USD 383 Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marvin Wade has issued a letter to the school district.
With the August 12 start of school now less than seven weeks away, safely reopening schools in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic obviously remains a major focus within USD 383.
Wade said the school district continues to work closely with the Riley County Health Department, to monitor summer programs, and to incorporate best practices from other places whenever they appear applicable to our schools and community. Although a reopening plan will not be unveiled until later in July, the four district reopening planning teams continue to meet and will be providing a progress report during the July 1 meeting of the USD 383 Board of Education.
Online Registration opens Monday, July 20 for the upcoming school year. This is two weeks later than in previous years because USD 383 will be adding a COVID-19 component to the registration process. More specifically, parents will be asked to identify a preference for each of their children from a menu of educational choice options. More information about these options and the preference selection process will be widely distributed prior to the opening of Online Registration.
Central Registration will be held Friday, July 24 at Manhattan High School West Campus. The hours will be 7:00 am-6:00 pm, and all participants will be required to wear a face covering and follow safety guidelines to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
For more information about Online Registration and Central Registration, please refer to the USD 383 website at www.usd383.org.
As mentioned previously, USD 383 is requesting that ALL iPads and Kajeets loaned to families during the Continuous Learning Plan or Summer Virtual STEM Academy be returned to the district by Monday, July 6. Devices may be returned to Robinson Education Center (2031 Poyntz Avenue) between 8:00am and 5:00 pm on weekdays except July 3 (closed for the holiday). The devices need to be collected so they can be reconfigured and redeployed as part of a plan to provide each student with a device that may be used both at school and at home.
During its June 24 meeting, the USD 383 Board of Education approved the purchase of 2600 iPads. When added to our existing inventory, this will allow every USD 383 student in grades K-12 to have an iPad and iPad case that may be used at both school and home. It is anticipated that the new iPads will be received by early August, with distribution to students to occur later that month. This action is in response to our strong belief that a Distance Learning component must be available to all students given the uncertainty of COVID-19’s impact during the 2020-2021 school year.
During its June 24 meeting, the USD 383 Board of Education also approved the purchase of access points and hotspots for installation on USD 383 buildings and those of community partners. These access points and hotspots will provide Internet access in locations around the district for students. These locations will not provide students Internet access in their home but will provide locations closer for them to connect (families may need to travel a short distance to the access point or hotspot location for connectivity).