Primary School

UPDATES FOR THE UPCOMING 2020/2021 SCHOOL YEAR

**These plans are subject to change per the State of Arizona**

June 30, 2020

Dear Parents and Students,

We are excited for our return back to school and we can’t wait to see everyone.  However, due to Governor Doug Ducey’s announcement we will not have students on campus until August 17, 2020. However, we anticipate beginning online instruction on August 3, 2020. We will have more information regarding our plan for online instruction during the coming weeks. Please see the following link for resources available for childcare in our area https://arizonaenrichmentcenters.az.gov/

We know that there will be additional changes this year as our plan is fluid, and we greatly appreciate your patience and flexibility during this time.  While not everything has been decided, we wanted to let you know that our first priority is the safety of our children and our staff, and that we have taken the results of the survey you completed into great consideration.  We have done our best to consider the diverse needs of our population and are carefully following the CDC, as well as national and state guidelines.  Here are some things that we wanted to let you know about ahead of time. Administration continues to meet frequently to ensure that the school is making the best decision for our return to campus safely.

These are some items that have already been decided:

• For elementary classrooms, breakfast and lunch will be served in the classroom. Students will be allowed to be dropped off between 7:45-8:15 and they will go straight to their classroom to eat breakfast before beginning their day.  Lunch times will still be staggered so that classes can go to recess and then eat lunch in their room.   For junior high students, they will eat breakfast from 7:45-8:00 in the auditorium and lunchroom.  Junior high students will be eating lunch in the classroom, with boys eating first while girls are on the playground and then switching. We will also be minimizing and limiting the number of students in common areas, such as recess and the lunchroom.

• There will be at least two temperature-taking units.  All staff will go through the junior high office to have their temperature checked.  All students will enter on the elementary side as they have previously done. No students will be permitted to enter the Junior high office doors before school and parents may only enter the junior high office before school with an appointment.

• For additional safety, there will be spacing between desks.

• Additional cleaning will be done throughout the day.  We also plan to increase sanitization stations and increase breaks to allow for students to wash their hands more often.

• We will not be offering any after-school classes at this time in order to allow for extra cleaning.

• Children who become ill during the day will be kept separate from the other students until their parents can come to pick them up. Campus health office staff will continue to provide students with compassionate care and address medical issues as they arise.  All employees will be trained on health and safety protocols concerning communication and protocols regarding Covid-19 cases.

• Backpacks will be kept with the students and no longer placed on hooks.

• Face coverings will be permitted but not required at this time.

Possible schedule changes:

• All core subjects will be taught before 1:00 with most electives and specials taught in the afternoon. This will allow parents to pick up their students early if they are uncomfortable with them staying on campus all day.  Elementary special classes will occur in the afternoon for those students who remain on campus.

• Junior high students will be divided into cohorts (6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 8A, and 8B) and will go to their core classes with the same group of students from 8:00-1:00. Students that are in advanced or pull out classes will be placed in the same cohorts, respectively, so their individual academic needs will still be met. There will be a few elective classes the cohorts will attend together from 8:00-1:00 as well. After 1:00PM, students may be intermingled in order to participate in more elective classes. 

• We are formulating plans on how to conduct “meet the teacher” night and will let you know as soon as we have more information.  

• We understand that not everyone is ready to attend school on campus on August 17, 2020.  Therefore, we will continue to offer Google Classroom for those that are unable to attend due to health concerns or just not ready to return to school in person.  The instruction and assignments will need to be completed by the student and will be graded as if they were in the classroom on campus.  We will continue to work on additional contingency plans should things change, and the Arizona Department of Education not allow us to fully reopen our campus.

We are so blessed to have such amazing families be a part of our school.  We join with you in hoping that this pandemic ends soon and that we can get back to how things were.  We are continually working on keeping everyone safe and will inform all families with any additional changes that may occur.  We respect the fact that each Franklin family must make decisions that are in their personal best interest and we are here to provide support.  Also, please remember the following: Parents are responsible for determining their child’s health status before arriving at school, as well as responsible for keeping their child at home should they present with any symptoms of illness. 

FPPS remains in close communication with the Governor’s office and Arizona Department of Health and, should the pandemic situation change, we are prepared to modify our “return to school” action plan as needed. 

Until then, thank you for your continued support and help in keeping everyone safe and well.

Sincerely, 

Franklin Administration



PARENT SURVEY

2020-2021 School Calendar

JH Electives Form 

Please see updated letters for Junior High under the Junior High Classrooms tab!