District 64 2021-22 Planning Update
At District 64 administrators continue to plan for the coming 2021-22 school year. We have offered two opportunities for parents of children 12 and up to have District 64 students receive COVID-19 Vaccinations. If you're unable to attend those, but still wish to have your child vaccinated outside of District 64, please click here for information from the Cook county Department of Public Health.
District 64 students have been back to in-person learning five days a week since Monday, March 29, the first school day following Spring Break. Some parents have opted to choose a full-remote learning option for their children. District 64 is no longer offering a hybrid option for the 2020-21 school year.
Masks:
The CDC came out with new guidelines recently in regard to masks. They followed up with an additional announcement in regard to schools, which stated that school districts should keep all safety protocols and guidelines in place until the end of this school year.
What this means for us is that all adults and students must wear a mask inside our buildings at all times (unless eating or drinking). We ask that adults and children keep wearing a mask when they are outside on school property. If people are at least 6 feet from each other, then the masks can be taken off outside. I very much want to minimize the amount of students who may need to miss the end of the school year due to quarantine. Please work with us to maintain these guidelines for the next couple of weeks.
The 2021 - 2022 School Year:
In general - At this time we are still waiting for guidance from the State in regard to what the guidelines will be for next school year. All signs, however, point towards next year looking pretty close to normal. We will attend school full-time, five days a week, and all year, just as we did prior to the pandemic. I imagine there will still be some guidelines in place until the vaccine is available for all children. We hope to receive this guidance soon.
Remote learning - At this time, we don't know if remote learning will exist next school year. We’ve heard of many different possibilities from Springfield and are currently awaiting guidance in this area as well. As soon as we have more information, we will share it with you.
Travel Restriction Recommendations:
The Cook County Dept. of Public Health put out guidelines in regard to travel. As we have had before, District 64 recommends the same guidance when it comes to travel. I encourage you to click on this document so you can review all the guidelines, yet there are significant changes, such as traveling to certain states no longer requires quarantine upon return, as well as not needing to quarantine at all when traveling in the US if the vaccine has already been taken.
Lanyard Reminder
Please remember to check your child each morning for any COVID-19 symptoms using this assessment checklist. If your children are symptom-free, they should wear their lanyards to school to indicate this. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s school office.
Watching the numbers:
District officials continue to watch a couple sets of numbers in the COVID-19 metrics that could impact the schools. To view the data we’re watching, click on this user-friendly website. When the numbers get close to those thresholds, District 64 contacts the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) for guidance. To better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our schools, please watch the portion of the District 64 website featuring a dashboard of COVID-19 metrics from our in-person students and staff. These numbers will be updated each Friday afternoon.
Resources for families
We offer various ideas for helping parents and students deal with COVID-19 at home on our Parent Resource page. Find more free or temporarily free learning resources for teachers and parents to support student learning while Illinois’ schools are closed (from the Illinois State Board of Education). Information on finding low-cost internet connectivity for those who qualify is listed at the bottom of this page.
Park Ridge Police Chief Frank Kaminski wrote this letter for our District 64 families in hopes that it will reduce some of the concerns the police are receiving about young people’s behavior in public. While some District 64 families live outside of Park Ridge, the message is good for everyone in our community. Please discuss this with your children and help remind them to be kind and respectful of others.
Keeping kids healthy when school is closed: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) offers tips on protecting children from getting sick.
COVID-19 GUIDELINES: We are also providing you with recommended guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus.
Communications: This web page, dedicated to the Coronavirus, is found via a banner towards the top of the D64 home page. We also plan to continue to communicate to you regularly as long as the spread of the virus continues. Two things you can do to help:
Please contact the school office if your contact information has changed recently so we know the best way to reach you.
Please inform us if a student or family member is known to have been exposed to someone who has a confirmed case.
In the meantime, we’re providing you with additional information about influenza, Coronavirus and how to prevent the spread of illness within the school setting on the Health and Safety Tips page of our website. Other important links are listed here:
Click here for the latest Centers for Disease Control (CDC) information
FAQ's regarding Children and Coronavirus (CDC)
Know the Facts about COVID-19 (CDC)
How to talk with your children about Coronavirus (National Association of School Psychologists and National Association of School Nurses)
Park Ridge Library: Does someone in your family need a library card? You can get free access to ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines and newspapers from around the world, online databases on everything from cooking and crafting to live tutoring help with your card! Apply for a library card online. One of our team members will email you your library card number and pin so you can access online resources and your account right away. Remember to pickup your card and show proof of residency when the library reopens. For questions regarding your account including card expiration, resetting your pin on your account, renewals or overdue materials please email our Patron Services team at patronservices@prpl.org
FAMILY RESOURCES: Listed below are some resources for families to assist with food, clothing and other emergency needs. If any student or family member requires emergency mental health support, please dial 911.
Maine Stay Youth and Family Services
North/Northwest Suburbs Resource Directory
Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund
Mental / Emotional Health: The Call4Calm Emotional Support Line from the National Alliance on Mental Illness
Free Internet: Families who qualify for low cost internet may apply for Internet Essentials from Comcast or Access from AT&T. Comcast is now providing two months of free service to new qualifying customers, as well as opening up the Xfinity WiFi service to the public. To connect to Xfinity WiFi look for the “xfinitywifi” network name when searching for a WiFi network on your device. Open a browser to finish making the connection.
This site provides information using PDF, visit this link to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.