Pass (P)
GPA is not impacted. Student earns credit.- Participated in digital instruction and earned a cumulative S2 passing grade below Q3 grade
- No access to digital instruction but completed printed work packets
Incomplete (/)
GPA is not impacted. Student does not earn credit and is offered the opportunity to engage in credit recovery to meet graduation requirements.- No access to digital instruction and did not complete printed work packets or engage with teacher
- Had access to digital instruction and earned a cumulative F in S2
The district will also recommend that the Board waive the following non-credit bearing graduation requirements for this year’s seniors: Service Learning, State-mandated Assessment (SAT/DLM-AA), Constitution Test, Financial Literacy, and Computer Science.
For a full overview of our grading, promotion, and graduation requirements, please view our detailed grading guidance for parents.
Engaging Students and Families and Ensuring a Strong Finish to the Year
Keeping students engaged and instilling a sense of normalcy are critical to their health and wellness and ensures students can continue making academic progress. We’ve developed a protocol to help schools track student engagement through a variety of metrics, including regular teacher check-ins for students who may need additional guidance. However, we ask families to work with their school to create a routine to keep their child engaged. Teachers will continue posting grades at the same frequency as usual. Please utilize the Parent Portal to monitor your child’s progress. Click here for more information on Parent Portal and contact your child’s school with questions.
While this is not the fourth quarter we envisioned for you, the school year is not over. Teachers will continue to teach. Students will continue to learn. The important work of education will not stop.
Finally, to the Class of 2020, we’re deeply sorry that you won’t be able to celebrate your prom and graduation with your friends and family. We remain hopeful that should the governor lift the stay-at-home order and public health officials deem it appropriate to gather in large groups this summer, school communities will find a way to celebrate your achievements.
We appreciate your patience and understanding. We will continue to update you regularly throughout the remainder of the school year.
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Families and Supporters,
After a successful engagement effort with our school communities earlier this year to identify opportunities to strengthen school budgeting, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is pleased to announce that schools will receive more than $125 million in additional funding for the 2020–21 school year.
The school budgets released today were shaped by recommendations from the district’s School Funding Working Group, as well as the invaluable feedback gathered from families, educators, and partners at six community budget forums held earlier this year. The investments outlined in these budgets reflect our commitment to promoting greater equity across the district and prioritizing resources for those schools and students who need them most.
Investing in Equity
Aligned with our Five-Year Vision and commitment toward equity, the district is increasing its investment in Equity Grants to $44 million next school year. These funds, which go above and beyond the standard funding all schools receive, will prioritize 255 schools in our highest need communities and provide them an average grant of $174,000. As a result of community feedback, equity grants will now provide more than 100 schools in the 12 highest areas of need as identified by the UIC’s Economic Hardship Index with an additional $100,000 allocation to support positions dedicated to high-quality instruction next school year.
Strengthening our Pre-K to College Continuum
As Chicago moves closer to our goal of providing every four-year-old in Chicago with access to free, full-day Pre-K, we are investing $18 million to serve more than 900 new students and add 44 full-day Pre-K classrooms next school year. And for the first time in district history, CPS is investing $5 million to provide high school students with specialized programming to help them successfully navigate high school and graduate prepared to thrive in the college or career path of their choice.
Largest-Ever Special Education Funding Increase and More CPS Nurses, Social Workers and Case Managers than Ever Before
The district will invest an additional $97 million in special education — the largest single-year increase on record — to better support diverse learners, and refine how we fund special education to ensure consistent and equitable distribution of resources throughout the city. And to ensure that all students benefit from the specialists they need to access a well rounded education, the district is investing an additional $13 million next school year to employ a record-high number of nurses, social workers and special education case managers. By the 2023-24 school year, all CPS schools will have both a full-time nurse and social worker, and the investments made in the year ahead will ensure we reach that standard for our students.
Funding Increase for the Upcoming School Year
We are also increasing the funding all schools receive for each student by three percent to align with the teacher salary increase in the contract reached between CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union in 2019. And just like in the previous two years, funding for the year ahead is based on official enrollment during our current school year and will not fall below that level, even if student enrollment drops next fall.
We will continue monitoring the impact of the COVID-19 crisis to determine its impact on other areas of operational spending, and we will release our full operating budget later this summer.
These school budgets reflect our unwavering dedication to the students of Chicago. We remain committed to providing every child from every community with a world-class education and will continue planning for a successful upcoming school year.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Parents and Families,
Earlier today, Governor Pritzker announced that in-person instruction will be suspended for the rest of the school year in Illinois to further slow the spread of COVID-19. We understand this is difficult news to hear, but we support the governor’s decision to protect the health and wellness of all Illinoisans. So while our school buildings may be closed, our teachers will continue to teach and our students will continue to learn. The important work of educating your child will not stop, and you will continue to hear from us regularly for the remainder of the scheduled school year. We know this is a tough time, but Chicago Public Schools (CPS) will be here to support you every step of the way.
Here are some things to keep in mind as we continue moving forward together.
Remote learning will continue through the end of the school year.
This extended closure will not prevent us from providing your child with the quality education they deserve. Robust remote learning plans will continue through June 18, 2020—the last day of scheduled classes. Your child’s school will continue providing high-quality learning options that meet your family’s needs.
- Visit cps.edu/remotelearning for the most up-to-date information on remote learning and to access valuable learning resources.
- If your school is providing remote learning online and your child needs a device, please contact their principal.
- Please see these best practices for important information about privacy and confidentiality when engaging in virtual learning.
- Your involvement is key to ensuring your child puts forth their best effort. Please take advantage of the resources offered by your school, including remote office hours with your child’s teachers.
- Please utilize Parent Portal to monitor your child’s progress. Click here for more information on Parent Portal and contact your child’s school with questions.
Grab-and-Go meals will be available for the rest of the school year.
Even as schools remain closed, we are committed to providing free, healthy meals for the rest of the school year. To date, we have served more than five million meals, and families in need can pick up grab-and-go meals at more than 270 meal sites around the city.
- To find a meal site near you, please visit cps.edu/mealsites.
- You can pick up three days worth of meals for your child at any site from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday.
We recognize there are a number of outstanding questions regarding the end of the school year, including grading in quarter four, grade advancement, and requirements for graduation. We are working to quickly answer these questions and will update you as soon as possible.
None of us could’ve imagined that the final stretch of our school year would look like this, but just as we’ve done since this journey began, we will work together to pull each other through. We are here for you, and we will come out stronger on the other side.
Please stay safe, healthy, and connected.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear Parents and Families,
We hope this email finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe. We are reaching out today to provide you with a quick update on remote learning and information about the end of the third quarter.
Remote learning kicked off on Monday
Your child’s teacher is connecting with students through engaging lessons and routines. Please encourage your child to participate in remote learning every day.
- The district is monitoring student participation to ensure our students continue to learn and make academic progress. Your child’s school will reach out to you if they do not see or hear from your child each week. Please make sure your child’s school has up-to-date contact information for your family.
- If your child needs a device to access remote learning, please contact your principal.
- Remote learning will not take place on Friday, April 17, as it is a school improvement day on the CPS calendar.
Third Quarter ends tomorrow.
Tomorrow, April 16, is the final day of the third quarter. As a reminder, work submitted after March 17 can improve, not lower, the third quarter grades your child had when schools closed.
- Please utilize Parent Portal to monitor your child’s progress. Click here for more information on Parent Portal and contact your child’s school with questions.
- On April 22 and 23, your child’s teacher will hold remote office hours so you have an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress and third quarter grades. Please be on the lookout for more information from your child’s school on scheduling a time.
- You will not be expected to pick up your child’s report card at their school. The district will mail report cards and Individualized Education Program report cards to your home the week of April 20.
We know that learning at home may be incredibly challenging for students and parents, and we thank you for all you have done this week to help your child learn in a new way. We do not yet have answers to all outstanding questions related to the state-mandated closure, such as fourth quarter grading, grade promotion, and end-of-year activities. Please know that we are committed to providing you with regular updates, and we expect to have additional information for you by the end of the week.
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Family,
We won’t be the first to say that this has been a difficult school year. As leaders of our district, we know the anxiety about school being closed amidst a global health emergency can be exhausting. But we also know that we are a district on the rise because of our people—from our emergency personnel who haven’t taken a day off of work and our dedicated teachers to our remarkable students and families who remain involved every step of the way. We remain on the rise during this challenging time, and even when it feels like we have to be superhuman to provide our young people with the education they deserve, we only need to remind ourselves that we are strong enough to meet the challenge ahead.
When our schools are open, their value to the community they serve is evident. But in some ways, this value is made clearest when the buildings are closed. Over the past few weeks, we have been amazed by the countless individuals across the district who have selflessly stepped up to assist our school communities. In particular, we want to recognize our food service staff, Safe Passage workers, and school administrators who have worked together to help our schools provide over 4 million meals to families so far. We will continue to support our students for as long as this crisis keeps us apart.
As former CPS teachers, we know that the bonds formed between students, teachers, and administrators can often be best described as magical. It’s encouraging to know that though we are separated, that magic is uniting us in ways that we have never seen before. From Agassiz students leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance every morning to virtual story time with Principal Lavin at Brentano to the Art+ Challenge created by Lindblom art teacher Ms. Crone, our district continues to teach, learn, and grow together. We encourage those seeking inspiration to look no further than your classmates, colleagues, and fellow Chicagoans.
Learning at Home
Today, April 13, marks the beginning of the next phase of this uncharted journey. Our remote learning plans are rooted in the same core values as our Five-Year Vision: providing students with high-quality learning opportunities that meet their unique needs and empowering educators to equitably provide student-centered academic experiences. These values have guided every decision behind these plans, including creating specific resources for engaging students in temporary living situations, diverse learners, and English learners; ensuring instructional resources are available in both digital and printed materials; and distributing more than 100,000 devices to families to support student learning.
If there’s one word we want everyone to lock in on in the coming days, it’s engagement. We should think about how we can engage with and check in on each other to ensure everyone in our CPS family feels supported. Above all else, we need to engage our students so they can continue to reach their full potential.
Even during our toughest days, we should find comfort in knowing this situation is not permanent and we will be reunited soon. Until that time comes, let’s focus on continuing to take care of ourselves and each other. Today, we will be attempting to do in weeks what would normally take years to plan, and we should practice kindness, patience, and grace with each other. There will, undoubtedly, be bumps along the road, but it’s critically important that we continue to support each other until we get to the other side of this global health emergency. Until then, let’s all work to ensure that we have created an environment where students can continue to learn and teachers can continue to teach.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Family,
While we know this is not the spring break you anticipated, we hope this week has provided you a chance to relax and gear up for remote learning, which begins this Monday, April 13. Our district has been working around the clock to create remote learning plans that will meet the unique needs of every student. We thank our dedicated teams for taking on this monumental task and applaud everyone for successfully completing years of work in just a few weeks.
Launching Our Remote Learning Plan
Our schools have been busy connecting with families about what remote learning will look like for their children. To ensure greater access to virtual learning opportunities, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is distributing more than 100,000 devices to students in communities around our city. If your child needs a device to access digital remote learning, please contact the Information and Technology Services Parent Support Help Line at 773-417-1060 Monday through Friday between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. We have also created this guide to help families explore how they can get connected to the Internet for remote learning.
CPS is committed to providing high-quality learning options for all students from Monday, April 13, through the end of our state-mandated closure. Please note that remote learning will not take place on Friday, April 17, as it is a professional development day for teachers on the CPS calendar.
We urge all families to visit cps.edu/remotelearning for the most up-to-date information on remote learning and to access valuable remote learning resources for their children. For students participating in remote learning virtually, please see these best practices for important information about privacy and confidentiality.
Updated Locations for Grab-and-Go Meals
CPS has distributed nearly five million meals since the start of the school closure on March 17, and we remain committed to providing our families with free, healthy meals for as long as our school closure lasts. To give families the most consistent experience when picking up food and to better support school staff, we announced last week that grab-and-go meal sites were being consolidated.
Beginning Monday, April 13, families may pick up meals at one of more than 270 CPS schools. Meals can be picked up Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. To find the meal distribution site nearest you, visit cps.edu/mealsites.
On Monday, we will all begin a journey into uncharted territory. It’s natural to feel some anxiety, but we know that if we work together, we can provide our children with the education they need to remain on track and continue growing until we can all be together again. We thank you for your partnership and look forward to starting this new chapter as one CPS family.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Family,
As we wrap up this week, we want to thank you for your strength and resilience. It has been encouraging to see the different ways our CPS family is supporting each other, and we hope you find this video as heartwarming as we do.
Although this is far from a typical school year, our district’s scheduled spring break is next week. We hope our families, teachers, and principals can use this time to rest and recover. Together, we are going to flip the switch on remote learning for the third largest school district in America in a matter of weeks—not years. Even in normal times, this would be a monumental effort. We encourage everyone to use spring break to catch their breath, and we will restart school virtually on April 13.
We have several important reminders and updates to share with you before break begins.
We’ve developed several resources to help you prepare for remote learning.
Our schools have been working hard to design remote learning plans that will provide our students with high-quality learning opportunities after spring break and through the remainder of the state-mandated closure. For more information about remote learning and enrichment activities, please visit cps.edu/remotelearning. As part of the district’s effort to make remote learning accessible for students in need, schools will be distributing more than 100,000 devices so students are able take part in learning activities at home. These devices include 65,000 school-based Chromebooks, laptops and iPads; 37,000 new devices; and additional devices through potential philanthropic contributions. Schools will be coordinating this effort with their respective school communities. We also developed this guide for families who wish to learn about different options for getting connected to the internet for remote learning.
Grab-and-Go meal sites have changed to better serve our communities.
To provide our families with the most consistent services while picking up grab-and-go meals during the closure and to better support school staff, food distribution sites will be changing. During spring break, families may pick up grab-and-go meals at more than 130 school sites across the city from Monday–Thursday, 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Meal sites will not be open on Friday, April 10 to give our staff members off for Good Friday, and we ask families to plan accordingly. Beginning the following week, Monday, April 13, more than 270 schools that have been high demand distribution sites for families will be open to provide free meals. Find the meal site closest to you at cps.edu/mealsites.
Safe Passage routes will no longer be active while schools are closed.
Since the beginning of school closures, our Safe Passage workers have played an important and valuable role in supporting families as they access grab-and-go meals. Under the redesigned meal distribution plan, our families will be picking up meals along different routes that do not match up with our standard Safe Passage routes. Because of this change, Safe Passage workers will no longer be stationed on their usual routes. However, as part of our commitment to our staff, Safe Passage workers will continue to be paid. While schools remain closed, the district will partner with Safe Passage to identify other opportunities for workers to support families.
Filling out the Census is important to ensure our district gets the resources we need.
We encourage you to take some time over the next week to fill out the U.S. Census. Data from the Census helps ensure our city gets enough resources from the federal government. The more households fill out the Census, the more funding we will get to help invest in our schools and neighborhoods. You can fill out the Census online, by phone, or by mail. Please note that the Census does not ask for your immigration or citizenship status, and every response is confidential.
CPS stands with each and every one of you, and we will do whatever we can to help our school communities through this time.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Parents, Families, and Staff,
This past month has been an unprecedented challenge for all of us. As difficult as it has been to see our normal lives put on pause, we are incredibly proud of our CPS family and how you have moved to protect the health of our city. Today, Governor Pritzker announced that the state-wide mandated school closures will be extended through April 30.
As hard as this is, it is what we need to do in order to keep our city safe, and we promise that we are working diligently to support our students, families, and staff members through these closures.
Important Reminders
Healthy meals are available to our students.
Since our schools closed, over 2.1 million free grab-and-go meals have been provided to CPS families. Families can continue to pick up grab-and-go meals at their neighborhood CPS school from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Remote learning will begin on April 13, 2020.
Earlier this week, we announced our Pre-K–12 remote learning plan to keep our students engaged, learning, and connected to their school community during the closure.
- Remote learning assignments and activities will only improve student grades. Our aim is to increase learning, not to negatively impact our students during school closures.
- The district will be distributing more than 100,000 devices to help narrow the digital divide during this period.
- Please visit cps.edu/remotelearning, to learn more.
You can take crucial actions every day to help protect yourself and your community.
- If you’re sick, stay home.
- Practice social distancing.
- Wash your hands often.
- Support one another by resisting stigma.
- Stay informed by visiting chicago.gov/coronavirus and cps.edu/coronavirus.
If you need help locating medical care, please reach out to the CPS Office of Student Health and Wellness at oshw@cps.edu or by calling the CPS Command Center at 773-553-KIDS (5437).
We will get through this together.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Parents, Families, and Staff,
This past month has been an unprecedented challenge for all of us. As difficult as it has been to see our normal lives put on pause, we are incredibly proud of our CPS family and how you have moved to protect the health of our city. Today, Governor Pritzker announced that the state-wide mandated school closures will be extended through April 30.
As hard as this is, it is what we need to do in order to keep our city safe, and we promise that we are working diligently to support our students, families, and staff members through these closures.
Important Reminders
Healthy meals are available to our students.
Since our schools closed, over 2.1 million free grab-and-go meals have been provided to CPS families. Families can continue to pick up grab-and-go meals at their neighborhood CPS school from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Remote learning will begin on April 13, 2020.
Earlier this week, we announced our Pre-K–12 remote learning plan to keep our students engaged, learning, and connected to their school community during the closure.
- Remote learning assignments and activities will only improve student grades. Our aim is to increase learning, not to negatively impact our students during school closures.
- The district will be distributing more than 100,000 devices to help narrow the digital divide during this period.
- Please visit cps.edu/remotelearning, to learn more.
You can take crucial actions every day to help protect yourself and your community.
- If you’re sick, stay home.
- Practice social distancing.
- Wash your hands often.
- Support one another by resisting stigma.
- Stay informed by visiting chicago.gov/coronavirus and cps.edu/coronavirus.
If you need help locating medical care, please reach out to the CPS Office of Student Health and Wellness at oshw@cps.edu or by calling the CPS Command Center at 773-553-KIDS (5437).
We will get through this together.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Families and Supporters,
Today, the district is announcing a Pre-K–12 remote learning plan as part of our response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. While this plan will not replace the classroom learning experience or completely bridge the digital divide that exists in our city, it is a full-throttle effort from the district to empower our educators and provide them with the resources they need to engage students in high-quality learning opportunities while schools are closed.
This plan is not a one-size-fits-all approach—every school community is different, and each school will be notifying families of their plans by April 6, and in alignment with new guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education, remote learning plans will begin April 13, following our scheduled spring break.
Remote learning will only improve a student’s academic standing.
Students will be offered both digital and non-digital learning options, as well as dedicated “office hours,” where students and families can receive support from teachers via Google Meet, phone, or email. While students are expected to complete assignments and schools are able to grade work, grades will be counted only if they improve a student’s grade and will not negatively impact any student’s academic standing. Students who do not engage in academic work can be issued an incomplete and will be expected to make up incomplete assignments following the remote learning period.
The district will be distributing more than 100,000 devices to narrow the digital divide.
We recognize that a significant digital divide exists in our city and throughout the country, and schools will ensure that families who lack access to technology can utilize printed materials that will be created by the district. And while we are taking steps to help ensure instructional resources exist in a variety of formats, we are also taking seriously our responsibility to help narrow that digital divide. Utilizing socioeconomic data and hardship indicators, and working in close collaboration with our school principals, the district will be distributing 65,000 school-based Chromebooks, laptops and iPads; 37,000 new devices; and additional devices through potential philanthropic contributions. In total, we will distribute more than 100,000 devices to families in the weeks ahead to ensure our students have significantly more access to electronic learning resources.
Remote learning will begin Monday, April 13 and remain in place until schools reopen—which is currently scheduled for Tuesday, April 21. However, should the need arise, we designed our remote learning plan to support our students’ academic progress if the closure is extended further.
The road ahead is uncharted territory for all of us, but we could not ask for a more dedicated and talented group of educators to stand beside as we blaze this new trail. We are fully prepared to support our principals and educators as they make plans to educate our students remotely, and we are confident our remote learning plan provides the framework and tools for our teachers to succeed.
Schools will share detailed information about their remote learning plans with families prior to the start of spring break on Monday, April 6. In the meantime, enrichment resources for students are available at www.cps.edu/remotelearning. CPS will update these resources every two weeks.
We want to thank everyone for their patience as we flesh out our response to this public health emergency, and we promise to continue updating all CPS stakeholders as decisions are made and new resources become available. There are many outstanding questions left to be addressed including graduation, college entry, grade promotion, and admission to selective-enrollment schools. Our commitment to you is that we will be transparent and continue providing regular updates.
We thank you for your continued support during this challenging time and hope all in our CPS community remain healthy and safe. Please remember to stay at home and practice social distancing whenever you are out. This is how we will achieve what we all want, which is to slow the spread of COVID-19 and see our students and staff return to school as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Community,
We hope you and your families are doing well. During these uncertain times, it’s critically important that we all come together to support each other. We ask that you consider giving just a little more of yourself to your fellow Chicagoans. It’s these moments of give and take that will strengthen the bonds of our community.
To that end, today we are asking for your support in three vital ways:
- Volunteer to work with the children of Chicago’s First Responders. While first responders, healthcare professionals, and other essential personnel work on the frontlines during the fight against the spread of COVID-19, their families are in dire need of child care during this unprecedented time.
You can help by volunteering to provide child care for the family of one of these workers keeping our city going through Sittercity’s “Chicago Responds” program. Launched in partnership with the City of Chicago, the “Chicago Responds” program will connect members of the public and public-sector employees like yourselves with first responders who are looking for volunteers to provide sitter services in their homes. The program will also give all Chicago parents working as first responders free access to Sittercity Premium. Please consider donating your time to these local heroes and their families by signing up at www.sittercity.com/chicagoresponds.
If you are a licensed medical professional, please consider volunteering with the Illinois Medical Reserve Corps. Please help Illinois provide the surge capacity needed for public health emergencies. Additionally, volunteers of all backgrounds are welcomed and are encouraged to register. There will be a need for volunteers with all types of skills and expertise, such as those who are skilled in: interpretation (languages and hearing impaired); administration; transportation training; provision of daycare, IT and security services. Learn more at www.illinoishelps.net/ - Share information with essential workers on how to secure reliable, safe childcare during the school closure period. If you or someone you know are an essential worker in need of childcare during the school closure period, please consider using or sharing information on Chicago’s Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies helpline.
A dedicated helpline has been created so Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (CCR&Rs) can help connect essential worker families to emergency child care. Call toll-free (888) 228-1146. The helpline will be available from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM Monday through Friday to answer calls, but callers will be able to leave a message 24 hours a day. - Follow the statewide Stay at Home order to slow the spread of COVID-19. Under Governor Pritzker’s Stay at Home order, all Illinois residents have been asked to stay home except for essential needs and to maintain at least six feet of distance from others at all times. Earlier today, Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot implemented additional measures to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic through social distancing, including immediately closing the city’s Lakefront, Riverwalk, 606 trail, and all adjacent parks.
Please note that outside of food distribution, all CPS schools and playgrounds are closed to the public. The playgrounds in particular pose a high risk for transmission and it is critically important that we take these measures seriously and do our part to keep ourselves and our communities healthy.
We thank you for your support of our first responder families and everyone throughout the city of Chicago. This is an unprecedented challenge for all of us, and our team is committed to supporting you however we can. We will continue to keep you updated, and we look forward to welcoming you back to your schools as soon as possible.
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools - Volunteer to work with the children of Chicago’s First Responders. While first responders, healthcare professionals, and other essential personnel work on the frontlines during the fight against the spread of COVID-19, their families are in dire need of child care during this unprecedented time.
-
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Parents, Families, and Staff,
We are writing today to provide you with the latest updates on Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS’) response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). As you know, the situation is changing quickly, and the public health response is evolving, too.
During the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chicago, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) was focused most on containing the spread of COVID-19. These efforts meant identifying suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Chicago, finding and interviewing all direct contacts, and monitoring those contacts for the 14-day quarantine period. As the virus has moved into the community spread phase, CDPH is adapting its response to best keep our communities safe.
CDPH will continue to notify CPS if they learn of students or staff who test positive for COVID-19.
Upon verification from CDPH that a student or staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, CPS will notify and advise schools about the next steps, as appropriate, following the guidance of CDPH. Persons believed to have had close contact with verified cases will be advised in a manner consistent with the most up-to-date guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Starting March 31, 14 days after schools were closed, CPS will no longer notify school communities to self-quarantine if a member of their school community tests positive, with the exception of emergency personnel who continue to diligently work in our schools. School-wide notifications are no longer necessary following the 14-day window because there is no longer a risk that transmission occurred while school was in session.
Help fight the spread of rumors and protect the privacy rights of our community.
Despite our fears, we cannot abandon our commitment to treating others with respect and dignity, nor can we violate others’ privacy or protected health information. Sharing unconfirmed information about those who have tested positive for COVID-19 will not contain the spread of the virus, but it can potentially hurt community members by isolating and stigmatizing them. Discrimination and stigma will make the pain that this pandemic has caused even worse. It is everyone’s responsibility to protect personal health information during the COVID-19 health crisis.
It is important to note that each person has the right to control their own personal health information, and the district cannot require employees, students, or their families to disclose.
We are committed to supporting each of our school communities through this pandemic, and we will continue to send regular updates about the district’s response and how we are working to keep our students and staff members healthy and safe. Please stay up to date on the actions we all can take to help minimize the spread of COVID-19 using trusted sources (e.g., the CDC, the CDPH, and CPS).
We are here for you. Contact OSHW at oshw@cps.edu or 773-553-KIDS (5437) if you need help locating medical care or have questions.
We want to acknowledge that our world seems to change in the blink of an eye. Uncertainties raise so many questions. We ask that you take care of yourselves and each other. Physical distances may be necessary to minimize our risk, but social cohesion and emotional closeness will keep us well.
Sincerely,
Kenneth Fox, MD
Chief Health Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsAllison Arwady, MD
Commissioner
Chicago Department of Public Health -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Parents, Families, and Staff,
Earlier today, Governor Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order starting Saturday, March 21 at 5 p.m. through April 7, 2020, and Mayor Lightfoot ordered all Chicago parks to close at close of business today and libraries to close at 12 p.m. tomorrow to slow the spread of COVID-19. We support the Governor’s decision to prioritize the health and wellbeing of everyone in our state.
We understand that this decision will present additional challenges for our students and their families, and remain committed to leveraging the district’s resources to support families through this time. From meals, to information, to enrichment activities to help keep students engaged, we will continue coming together to support each other as one district, one family. I want to thank all of our custodians, building engineers, school administrators, nutrition, Safe Passage, and security staff who have worked tirelessly so our schools could provide more than half a million meals to our families in need. We will continue to offer free packages of food that contain three days worth of meals for every child in a household between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. every weekday.
We also recognize that there remain many issues to resolve such as grade promotions, admissions to selective schools, and high school graduation. The district is working through these issues now and we are committed to updating families as soon as possible.
The challenges we will face in the days ahead are unprecedented, but not insurmountable. We thank you for your patience and support and promise to keep you updated as the situation develops.
For the most reliable information regarding COVID-19, please visit www.chicago.gov/coronavirus or www.cdc.gov/coronavirus. For school-specific updates, visit www.cps.edu/coronavirus. If you need help locating medical care, please reach out to the CPS Office of Student Health & Wellness at oshw@cps.edu or by calling the Healthy CPS Hotline 773-553-KIDS (5437).
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Parents, Families, and Staff:
As Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot announced tonight, Chicago Public Schools will remain closed until Tuesday, April 21, 2020. While we want to reopen schools as soon as possible, this is a very serious challenge and we support the mayor’s decision to prioritize the health and wellbeing of our city. As the situation develops, we will continue to provide families with regular updates.
We recognize the significant impact the closures have had on every member of our school community, and we remain committed to doing all we can to support our students and families in the days ahead. Since the beginning of the closure, we have provided more than 90,000 packages of food to our families in need, and we will continue to offer free packages of food that contain three days worth of meals for every child in a household. Thanks to the incredibly dedicated staff who are supporting this effort in our schools, food can be picked up between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. every weekday. In addition to the amazing food service workers, thank you to our principals, assistant principals, and network staff for the support.
Due to the extended closure period, it is necessary for the district to reassess significant events on the school calendar and annual student and school assessment timelines and procedures. As a result of today’s decision, the district will seek a one-year waiver from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) on the district’s School Quality Rating Policy (SQRP) and recommend to the Chicago Board of Education that we maintain the current SQRP ratings and carry them forward into next school year. Given the unprecedented situation we are in, carrying over SQRP ratings is the best available and most fair option for our school communities.
In addition to the recommendation to carry over SQRP ratings, the district is also revising its assessment schedule based on the extended closure period. While the district continues to work through the long-term implications of the mayor’s decision, we are canceling end-of-year assessments including:
- NWEA
- STAR Assessment
- REACH Performance Tasks
We are working closely with ISBE, City Colleges of Chicago, the College Board, and our other partners to understand how this closure will impact other assessments such as the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, PSAT/SAT, Dual Credit/Dual Enrollment courses, and Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams as well as graduation requirements and grade promotion. While changes to the assessment calendar will likely be necessary, we are committed to ensuring students can access critical assessments tied to college entry, selective enrollment admission, graduation, and grade promotion.
We recognize that this is not an exhaustive list of all of the academic opportunities and policies impacted by this closure, and as decisions are made by the state and federal government, we will continue to provide you updates in a timely manner.
To help support students and families while class is not in session, the district posted enrichment resources and materials at cps.edu/enrichmentresources and provided students with hard copies of these materials prior to the beginning of the closure. Educators and parents can access these resources at cps.edu/enrichmentresources and build upon these materials as they see fit to keep children engaged through spring break. In the days ahead, we will be providing additional resources and guidance.
The challenges we face ahead are unprecedented but not insurmountable. We recognize there are a number of significant outstanding questions about our normal school policies and procedures, and we will provide updates and guidance as soon as possible. We will make it through this uncertain time together—as one district, one family.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsLaTanya D. McDade
Chief Education Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear Parents and Families,
The health and wellness of our CPS community is our top priority. Following orders from the state due to the COVID-19 health crisis, all district schools are now closed through Monday, March 30. I recognize the impact this closure will have on our community, and I know it will greatly burden our students, staff, and working families who rely on our schools. COVID-19 will not stop our work on behalf of children, and we are here to support you.
Here are several important reminders:
School Building Access and Food Assistance for Families
- Beginning on Tuesday, March 17, all school facilities will be closed for deep cleaning, and you will not be permitted to enter the building during the closure.
- While schools are closed, CPS will provide our students with healthy meals. CPS families can pick up free food boxes at any CPS school, with the exception of Vaughn Occupational High School and Sheridan Math and Science Academy, that will contain three days of breakfast and lunch for every student in the household. Food pick-up will be held outdoors, and Safe Passage workers will be on their normally assigned routes while families are getting meals. If you need assistance, please call the CPS Command Center at 773-553-KIDS (5437) or email familyservices@cps.edu.
Educational Enrichment
- Grade-level activity packets are available to PreK-12th grade students that include non-digital and digital activities for students. These packets will not be graded, and no work sent home with students during this period will be graded. Parents can download the grade-level packets at cps.edu/enrichmentresources. Copies of the packets will also be available at food distribution sites.
Use of Digital Platforms
- To ensure CPS is best protecting our students’ sensitive Personally Identifiable Information, such as their first and last name, date of birth, and other rostering information, we encourage schools to communicate with students and families only through CPS-approved products. However, if schools wish to suggest the use of non-approved web-based products, schools must duly inform parents and adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy should they communicate with students in the event of full or partial school closure. Keep in mind the following permitted and prohibited forms of communication:
Permitted- Email to student’s CPS email account
- Messaging through CPS Group Messaging App, like Google Hangout, from an employee CPS account to a student CPS account
- Bulk texting to groups of students as long as parent/guardian provides prior written permission for their child to receive the texts and they can opt-in to receiving the same notifications as their child
- Communicating with students via social media if the account is used for instructional, educational or extracurricular programs, principal has provided written approval of the account, and parents are notified of the social media account and purpose
Prohibited- Communicating individually directly with a student through the student’s personal mobile device
- Communicating via a student’s personal email account
- Use of personal social media accounts to conduct CPS business or communication with students
I encourage families to stay home unless seeking medical care. For the most reliable information, please visit www.chicago.gov/coronavirus or www.cdc.gov/coronavirus. For school-specific updates, visit www.cps.edu/coronavirus. If you need help locating medical care, please reach out to the CPS Office of Student Health & Wellness at oshw@cps.edu or by calling the Healthy CPS Hotline 773-553-KIDS (5437).
This is an unprecedented challenge for all of us, and our team is committed to supporting you however we can. We will continue to keep you updated, and we look forward to welcoming you back to your schools as soon as possible.
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear Parents and Families,
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is committed to keeping families informed, and we are writing to update you on the most current developments regarding the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) has recently alerted the district to a confirmed case of COVID-19 involving a member at Sheridan Math and Science Academy.
Per CDPH guidance, Sheridan will be closed starting tomorrow, Monday, March 16 and will reopen when district schools reopen on Tuesday, March 31. We are asking anyone who was in Sheridan on March 9 to stay home effective immediately through Monday, March 23. Staff will be placed on a paid leave of absence, and student absences will be excused.
Following orders from the state, the district is preparing to close all schools beginning Tuesday, March 17 through Monday, March 30. We encourage families to stay home unless seeking medical care. In the event that schools do not reopen on March 30, we encourage you to bring home personal items from school and plan accordingly.
Here are the latest updates.
School Building Access and Food Assistance for Families
- Beginning on Tuesday, March 17, all school facilities will be closed for deep cleaning. Plan accordingly and bring any personal belongings you wish to have home. You will not be permitted to enter the building during the closure.
- All CPS school sites will serve as food distribution sites for CPS students. Food pick-up will take place outside of the school building and begins at every school on Tuesday, March 17 and is scheduled from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Monday through Friday. CPS families can pick-up three days worth of meals at time, each with two meals per child. If you need assistance, please call the CPS Command Center at 773-553-KIDS (5437) or email familyservices@cps.edu.
Educational Enrichment
- The CPS Office of Teaching and Learning will provide grade-level activity packets for PreK-12th grade that include non-digital and digital activities for students. Parents can download the grade-level packets at cps.edu/enrichmentresources
Use of Digital Platforms
- To ensure CPS is best protecting our students’ sensitive Personally Identifiable Information, such as their first and last name, date of birth, and other rostering information, we encourage schools to communicate with students and families only through CPS-approved products. However, if schools wish to suggest the use of non-approved web-based products, schools must duly inform parents.
Acceptable Use Policy
- Administrators, teachers, and school staff are required to still adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy should they communicate with students in the event of full or partial school closure. Keep in mind the following permitted and prohibited forms of communication:
Permitted- Email to student’s CPS email account
- Messaging through CPS Group Messaging App, like Google Hangout, from an employee CPS account to a student CPS account*
- Bulk texting to groups of students as long as parent/guardian provides prior written permission for their child to receive the texts and they can opt-in to receiving the same notifications as their child*
- Communicating with students via social media if the account is used for instructional, educational or extracurricular programs, principal has provided written approval of the account, and parents are notified of the social media account and purpose
Prohibited- Communicating individually directly with a student through the student’s personal mobile device
- Communicating via a student’s personal email account
- Use of personal social media accounts to conduct CPS business or communication with students
For the most reliable information, please visit www.chicago.gov/coronavirus or www.cdc.gov/coronavirus. For school-specific updates, visit www.cps.edu/coronavirus. If you need help locating medical care, please reach out to the CPS Office of Student Health & Wellness at oshw@cps.edu or by calling the Healthy CPS Hotline 773-553-KIDS (5437).
The health and wellness of our students and staff are the district’s highest priority. We are working closely with local, state, and federal health officials to respond immediately to the situation, and we will provide regular updates as the situation develops.
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsKenneth Fox, M.D.
Chief Health Officer
Chicago Public Health -
Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear CPS Parents, Families, and Staff,
The past several weeks have been difficult as we’ve watched the COVID-19 health crisis impact countries around the world, and now our home. Today, Governor Pritzker announced that all Illinois schools, including Chicago Public Schools, will close beginning Tuesday, March 17 through Monday, March 30. Classes are currently scheduled to resume on Tuesday, March 31. School-sponsored activities, events, field trips, and athletic events are also canceled during this time.
I recognize the impact this closure will have on our community, and I know it will greatly burden our students, staff, and working families who rely on our schools. I want to assure you that COVID-19 will not stop our work on behalf of children. We are one family with one goal, and we are here to support you.
Important Information for Families and Staff
All school buildings will be closed for deep cleaning. Schools will be closed to all students and staff beginning Tuesday, March 17 through Monday, March 30. Only environmental cleaning experts will be allowed in school buildings along with essential staff. Families should not send their children to schools.
Healthy meals will be available to our students. We recognize that our schools provide healthy meals to many of our students, and we will be providing free food boxes that will contain three days of breakfast and lunches for every student in the household. All families will be able to pick up meals at their nearest CPS school beginning Tuesday, March 17, between 9 a.m and 1 p.m. daily. Lunchroom staff will prep, bag, and provide meals outside of the school building.
Schools will be sending enrichment resources and materials home with students. On Monday, March 16, school-based staff will send resources home in hard copy and online format. School-based staff members will also help students remember to take supplies, personal belongings, medications, and other materials home with them.
All full-time and regularly scheduled staff will be paid throughout this time. School staff will not have access to school buildings during the closure.
Central and network offices will be open only for emergency personnel. Emergency personnel are considered to be those who perform essential district functions. All other central and network office staff will be asked to telework or will be excused with pay. More information for staff will be forthcoming over the weekend.
Polling sites will remain at CPS locations. Deep cleaning at those schools will not begin until after the primary election.
If you have questions, email familyservices@cps.edu or call CPS Command Center at 773-553-KIDS (5437) until 7 p.m. tonight. We are working to update our Frequently Asked Questions, and encourage you to check here for updates later tonight. Specific guidance to principals and staff will be forthcoming.
If you need help locating medical care, please reach out to the CPS Office of Student Health and Wellness at oshw@cps.edu or by calling the CPS Command Center at 773-553-KIDS (5437).
- If you or your child has a fever, cough, or difficulty breathing and did not have direct contact with a COVID-19 positive person, please contact your primary care provider.
- If you are concerned that you or your child have had direct contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please contact the CDPH at coronavirus@chicago.gov or call 312-746-4835.
For the most reliable information about COVID-19, please visit:
- Chicago Department of Public Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Chicago Public Schools
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Parents, Families, and Staff,
Earlier today, Governor Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot affirmed that we will not be closing schools in Chicago or Illinois. Under their guidance, we are developing plans to ensure the health and safety of our communities. We are writing to provide the latest updates on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Chicago Public Schools (CPS).
New CPS Guidance on Travel and Group Activities
To help prevent community spread of COVID-19, CPS has issued restrictions on both travel and group activities. This guidance will be available in different languages later this week.
All travel conducted on behalf of the district beyond city limits is canceled through spring break.
All travel on behalf of the district, including school-sanctioned trips beyond Chicago city limits, are canceled through the end of Spring Break (April 12). Additional guidance will be issued for post-spring break travel in the upcoming weeks.
We know that schools and parents may have entered into contracts for school-sanctioned domestic and international trips, and principals are encouraged to contact the School Support Center for guidance on how to assist parents with recovering funds from providers and assess options for reimbursement.
While no personal domestic travel restrictions are in place at this time, we encourage everyone to closely monitor CDC Travel Guidance for up-to-date travel restrictions and necessary health precautions to limit your exposure to COVID-19. If you or your travel companion(s) are at higher risk of severe illness, you should avoid all nonessential travel.
Our international travel guidelines remain the same. All international trips on behalf of the district are canceled.
Anyone who has traveled to a location, including airport layovers, with widespread community transmission of COVID-19 (Level 2 or 3 Travel Health Notices) should stay home for 14 days after their return date. The district is providing a paid leave of absence to employees returning from a Level 2 or 3 location, and student absences will be excused.
If you return from travel and experience fever and respiratory symptoms, please contact your medical provider immediately.
We are limiting group activities and events. Sports will be suspended until further notice.
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced today that it has canceled its remaining winter State Series postseason tournaments, which include Boys Basketball, Scholastic Bowl, Drama & Group Interpretation, Music, Debate, and Journalism, over concerns related to COVID-19.
Essential school activities involving students and staff (i.e., lunch periods, recess, etc.) will proceed as normal. Non-essential activities (i.e., assemblies, pep rallies) or activities outside of the normal school day with more than 50 participants must be canceled or held virtually. In addition, group gatherings of fewer than 50 people must only be held if absolutely necessary.
After-school programming will continue as scheduled aligned to new guidelines on gatherings.
We are limiting visitors to CPS schools and facilities.
Effective immediately, principals will limit any non-essential visitors to CPS schools, and schools must suspend the use of all indoor spaces by community organizations until further notice. In addition, CPS staff will only travel between schools or offices if such travel is essential to their work.
Complete details on travel and group gathering restrictions being issued by CPS can be found here.
We are committed to providing updates to the CPS community.
We are glad to report that no additional students or staff from Vaughn Occupational High School have tested positive for COVID-19. Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) officials are continuing to test those who have shown symptoms of the virus, but this news is encouraging. All students and school staff from Vaughn, including clinicians, will remain self-quarantined until March 18, and we will continue to update you as testing proceeds. The district has also begun making food deliveries for families who lack transportation and will continue to provide other supports as needed.
Please be assured that if there is a positive case concerning an individual who has entered a CPS facility, CDPH will immediately notify our Chief Health Officer, and the district will immediately reach out to the school community with next steps. The best measures you can take at this time is to ensure your emergency contact information is up to date with your school and stay informed about how to keep you and your family healthy. Please refer to the trusted resources linked in the next section of this email.
Rely on trusted information.
As the situation with COVID-19 develops, CPS will continue issuing email updates. We’ve also developed an FAQ for students, families, and staff. For the most reliable information about COVID-19, please visit:
- District letters and resources in other languages will be available on the website tomorrow. Principals, please share translated materials with your communities as needed.
- Chicago Department of Public Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Chicago Public Schools
Support is available to you.
- If you need help locating medical care, please reach out to the CPS Office of Student Health and Wellness at oshw@cps.edu or by calling the Healthy CPS Hotline 773-553-KIDS (5437).
- If you or your child has a fever, cough, or difficulty breathing and did not have direct contact with a COVID-19 positive person, please contact your primary care provider.
- If you are concerned that you or your child have had direct contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please contact the CDPH at coronavirus@chicago.gov or call 312-746-4835.
We thank you for your continued patience and support as we work to ensure that all in our CPS family remain safe and healthy during this challenging time.
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsKenneth Fox, M.D.
Chief Health Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Parents, Families, and Staff,
We are writing to provide the latest updates on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) officials have continued testing Vaughn students and staff who have shown symptoms of COVID-19, and thankfully, there are still no positive results. All students and school staff, including clinicians, remain self-quarantined until March 18. I know this situation is stressful, and I want to sincerely thank each of you for your patience and support of the Vaughn community during this time.
Earlier today, the district was made aware that a CPS parent contracted COVID-19 while traveling abroad. This individual did not enter any CPS schools and CDPH is not recommending closure at this time. This situation would be classified as a secondary exposure for the students and staff at the school, and it’s important to note that exposure to COVID-19 does not necessarily mean transmission.
The family members who had direct contact with the diagnosed individual are now under self-quarantine for the recommended 14-day period. We wish their family well and hope for a speedy recovery.
As the situation develops, let’s continue to treat everyone in the CPS family with kindness and respect. As a district, we must create an environment that empowers people to come forward and report if they’re ill. Stigmatizing COVID-19 will only make us more anxious and ensure community spread.
In close consultation with CDPH, we are developing a plan of action should other members of any school community be diagnosed with COVID-19, and we will be sharing details as soon as possible. This week, we will also share a live FAQ with responses to questions that we have received in the past week from families and staff.
I also want to clarify a few points of confusion that I have been hearing and seeing on social media.
- At the direction of public health experts at CDPH, there are no plans to close any other schools at this time. Vaughn remains an isolated incident of COVID-19 at a CPS school.
- Testing for COVID-19 is only a useful option if someone presents with symptoms of the virus (e.g., fever, cough, and shortness of breath). Testing those who are not symptomatic would not provide us with reliable results and potentially, false negatives.
- CDPH Commissioner Dr. Arwady has addressed many of these concerns during her regular updates to the public.
We will continue to keep you informed as this situation develops. For the most reliable information about COVID-19, please visit:
- Chicago Department of Public Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Chicago Public Schools
If you need help locating medical care, please reach out to the CPS Office of Student Health and Wellness at oshw@cps.edu or by calling the Healthy CPS Hotline 773-553-KIDS (5437). If you or your child has a fever, cough, or difficulty breathing and did not have direct contact with a COVID-19 positive person, please contact your primary care provider. If you are concerned that you or your child have had direct contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please contact the CDPH at coronavirus@chicago.gov or call 312-746-4835.
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
Dear CPS Parents, Families, and Staff,
We are writing to provide the latest update regarding Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) at Vaughn Occupational High School. We are happy to report that as of now, this case remains an isolated incident at Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Over the weekend, Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) officials tested Vaughn students and staff who have presented symptoms of COVID-19. Thankfully, as of now, there are no positive results. The district is also expected to finish a thorough environmental cleaning of Vaughn today.
As a parent of CPS students, I know how concerning this situation can be. We have been providing daily updates for everyone in the district because I know everyone is concerned for the health and wellbeing of the Vaughn community. We are one family, one district, and we’re going to face this challenge together. It’s critically important that our students, families, and staff at Vaughn know that we will support them through this time.
If one of your teachers or students has a loved one who is under self-quarantine, please understand what they’re going through and respond with all of the kindness and support that I know our district is capable of showing. As this situation unfolds, it’s critically important that we continue to support and look out for one another.
CDPH has also received questions about whether or not all students and staff at Vaughn should be tested for COVID-19. It is important to understand that testing is only a useful option if someone presents with symptoms of the virus (e.g., fever, cough, and shortness of breath). Testing those who are not symptomatic would not provide us with reliable results.
Right now, these are the most important things you can do to protect yourself and your school community:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Stay home when you are sick.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
We know that the news surrounding COVID-19 can be alarming and confusing. However, we stand united as a district in support of the Vaughn community. COVID-19 does not distinguish between race, nationality, or geographic borders. It is extremely important to fight stigma and discrimination in our district and to treat others with support and respect instead of fear and misinformation.
As a reminder, please ensure the district has accurate emergency contact information. We will continue to keep you informed as this situation develops. For the most reliable information about COVID-19, please visit:
- Chicago Department of Public Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Chicago Public Schools
If you need help locating medical care, please reach out to the CPS Office of Student Health & Wellness at oshw@cps.edu or by calling the Healthy CPS Hotline 773-553-KIDS (5437). If you or your child has a fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, please contact the CDPH at 312-746-SICK (7425).
Sincerely,
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools -
Dear CPS Parents, Families, and Staff,
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is committed to providing you with updates regarding the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) at Vaughn Occupational High School. Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) staff have and will continue to work through the weekend to ensure contact with students, faculty, and staff at Vaughn. In addition, CDPH is testing certain students or staff with COVID-19 symptoms, and the district has nearly completed a thorough environmental cleaning of Vaughn. As a precautionary measure, CPS Facilities staff will also begin disinfecting high-touch areas, such as handrails, light switches, and doorknobs, in all schools on a daily basis.
For more details on the steps the district is taking to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus among the Vaughn community, please reference the comprehensive update we provided yesterday on cps.edu/coronavirus. The update is now posted on the website in Spanish, Polish, Urdu, Arabic, and Simplified Chinese.
Please Ensure the District Has Accurate Emergency Contact Information
As this is an evolving situation, it is critical that all of our parents, families, and staff receive the most up-to-date information from the district and can be contacted in case of an emergency. We strongly encourage all parents and families to confirm their emergency contact information with their schools, and we ask staff to update their contact information with the district.
Going forward, we are requesting that all schools keep an accurate visitors log with contact information including email and phone numbers.
We will continue to keep you informed as this situation develops. For the most reliable information, please visit:
- Chicago Department of Public Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Chicago Public Schools
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsAllison Arwady, MD
Commissioner
Chicago Public Health -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
March 7, 2020
Dear CPS Parents, Families, and Staff,
We are writing to provide you another update on the most current developments and guidance regarding the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). At the moment, the confirmed case involving a classroom assistant at Vaughn Occupational High School remains an isolated incident and public health officials believe the immediate health risk to the general public and the broader CPS community remains low.
We understand that families and staff have questions about connections to the Vaughn school community.
People who have been at Vaughn since Tuesday, February 25 are being asked to stay home unless seeking medical care or given other direction. This applies to all students, staff, and service providers who were in the building since February 25. To reiterate, these individuals should not leave their homes through Wednesday, March 18, unless given other direction by the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH).
People who were not at Vaughn between February 25 and March 6 do not have restrictions at this time, even if they have been in contact with someone at Vaughn. They can attend work and school, as long as they are not sick. This applies to:
- Family members, care providers or those who share a household with Vaughn students, staff, and service providers
- Students, faculty and staff at other schools or other members of the community who may have come into contact with members of the Vaughn community
- Students who shared the bus with Vaughn students
As always, and especially during flu season, anyone who becomes sick with a fever, cough, or difficulty breathing needs to stay home. Contact your medical provider with questions.
An update was shared with the Vaughn community late last night, and CDPH staff are working throughout the weekend to call all students, faculty and staff. Beginning this weekend, Vaughn students or staff who have symptoms will begin to be tested for COVID-19. This testing must be approved by CDPH and an appointment is needed, which will be arranged through CDPH.
Based on CPDH guidance, CPS has begun a thorough cleaning of Vaughn Occupational and removed the buses that serve Vaughn students for additional cleaning according to CDC-recommended cleaning protocols. In addition, high traffic areas in all schools will also be cleaned, and schools will begin receiving additional cleaning wipes and hand sanitizers beginning Monday.
Our top priority is the health and safety of CPS students and staff, and we will continue to follow the guidance of local, state, and federal health officials in this evolving situation. CDPH has developed an FAQ that we will be updating regularly as the situation develops.
While we understand that this is a concerning development, it is critically important that our community share only trusted sources of information and not spread misinformation.
For the most reliable information, please visit:
- Chicago Department of Public Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Chicago Public Schools
We are working closely with local, state, county and federal health officials to respond to the situation and will continue to keep you informed as the situation develops.
Janice K. Jackson, EdD
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsAllison Arwady, MD
Commissioner
Chicago Public Health -
Translations - [ SPANISH ]
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is committed to keeping families informed, and we are writing to update you on the most current developments regarding the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) has recently alerted the district to a confirmed case of COVID-19 involving a staff member at Vaughn Occupational High School. The district is working with the CDPH to conduct an assessment of any person who may have come into contact with the individual.
While we understand this is a concerning development, at the moment this remains an isolated incident and public health experts believe the immediate health risk to the general public remains low. Our top priority is the health and safety of our students and staff, and we will follow the guidance of health experts in this evolving situation.
At this time, the district is not considering closing schools based on the recommendation of local health authorities. Here are steps the district has taken to keep our students and staff safe.
- We’ve issued comprehensive guidelines to staff, which include preventing any staff member from entering our schools for 14 days after returning from a location (including airport layovers) with widespread community transmission of COVID-19 (Level 2 or 3 Travel Health Notices). We are also offering a paid leave of absence to employees who are sick and do not have a sufficient number of sick days. You can view our staff guidance document.
- To ensure our schools have sufficient supplies, our Facilities Department has pre-ordered additional hand washing soap, disinfecting solution, and surface wipes.
- The district will be distributing Wash Your Hands signage, in accordance with DCPH and CDC guidelines, to each of our facilities.
For the most reliable information, please visit www.chicago.gov/coronavirus or www.cdc.gov/coronavirus. For school-specific updates, visit www.cps.edu/coronavirus. If you need help locating medical care, please reach out to the CPS Office of Student Health & Wellness at oshw@cps.edu or by calling the Healthy CPS Hotline 773-553-KIDS (5437).
The health and wellness of our students and staff are the district’s highest priority. We are working closely with local, state, and federal health officials to respond immediately to the situation, and we will provide regular updates as the situation develops.
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Translations - [ ARABIC | CHINESE | POLISH | SPANISH | URDU ]
Dear Parents and Guardians,
The health and safety of our students and staff is our top priority, and we are writing to update you on the most current recommendations of local, state, and federal health authorities regarding health risks associated with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). In partnership with the Chicago Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the district is working to ensure our schools are safe for students and staff.
Based on what we’ve seen in affected countries, COVID-19 can cause mild to severe respiratory illness and children seem to be less likely to become ill. The virus appears to be transmitted through person-to-person contact and health authorities expect more cases may occur in Chicago and the United States. Practicing basic hygiene such as washing your hands regularly with soap is the best way to stop the transmission of the virus.
In order to keep our students, staff, and our fellow Chicagoans safe, the district has partnered with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) to issue the following guidance.
If you’re sick, stay home.
- CPS staff or students who have traveled to a location with widespread community transmission of COVID-19 should stay home for 14 days after their return date.
- Search COVID-19 risk assessment by country at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/
- Student absences will be marked as excused.
- For more information, please see this fact sheet from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “What to do if you are sick” [Spanish] [Simplified Chinese].
- All sick students and employees (with symptoms of respiratory illness such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath) should consult their health care provider and stay home from school or work until their symptoms resolve.
- Student absences will be marked as excused.
- Students who are sick will be sent home immediately. We will contact you to schedule a pick-up.
- Please ensure your child’s school has your most up-to-date contact information.
- Parents/guardians of children with chronic conditions (like asthma) should work with their health care providers to ensure any necessary rescue and controller medicines are on hand and take special care to keep the illnesses well-managed and under control.
- If you need help identifying a source of primary medical care, please call 773-553-KIDS.
Practice good hygiene.
- Washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds is best, especially if they are visibly dirty. An alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol is a suitable alternative.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands.
According to local health authorities, no special disinfection products or methods are recommended at this time. The district has ordered additional cleaning wipes and sanitizers and will be delivering it to schools as soon as possible, in addition to performing routine cleaning and ensuring schools continue to be stocked with cleaning supplies.
As testing of COVID-19 becomes more widely available, we may begin to see new cases in the coming days and weeks. CPDH along with state and federal authorities may issue new guidance, and we will keep you updated on changes and its impact on our schools. At this time, the district is not considering closing schools based on the recommendation of local health authorities.
Finally, COVID-19 does not distinguish between race, nationality, or geographic borders. Stigma and discrimination against the afflicted discourages early reporting of symptoms and further perpetuates community spread. If you believe your child has been the victim of discrimination, please contact the Office of Student Protections and Title IX (OSP) by phone at 773-535-4400 or email at osp@cps.edu.
For the most reliable information, please visit www.chicago.gov/coronavirus or www.cdc.gov/coronavirus. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the CDPH Coronavirus hotline at 312-746-4835 or email coronavirus@chicago.gov. You may also reach out to the CPS Office of Student Health & Wellness at oshw@cps.edu or by calling the Healthy CPS Hotline 773-553-KIDS (5437).
Sincerely,
Kenneth Fox, MD
Chief Health Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsAllison Arwady, MD
Commissioner
Chicago Department of Public Health -
Translations - [ CHINESE | SPANISH ]
Dear Parents and Guardians,
The health and safety of our students and staff is our top priority, and we are writing to update you on the most current recommendations of city and federal health authorities regarding health risks associated with the novel (new) coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
While the health risk of 2019-nCoV to the general public remains low in Chicago and the United States, we all have a part to play to keep our city, schools, and homes safe. Most families do not need to change their normal activities. However, due to the recent increase of 2019-nCoV transmission across China, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) along with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend the following:
- CPS staff or students who have returned from mainland China on or after February 3, 2020 should stay home for 14 days after their return date. Student absences will be marked as excused.
- Family members of affected staff and students should also stay home if they traveled to mainland China, and contact their primary care provider.
- CPS staff or students who returned from mainland China prior to February 3, 2020 can remain in school if they have not developed symptoms such as fever, cough, or difficulty breathing.
- This interim guidance from CDPH is effective as of February 3, 2020 and does not apply retroactively to students who have been in China during the previous 14 days and are already in the United States, or those being managed as part of a contact investigation.
If you have recently traveled from mainland China before February 3, 2020 and have developed respiratory symptoms that include fever, cough, and difficulty breathing, please call your primary care provider. We urge you to call ahead for advice before going to any doctor’s office or emergency department to help prevent unnecessary exposure of others to contagious illnesses.
We will keep you up to date on CDPH guidance. For the most reliable information, please visit www.chicago.gov/2019-nCoV or www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the CDPH Coronavirus hotline at 312-746-4835 or email coronavirus@chicago.gov. You may also reach out to the CPS Office of Student Health & Wellness at oshw@cps.edu.
Kenneth Fox, MD
Chief Health Officer
Chicago Public SchoolsAllison Arwady, MD
Commissioner of Health
Chicago Department of Public Health