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As coronavirus cases in the city and county continue to climb, schools have been grappling with the decision between returning to in-person classes, going online, or finding a way to mix the two. All plans being announced have the caveat that they may change with the rapidly shifting rates of the virus. Teachers and parents in the St. Louis Public School system recently protested the idea of returning to in-person classes due to safety concerns. Most public schools are giving parents the option of either sending their students back to in-person classes or going fully online. County Executive Sam Page encouraged parents to choose a virtual option if possible at a news conference Monday.
Here, in alphabetical order, are the guidelines districts have released for their 2020–2021 school years.
Public:
- Affton School District will do its first quarter of the year completely online. The district had previously said it would offer families a choice between in-person and online classes but announced that it would continue the virtual learning offered last semester.
- Bayless School District does not know how it will reopen yet but will offer a choice between in-person and online learning.
- Belleville Township High School District 201 plans to return with a hybrid model that will alternate when students attend school.
- Brentwood School District will give families a choice between traditional five-day-a-week in-person classes or virtual learning. In-person learning will involve new safety procedures, and the district website warns that school "can, and likely will," close again.
- Clayton School District families will have the choice of either in-person or online classes. In-person schooling can look one of three ways: completely in-person, a hybrid model with an alternating schedule, or fully online. The district plans to announce which model it will use by July 29, though its website says it is "very likely" it will begin the year with either the hybrid or fully online model.
- De Soto School District is giving parents and students the option of going fully remote or returning to normal in-person classes, with new safety and social distancing procedures. The district also outlines an accelerated learning curriculum all teachers will use to catch up from the sudden closure in March.
- Ferguson-Florissant School District will use entirely virtual learning for the first quarter. It plans to release more specific information closer to the beginning of the school year.
- Festus School District will offer an option of in-person or fully online. If needed, the school will use an "A/B schedule," in which students will alternate what days they attend in-person classes.
- Fox School District students, in Jefferson County, will be able to choose between an entirely virtual model or in-person classes. The in-person model includes three different potential scenarios: entirely in-person, or the "all-in" scenario; a hybrid model with students attending in-person two days a week and learning virtually the other three; and completely online learning.
- Fort Zumwalt School District in St. Charles County is giving families a choice between in-person and online classes. The in-person classes could be a traditional schedule of five days a week, a hybrid schedule in which students attend on alternating days, or fully online, if necessary.
- Francis Howell School District in St. Charles County will provide the option for either in-person or online learning. In-person classes will either be the traditional five days a week or a hybrid of in-person and online, with an alternating schedule, though the district is prepared to switch to fully online should schools need to close again.
- Hancock Place School District will give students and parents the option of in-person or online for every grade level except preschool. Preschool students will be required to be completely in-person. All grade levels will operate on a traditional five-day week for those who return to in-person, with reduced class sizes for social distancing.
- Hazelwood School District will be completely online for the beginning of the year, the district announced Tuesday. It gave parents the choice between entirely online school or a hybrid model of in-person and virtual classes, which would have students attending twice a week, with completely online instruction on Fridays, before deciding to have all students attend online.
- Hillsboro School District will have a choice between online learning or in-person school five days a week, with as much social distancing as possible.
- Kirkwood School District will begin the school year completely virtually. The district had proposed three variations for those who are comfortable returning to in-person learning, plus the option for students to go virtual, but the school board voted Tuesday to return to online. The in-person options were an "every student, every day" model, in which school would go on traditionally with increased social distancing and safety procedures; a blended model, which would have students on campus two days a week and learning virtually the other three; or entirely online.
- Ladue School District is offering a tiered approach, which gives three degrees of attendance for students: A traditional model, with social distancing; a hybrid model, where students would be in-person two days a week; or a fully online model. The district will decide which tier students will be in based on the number of COVID-19 cases, but it did not announce which tier it would be beginning the year with. Parents also have the option of choosing entirely online studies for their children.
- Lincoln County School District families will be able to choose whether they want to return to in-person or online classes. The in-person classes will begin in a traditional model, with the district able to decide whether it needs to shift to a hybrid or fully online model based on the number of cases.
- Lindbergh School District will offer a choice between in-person and virtual learning. How in-person classes occur will be determined by county guidance and other factors. There are three possible phases in what the district is calling its Green Light: traditional daily in-person classes, a hybrid model of two days a week, or completely online.
- Maplewood–Richmond Heights School District has decided it will begin the year online and pushed the start date back a week to September 1. It has also suspended its preschool program for the time being. The district previously gave three possible scenarios for returning to school: an entirely in-person model, in which students come to school five days a week; a hybrid model, in which pre-kindergarten and grade K-6 students attend five days a week, while grade 7–12 students attend two days a week and do virtual instruction the other three; or a fully online option.
- Mehlville School District plans for parents to choose between in-person or online learning. It proposed three levels of in-person schooling, which the district will decide among closer to the first day of school. The first is completely in-person; the second is a hybrid, in which half the student population would attend on alternating days; the third is entirely online.
- Northwest School District in Jefferson County is giving parents the option between in-person and virtual learning. In-person classes will operate normally, with social distancing and other safety measures in place.
- O'Fallon Township High School District 203 will offer a choice between in-person and online education. The in-person schooling will be a hybrid model. The district proposed two different possibilities, allowing students in-person either one or two days a week.
- Parkway School District announced that they will start the school year with virtual instruction only. The district previously announced a hybrid operation on July 20 and cited the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the St. Louis area as reasoning for the change.
- Pattonville School District will have the option of students returning to in-person classes or going completely online. For those returning to in-person, the district laid out three phases of learning students may follow, which will depend on the number of cases: in-person classes five days a week, with social distancing precautions; an alternating schedule in which half of the students would attend every other day and go completely online every Friday; or entirely online learning.
- Ritenour School District will begin its school year completely online. The district will monitor the number of cases in the area before determining when it will be safe to move to a hybrid system for students who want to return to in-person classes. In the hybrid system, students would come to campus two days a week on alternating days.
- Rockwood School District will use an alternating schedule for students who return to in-person, in which they will only be in the building two days a week, with Mondays being all online. It is also providing an online-only option.
- Saint Louis Public Schools will return to mostly virtual learning in the fall, pending approval of the superintendent's plan. The district offered students a choice between in-person and online classes, but have since announced all classes will be taught virtually, with "instructional support centers" for students whose families chose the in-person option. These students will learn virtually but with supervision and provided meals. Students will be able to decide whether they want to be taught by district teachers using district curriculum over Zoom or Microsoft Teams, or if they'd prefer the self-driven instruction of online learning platform Edmentum.
- Special School District is providing parents the option of sending their students back to school five days a week or keeping them at home, where they can either work virtually or through learning packets provided by the school.
- St. Charles School District will bring students and staff back full time for in-person classes, but parents can opt for full-time virtual learning. Students and staff will be required to wear masks and be subject to health screenings, as the district follows recommendations and guidelines from the area's health officials. The also has back up plans for a blended in-person and virtual learning or a full-time virtual schedule should health officials deem it necessary.
- Valley Park School District will also provide the option of in-person or online learning. Students who choose in-person will go to school all five days of the week, with social distancing measures in place. The online option will be split between elementary school and grades six through 12; younger students will receive both live and recorded instruction from teachers, while the older students will work completely self-paced.
- Webster Groves School District will offer families the choice of either in-person or online classes. The district will decide whether in-person means fully in-person, hybrid, or entirely online. The hybrid schedule will have students alternating two days a week with fully online days on Wednesdays.
- Wentzville School District in St. Charles County is giving families the option of returning to in-person classes or remaining fully online. The in-person classes could be on a traditional schedule, an alternating hybrid schedule, or completely online if the district needs to close.
- Windsor School District in Jefferson County will allow for either in-person or online learning. The district is offering a "flexible learning plan," in which students are given weekly instruction to help smooth the transition to online should the school have to completely close. The district also mentions a hybrid option should an increased number of cases cause a need for it, in which students would attend school on alternating days, with Wednesdays being completely online.
Private:
- The Archdiocese of St. Louis announced in a press release that students at its more than 100 schools will return to in-person classes. Each individual school will be responsible for creating its own specific reopening plan.
- St. Joseph's Academy announced it will use a hybrid approach, in which students can choose to return to school on alternating days or go completely online.
Charter:
- Confluence Academies families will have the choice of either traditional in-person classes with social distancing precautions or fully online learning.
- KIPP St. Louis will return to school entirely online for the first quarter. The district had previously proposed the option of hybrid classes with a rotating schedule having students in-person two days a week.
- Lift for Life Academy will give parents the option of enrolling their students fully online or in-person, using an alternating hybrid schedule.
- Premier Charter School is offering either traditional in-person or fully online classes. The in-person schooling will involve new social distancing measures.
- St. Louis Language Immersion School will offer an option between in-person and online learning. The school will use its new building to its advantage for in-person classes since its large size will allow for social distancing.
This story will be updated as more schools release their guidelines. For more information on each district's reopening plans, please visit their websites.
