The site link above contains the latest information for parents regarding the reopening of our schools for the 2020-2021 academic year. We will make every effort to keep you informed and post updates to this site as new information becomes available.
Public Notice: The School Board will hold its Regular July Meeting on Monday, July 13, 2020
The Amelia County School Board will hold its Regular July Meeting according to Code of Virginia 2.2-3707, on Monday, July 13, 2020, in the Auditorium at Amelia County High School – 8500 Otterburn Road – Amelia, Virginia. Closed Session will be held at 3 pm at the high school. Open Session will immediately follow Closed Session.
To keep in compliance with Governor Northam’s guidelines for social distancing, we will continue to provide temporary streaming of the Board Meeting and will still accept public comments through email. You may continue to email your public comments, if any, to the Clerk of the Board at jonesv@ameliaschools.com
An agenda for the meeting will be available at Board Docs on the Amelia County Public Schools Board Docs Website. If you have any questions, please call 804.561.2621.
Reopening ACPS: Response to FAQs regarding Reopening of Schools
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Responses to FAQ's
Reopening Amelia County Public Schools Message for Parents June 17, 2020
Good Afternoon Amelia Families. This is Amelia County Public Schools superintendent, Dr. Lori Harper calling. Amelia County Public Schools has established a task force to determine how to reopen Amelia schools. The Governor, in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Education, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and Virginia Department of Health (VDH), have established requirements for reopening schools. We must establish a Health Plan and an Instructional Plan that meets these requirements.
We would love to see all of our students return to school in the fall. We understand that some families may be apprehensive about sending their students back to school during this pandemic. In an effort to meet the needs of Amelia families, while also meeting requirements placed on school divisions by the state, Amelia will offer two options for student education for the 2020-2021 school year.
Option 1 will be remote instruction where students learn at home. This will be much like homeschooling except that instruction will be provided online by certified Amelia teachers. Teachers will use the Virtual Virginia and Google Classroom platforms to provide distance learning for students. Remote instruction will not be a learning packet style of instruction. This platform will be like many home school options currently available. The benefit to Amelia County families is that it will be free. ACPS will also work with families who do not currently have internet access available in their area to examine other options such as mobile hot spots.
Option 2 will be blended hybrid instruction where students attend school in person one to two days each week and learn from home during the remainder of the week. Amelia County Public Schools must use this model for in-school learning for two reasons. First, our classrooms cannot accommodate a standard class of 24 students seated 6 feet apart. Second, our school buses that normally transport an average of 950 students per day can only accommodate 319 students per day/route cycle. Families selecting the blended hybrid instruction model will be asked whether their student will ride the bus or be transported to and from school by a family member. We need this information to determine whether students will come one day per week or two days per week. Under this model, students will be assigned a specific day or days to attend each week. We will make every effort to try to schedule students from the same family on the same days. Students will likely be scheduled to attend school based on bus routes. Each student will be assigned to one bus. Unfortunately, we will not be able to accommodate different pick up and drop off locations.
Amelia County Public Schools needs to schedule and plan for the upcoming school year. We are asking families to respond to a survey to let us know which learning option you would like for your student. Parents may access the survey by an email link sent to you, through our Facebook page, or on our school division website. The survey needs to be completed for each student in a family. Please complete the survey by Wednesday, June 24.
Amelia County Public Schools looks forward to serving the students of Amelia County this fall. Thank you for working together with us and for helping us plan for serving your student.
- ACPS LEARNING OPTION SURVEY FOR PARENTS
Amelia County High School and Amelia County Elementary School receive the Virginia Department of Education 2020 Board of Education Continuous Improvement Award
RICHMOND, Va. — The state Board of Education today recognized 447 schools and six school divisions for high student achievement, continuous improvement or innovative practices under the board’s exemplar performance school recognition program. The awards are based on performance and practice during 2018-2019 and prior years.
The recognized schools include 71 schools that earned the Board of Education Highest Achievement Award, 375 schools that earned the Board of Education Continuous Improvement Award and one school that earned the Board of Education Innovative Practice Award. The board also recognized six school divisions for innovative practices. In 2019, the first year of the exemplar performance program, 235 schools earned awards.
“The criteria for the exemplar performance awards are designed to incentivize schools to make the changes in instruction, policy, support services and practice required to make progress toward meeting the Board of Education’s objective of achieving equity in opportunities and outcomes for all students,” Board of Education President Daniel A. Gecker said. “The increase in the number of awards earned this year is evidence of the progress our schools were making toward this objective before the pandemic forced the closure of schools in March.”
“I congratulate the principals, teachers, support professionals and students of all of these schools and divisions for the achievement, innovations and hard work recognized by these awards,” Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane said. “I believe the success of these schools and school divisions will inspire learning communities across the commonwealth as they plan for the reopening of school and prepare to meet the instructional and social-emotional needs of students — especially students most impacted by the closure this spring.”
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Schools recognized for continuous improvement were rated “Accredited” or “Accredited with Conditions” for 2019-2020 and met at least one of the following four criteria based on performance during 2018-2019:
- A 10-point increase in the combined rate in reading and math, and in the pass rate in science;
- A 10-point increase in the combined rate in reading and math for two or more student groups across three years;
- A decrease in the chronic absenteeism rate for three years; or
- For schools with a graduating class, an increase in the Graduation and Completion Index and a decrease in the dropout rate for three years.
The Board of Education approved the criteria for the exemplar performance awards in April 2018. The recognition program is aligned with the board’s accreditation standards and replaced the Virginia Index of Performance recognition program.
ACPS Google Online Training for Teachers
https://sites.google.com/ameliaschools.com/onlinetraining/home
Updates from the State Superintendent - Phased SchoolsRecover, Redesign, Restart 2020
Governor Northam announced Virginia’s Return to School plan to begin resuming in person instructional opportunities for students. Safely returning to school is a challenge that school leaders the world over are struggling with in the face of a continuing public health threat.
Continue reading the article linked below to learn more about Virginia's plan for reopening schools:
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VADOE/bulletins/2901906
Superintendent's Message to the Community
Dear Members of the ACPS Community,
Amelia County Public Schools thanks our staff and parents for pulling together to complete the 2019-
2020 school year. As we began the year, none of us could have imagined that the year would end with
schools closed and students completing their year from home. It truly takes a village to educate a
child. Please continue to read, read, read, and practice other skills during the summer months so that
the new school year will start with success.
As we look to the future, the 2020-2021 school year may be different than years past. ACPS has
developed a task force to examine what the new school year might look like. We are working with
information provided by the Virginia Department of Education and other professional organizations to
ensure that when we reopen our schools, we have a safe learning environment for all students.
We appreciate your support and dedication to Team Amelia!
Sincerely,
Lori Harper, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Amelia County Public Schools
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2020-2021 Instructional Calendar