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IMPORTANT UPDATES:

2020-21 School Year Reopening Plan

UPDATE: Monday, August 10, 2020

Given current safety considerations, AppleTree@Achievement Prep will not offer in-person seats for Essential Workers at this time because of the unique developmental needs of our youngest learners.  Achievement Prep (Kindergarten – Third Grade) will continue to offer in-person care options for scholars of Essential Workers.  Learn more here.

Please note that Parent Orientations have been re-scheduled for the week of August 24, 2020 to allow parents more time to adjust schedules.  Parents will be requested to come to the school to participate in a hands-on training to get scholars started with the virtual program.

UPDATE: Monday, August 3, 2020

Dear Achievement Prep and AppleTree @ Achievement Prep Families,

Thank you for the patience and flexibility you have shown through these uncertain times. We cannot say enough about how much we appreciate your partnership.

We are writing to announce that Achievement Prep and AppleTree @ Achievement Prep will start the 2020 – 2021 School Year virtually for all scholars. As you know, the health and safety of our staff and scholars has been our number one priority throughout this difficult time. Additionally, the first day of school for scholars will be August 24th.  Please mark your calendar with these Important Dates.

We hosted Virtual Parent Town Halls on August 3rd and 4th.  We shared our plans for the 2020-21 school year, including what virtual learning will look like and what you can expect from us as we begin the school year.  If you missed the Virtual Parent Town Halls, you can view the webinar recording or browse the powerpoint presentation.

Here are a few highlights for our robust, fully virtual program:

• Each scholar will receive a device to use for virtual learning;
• All scholars will be provided with supplies and materials to facilitate learning at home;
• Live and pre-recorded teaching, a strong curriculum, and access to teachers and school leadership;
• Families will also receive training on supporting scholars virtually.

We plan to offer in-person options for scholars of Essential Workers based on recommendations by the Department of Health and Mayor Bowser’s guidance.

Again, we appreciate your understanding as we navigate the changing circumstances around COVID-19. We will get through this together, ensuring the best possible education for your scholar.

Should you have any questions or concerns about our virtual program, please contact us at esremote@achievementprep.org or info@appletreeinstitute.org.

In partnership,
Yolanda Barber, Achievement Prep Principal
Erin Hindes, AppleTree @ Achievement Prep Principal

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. When is the first day of school for the 20-21SY?
A. Monday, August 24, 2020

Q. What is the school schedule?
A. The school day is MTRF 8:30AM – 3:30PM and W 8:30AM – 12:30PM.  Scholars will engage in both live AND pre-recorded learning daily and scholars will have a maximum of 4 hours of screen time per day.

Q. What learning options do you offer?  In-person?  Virtual?
A. We are offering fully virtual learning for our scholars through June.  If health conditions deem safe, we will return in-person sooner.  We have a very limited number of seats for in-person instruction for ‘Essential Workers’ (see more details below).

Q. What is an Essential Worker?
A. ‘Essential Worker’ is an official designation made by the employer. In this case, we are prioritizing scholars of police, fire dept., and hospitals/healthcare workers. These are deemed essential services during the pandemic. We wish we could service every scholar in person, but safety of scholars and adults alike will not allow this.

Q. I am an Essential Worker as described above. How do I sign my scholar up for in-person learning?
A. We’ve finalized the process for in-person instruction for Essential Workers. Communication was shared with families on Monday, August 10th.  Learn more here.

Q. What school supplies do I need to purchase for my scholar?
A. Achievement Prep will provide a chromebook and supply bin for each scholar, even if there’s more than one Achievement Prep scholar in the home.  Families should not have to purchase any materials for instruction, however, if you are interested in enhancing what we’ll provide, you may refer to our school supplies list.  Also, scholars will not be required to wear uniforms until we are all back together for in-person instruction.

Q. How will Achievement Prep prepare parents to help scholar?
A. We will host Parent Orientation during the week of August 24th.  At orientation, we will train parents on the platforms, provide materials and technology, and offer the opportunity for parents to meet teachers.

Q. What are the expectations for families?
A. See list below:

• Internet access required – all work will be performed and submitted online (no paper submissions);
• Core content and small group instruction will be offered daily;
• Intervention support will take place virtually;
• Scholars will be expected to meet virtual attendance requirements;
• Scholars will receive grades just as if they were in person;
• Scholars will also take all assessments on schedule (may require some in-person time);
• Families will receive feedback on scholar’s progress throughout the year.
  

Q. Will meals be provided during virtual learning?
A. Yes. We are still awaiting guidance from DC about how we can get meals to scholars. We anticipate that a system will be set up where you can come to school to grab meals for several days instead of having to travel back and forth daily.

Q: How are we making decisions to reopen school? Where are we getting our information to plan?
A. School leaders from all over DC, charter and DCPS, are in constant communication with the Deputy Mayor for Education, the Superintendent from OSSE and the DC Department of Health (DOH) regarding school reopening. All schools are taking lead from the Mayor. We meet as city leaders twice per week, and have constant informational and technical assistance sessions and updates in between those meetings. All DC schools are required to follow the guidance of the DC DOH regardless of what other regions or areas are doing. Like you, this is new for everyone. We are all learning and making the best decisions we can with the information we have at the time. As information changes and guidance changes, so will our plans and response to the same.

Q: How are we thinking about closing gaps given the amount of time lost at the end of 19-20SY?
A: The impact of COVID-19 and the achievement gap as a result of it is yet to be seen. Children across the country will bear the impact of this virus academically and we must all do what we can to close gaps. We are all unsure of how the missing time will play out. To provide us with data, ALL of our scholars, not just new scholars, will participate in Baseline Testing for All on Saturday, August 1 and Saturday, August 8 from 8-12:30pm. From that data, we will we will all be able to have better data-informed conversations about how we close learning gaps.

Q. Do I need to complete my health forms?
A. YES. Even though we are virtual, DC still requires all children enrolled in public schools to complete health forms, get vaccinated etc. In addition to notices you may have received from Dc Department of Health, the school nurse will be contacting you if we do not have record of your annual vaccinations. Please make sure you submit all enrollment documents, including health records, per the directions received from our enrollment teams.