District 7 COVID-19 Dashboard
The District 7 COVID-19 dashboard contains the number of positive COVID-19 cases as well as the number of quarantined staff and students within each school in the district as of this morning.
Click HERE to view the updated District 7 COVID-19 dashboard.
This is a school closing announcement for Edwardsville District 7. All District 7 schools will be closed tomorrow, Wednesday, February 17th due to inclement weather and dangerous road conditions. There will be no in-person or remote instruction. Students will receive additional information by noon on Wednesday regarding the status of any afternoon or evening activities.
This is a school closing announcement for Edwardsville District 7. All District 7 schools will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, February 16th due to inclement weather. There will be no in-person or remote instruction and all activities are cancelled for the day as well. Thank you.
District 7 Families,
Families are reminded that there is no student attendance on Friday, February 12th (Teachers’ Institute) or Monday, February 15th (Presidents’ Day). There will be no in-person or remote instruction on these two days for any students.
COVID-19 Dashboard
Due to the number of positive cases, transmissions, and quarantined classrooms, Columbus Elementary will transition to a 100% remote setting beginning on Monday, February 8th through Wednesday, February 17, 2021. All other elementary and middle schools within District 7 will continue with in-person instruction as scheduled.
The District 7 COVID-19 dashboard contains the number of positive COVID-19 cases as well as the number of quarantined staff and students within each school in the district as of this morning.
Click HERE to view the updated District 7 COVID-19 dashboard.
District 7 Families,
This week, District 7 passed the 100th day milestone for the 2020-21 school year. While nothing about this year has been typical, I hope that everyone is able to appreciate the efforts of District 7 educators who continue to step up to meet the needs of their students. Thank you to the teachers, support staff, administrators, students, and families for doing everything they can to keep our district moving forward.
Edwardsville High School Schedule
Beginning Tuesday, February 16th, Edwardsville High School students will return to a hybrid (A/B) schedule. Students will attend in-person every other day with students with last names beginning with A-L attending on February 16th (“A” day) and students with last names beginning with M-Z attending on February 17th (“B” day). For the second semester, the remote instruction day (Friday) has been eliminated. Students will alternate attending in person and learning from home every other day. Students will be able to follow their daily schedule on days when they are not attending in-person.
It is the district’s intention to return to five days per week of in-person instruction for high school students as soon as possible; however, the earliest date the District would return all high school students to that schedule would be Monday, March 1st. Families will be notified of the change to a five day per week of in-person instructional schedule with at least three days advance notice and will receive additional updates the week of February 22nd.
Any student that chose to be 100% remote instruction for the second semester will continue to receive their instruction remotely for the remainder of the school year.
Families with students that receive special education services at EHS and students that attend EHS South will receive a follow up communication today from Dr. Garrett, Assistant Superintendent with additional important schedule updates.
More information will be emailed from Dr. Stuart in the coming weeks to outline specific changes in building procedures.
Quarantining K-8 Students
This week, District 7 welcomed back 7th and 8th grade students for in-person instruction. There have been a number of positive COVID cases within our schools which have caused classes to quarantine across the district. Please continue to be diligent about conducting the daily symptom checklist and keeping your student home if they are experiencing any symptoms or if any member of the family is being tested for COVID-19. This mitigation strategy will keep our students/staff safe and keep classes from being quarantined.
We recognize it is inconvenient when your student is quarantined. During the second semester, however, we will quarantine entire classes when there are positive COVID cases involving close contacts within a K-8 classroom. The primary reason is to provide continuity of instruction for all students. If there is a positive COVID case within a K-8 classroom, typically around a third to half of the class are close contacts and very often the teacher is a close contact as well. Quarantining entire classes in this situation makes it possible for the teacher to continue to provide more consistent instruction remotely for all students. When a portion of a class and the teacher are quarantined while other students in that classroom are at school, it causes issues with consistency of instruction as well as staffing of classrooms. The ability of the District to have in-person instruction at all grade levels is contingent on having teachers and support staff available to operate schools effectively and safely.
COVID-19 Dashboard
The District 7 COVID-19 dashboard contains the number of positive COVID-19 cases as well as the number of quarantined staff and students within each school in the district as of this morning.
Click HERE to view the updated District 7 COVID-19 dashboard.
Thank you for your continued patience and support as we navigate these challenges together.
Dr. Jason Henderson
Superintendent
Edwardsville CUSD7
Are you looking for a full or part-time job? Look no further! Edwardsville Community Unit District 7 has you covered! Learn more by clicking the links below:
Substitute Teaching Opportunities:
http://ecusd7.org/departments/personnel/#tab-id-4
Job Openings:
http://ecusd7.org/departments/personnel/#tab-id-1
District 7 Community Members,
In the coming weeks, District 7 will release a series of three spotlight articles to educate the community on the Board of Education. Please take a moment to read Part 1 below which covers basic information as well as the fundamental duties of the District 7 School Board.
School Board Spotlight Part 1—School Board Overview
Your school board is comprised of seven individuals, elected by District 7 voters. Unlike some elected positions, school board members are not paid for their service to the community. These seven members are dedicated to the betterment of the district while representing all District 7 stakeholders. These stakeholders include students, parents, teachers, staff, and all that live within the boundaries of District 7. The school board provides local control over District 7 similar to the way that local, state and federal representatives act on the behalf of their constituents.
The school board is an elected governmental body, and it can take action only by majority vote at public meetings. This means that individual board members are not able to make district decisions alone. The individual board members exercise authority by casting votes at board meetings. The purpose of school board meetings is to transact the business of the school district through discussion and voting among the members. The board engages in ongoing communication with the community through engagements such as public forums, surveys, and citizens’ committees to determine the community’s desires for the schools and students.
In carrying out the interests of district stakeholders, the school board performs the following fundamental duties:
· Determines the direction of the district by defining or refining a purpose, mission, or vision
· Communicates its actions with the community
· Selects and employs the superintendent
· Sets policies for the district and delegates authority to the superintendent to operate using the policies as the guiding factor
· Monitors performance of the district
In upcoming School Board Spotlights, school board meeting procedure will be reviewed as well as how the community can effectively engage with the Board.
District 7 families,
District 7 was happy to welcome back our kindergarten through 6th grade students to in-person learning this week. Thank you to all the staff members, students, and families for helping this week to run smoothly. Beginning next week on Monday, January 25th, 7th grade students will return and they will be joined by 8th grade students on Wednesday, January 27th. Next Friday, January 29th, we will send families an update on plans for the high school level.
COVID Dashboard
As students return to in-person learning, District 7 will once again update its COVID dashboard weekly–typically on Friday afternoons. The dashboard will contain the number of positive COVID-19 cases as well as the number of quarantined staff and students within each school in the district. You can view the District 7 COVID-19 by clicking here.
District 7 Families,
The purpose of this communication is to update families on the schedule changes beginning Tuesday, January 19, 2021.
As a reminder, all parents who chose 100% remote learning for their student during the second semester will continue in a remote learning status the entire semester regardless of any schedule changes described below.
Elementary: Pre-k through 5th grade
All elementary students will return to five days per week of in-person instruction beginning on Tuesday, January 19, 2021.
Middle School: 6th through 8th grade
Middle School students will transition to five days per week of in-person instruction beginning on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 utilizing the following schedule:Tuesday, January 19 – Friday,
The above staggered transition will ensure that our middle schools will be able to safely transition students back to in-person learning while still ensuring all students receive five days per week of instruction. More information will be emailed from principals next week to outline specific changes in building procedures.
High School: 9th through 12th grade
All High School students will continue in a 100% remote learning setting on Tuesday, January 19, 2021.
As District 7 staff members receive the COVID-19 vaccine and the number of new cases in our communities and county continue to decrease, it is the intention to return high school students to five days per week of in-person instruction. The rationale for continuing 100% remote learning instead of moving into a hybrid schedule is to allow high school students to continue to receive five days a week of instruction remotely until the students are able to return to school for five days a week of in-person instruction.
The District will continue to monitor all available data weekly and will inform families of any change to the high school schedule. As we continue to balance student and staff safety along with the instructional and socio-emotional needs of our high school students, the possibility exists for high school students to move into a hybrid (A/B) schedule if it is determined that five days of in-person instruction is not feasible. High school families can expect to receive an update on the schedule on Friday, January 29, 2021.
Additional information will be provided to families regarding opportunities for high school students to come to school for in-person tutoring, small group instruction or other services during the afternoon academic hour.
Food Service/Meal Pickup
All District 7 students will continue to receive free breakfasts and lunches for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year. Students who are in-person learners will receive meals at school. Families will still be able to access meals in one week increments for any child under 18 that is learning remotely. Beginning on January 19, 2021, families of remote students may pick up meals at Edwardsville High School only on school days from 8:00am-1:30pm.
Procedural Changes
Upon returning to school for in-person learning, students should be prepared to see some changes to building procedures. One change for all students is the addition of a daily temperature check upon arrival at school. As stated previously, your building principal will send an email next week regarding the procedural changes that will occur within your child’s school. In addition, all families will be emailed a self-certification form which must be submitted prior to students returning to school for in-person instruction.
As students begin to come back for in-person learning, families should be aware of the fluid nature of our circumstances. If COVID positive individuals are in school buildings, we will continue to have situations where groups of students and in many cases entire classes will be required to be quarantined. If positive cases in our community and county spike again, we would temporarily pause in-person instruction and move back into a remote setting for all students. In all situations, we will attempt to give as much notice as possible for families to be able to prepare.
Thank you for your continued patience and support as we navigate these challenges together.
Dr. Jason Henderson
Superintendent
Edwardsville CUSD7