9.29 Atlanta Public Schools Weekly News Tip Sheet (Week of September 28, 2020)

ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Office of Communications and Public Engagement
130 Trinity Avenue SW | Atlanta, Georgia 30303

 

Ian Smith, Executive Director
404-802-2855, office
404-603-6934, cell

ian.smith@atlanta.k12.ga.us

 

Seth Coleman, Media Relations Manager
404-802-2891, office
404-406-5570, cell
seth.coleman@atlanta.k12.ga.us

   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                     

September 29, 2020

 

Atlanta Public Schools Weekly News Tip Sheet
(September 28 – October 3)

Editors/Producers/Reporters: The following is a list of events, programs, accomplishments and/or initiatives occurring in Atlanta Public Schools (APS) this week. Please use it as a guide as you develop your coverage plans.

Members of the media are invited to attend all events on the Weekly APS News Tip Sheet. If you have an interest in these stories, please contact Seth Coleman, Media Relations Manager.  Thank you for your interest in Atlanta Public Schools!

 

APS Ask Parents/Guardians to Complete “Intent to Return Declaration” By October 10

APS Superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring will present a proposal for Phase II of the District’s reopening plan on Monday, October 5, at the monthly meeting of the Atlanta Board of Education. The proposed plan calls for the District to begin allowing certain students to return for face-to-face instruction on Monday, October 26, which is the start of the second nine weeks of school. APS administrators are finalizing the instructional learning model and amount of time for in-person learning.

As part of the phased approach, the District has identified students who would be eligible for a likely return to in-person learning first, if the community spread of COVID-19 continues to decrease. These students include:

  • All students in grades Pre-K through 2nd
  • Students in Special Education Low Incidence classrooms, which includes students attending regional, self-contained classes as follows:
    • Preschool Special Education
    • Autism Functional and Social Communication (all grades)
    • Moderate Intellectual Disabilities (all grades)
    • Severe/Profound Disabilities (all grades)
    • Deaf/Hard of Hearing Self-Contained (all grades)
    • GNETS (Georgia Network Educational Therapeutic Services – Oglethorpe Campus)

The “Intent to Return Declaration” form must be completed no later than Saturday, October 10. It is available on the APS website (www.atlantapublicschools.us) and may be accessed here:  https://dig.apsgraphs.com/ITR/.  Parents and caregivers will need their student’s “Student Number” and “APS Username” in order to complete the survey.

District leaders ask that all parents complete the form, even if their students are not part of this initial phase to return to in-person learning. Students of parents and/or caregivers who do not complete the survey by October 10, will remain in their current virtual instructional learning model – in either their local school or Atlanta Virtual Academy. Responses may be changed until the survey period closes on October 10.

 

APS Continues to Provide Free Meals to All Children Throughout the District

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently announced an extended Seamless Summer Option (SSO) waiver, which allows free meals to all children (ages 1-18) in communities designated as areas of community eligibility. On Sept. 9, the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) School Nutrition Program announced that the entire state of Georgia has been declared an area of community eligibility through Dec. 31, 2020.

Through this new guidance, Atlanta Public Schools (APS) families no longer need to register or order meals through MySchoolBucks. APS began providing free meals to all children (ages 1-18) in all communities throughout the District, on Monday, September 21, and will continue to offer students the weekly 5-day meal kits (5-breakfast meals and 5-lunch meals) by bus delivery and curbside pick-up.

 

Bus delivery stops can be found in the document below by scrolling to find your location, grouped by cluster. Nutrition will discontinue the Tuesday Express meal service.

Click here to locate meal distribution bus stop locations. Alternatively, curbside pick-up is available at these 14 school locations from 3 PM – 6 PM.

 

Carver Cluster

Carver High School, 55 McDonough Blvd. Atlanta, GA 30315

 

Douglass Cluster

BEST Academy /CSKYWLA, 1190 Northwest Dr. NW, Atlanta GA 30318
Frederick Douglass High School, 225 Hamilton E. Holmes Dr. NW, Atlanta, GA 30318

 

Grady Cluster

John Hope-Charles Walter Hill Elementary School, 112 Boulevard NE, Atlanta, GA 30312
Mary Lin Elementary School, 586 Candler Park Dr. NW, Atlanta, GA 30307

 

Jackson Cluster

Maynard Jackson High School, 801 Glenwood Ave. SE, Atlanta, GA 30316
King Middle School, 545 Hill St. SE, Atlanta, GA 30312

 

Mays Cluster

Benjamin E. Mays High School, 3450 Benjamin E. Mays Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30331

 

North Atlanta Cluster

Bolton Academy, 2268 Adams Dr. NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
Garden Hills Elementary School, 285 Sheridan Dr. NE, Atlanta, GA 30305

 

South Atlanta Cluster

South Atlanta High School, 800 Hutchens Rd. SE, Atlanta, GA 30354

 

Therrell Cluster

Bunche Middle School, 1925 Niskey Lake Rd. SW, Atlanta, GA 30331

 

Washington Cluster

Booker T. Washington High School, 45 Whitehouse Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30314

Tuskegee Airmen Global Academy, 1626 Westhaven Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30311

 

 

###

About Atlanta Public Schools

Atlanta Public Schools is one of the largest school districts in the state of Georgia, serving approximately 52,000 students across 87 schools. The District is organized into nine K-12 clusters with 58 traditional schools, 18 charter schools, six partner schools, two citywide single-gender academies and three alternative programs. To learn more about Atlanta Public Schools, follow us on social media – Twitter (@apsupdate), Facebook (Atlanta Public Schools), and Instagram (apsupdate) – or visit us online at www.atlantapublicschools.us.