Click here to complete your vaccination form.

We know that this is an uncertain time for families; here are the Center for Disease Control (CDC) best practices regarding attendance and how we keep students and staff safe amid COVID-19.

Check your child for these symptoms before they go to school each day. You should keep your child at home if they have:

• Temperature greater than 100 degrees;
• Loss of taste or smell

New or worsening:

• Sore throat;
• Cough or difficulty breathing;
• Runny or stuffy nose;
• Diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting;
• Headache, especially with a fever;
• Body aches;
• Fatigue.

To learn more about how to obtain a FREE COVID-19 Test Kit for your student click here

Updated Quarantine Guidelines

The changes from ODH include two options:

Mask to Stay - applies to participation in the classroom following a COVID-19 exposure in a school setting or another school-related environment.

Test to Play - applies to participation in extracurricular activities following a COVID-19 exposure in a school setting or school-related environment.

Additionally, CPH emphasizes the following:

• Universal masking and other public health mitigation strategies -- social distancing, surface cleaning, ventilation, etc. -- should be maintained.
• Schools should continue to report all school-related cases (within 24 hours) to CPH.
• This new option does not apply to contacts that occur outside the school setting. Contacts exposed outside of the school setting or school-related activities should continue to quarantine if unvaccinated.

The guidelines below only apply to direct contacts in a school environment – those individuals who are identified as being directly exposed to COVID-19 by a positive case in a classroom or school-related activity.

Updated Ohio Department of Health Guidelines:

Mask to Stay

Direct contacts, regardless of vaccination or masking status, may remain in the classroom environment if they do the following:

• Wear a mask for 14 days after their last date of exposure.
  • Please note: CCS will continue to require all students and staff to wear masks inside all indoor facilities, including past this 14-day period identified by ODH.
• Self-monitor, or parent-monitor, for symptoms of COVID-19.
• Isolate and get tested if they start to experience symptoms associated with COVID-19 (regardless of level of severity).

Direct contacts for COVID-19 are those individuals who are identified as being directly exposed to an individual(s) with a confirmed positive case of COVID-19.

Parents and students are responsible for symptom monitoring; however, if nurses/school staff see a child exhibiting symptoms they should act accordingly.

Test to Play

Asymptomatic contacts may continue to participate in extracurricular activities if they do the following:

• Wear a mask when able. (This includes: transportation; locker rooms; sitting/standing on the sidelines; and anytime the mask will not interfere with breathing, the activity, or create a safety hazard.)
• Test on initial notification of exposure to COVID-19.
• Test again on days 5-7. If they are negative at this time, they will test out of quarantine.

Please Note: The tests referenced above are SARS-CoV-2 viral (PCR or antigen) tests. They should be proctored/observed by someone and cannot be an over-the-counter, at-home test that was self-administered without a proctor.

For real-time updated information on the district's efforts to mitigate COVID-19, data, health tips, and more click here

Our new school social worker is here to be a resource for students and families. Please contact her at stakem@columbus.k12.oh.us

• December 16th: Duxberry Parent Virtual Meet and Greet
• December 17: Last day before break/ 3:00pm early dismissal
• December 20-31: ALL SCHOOLS CLOSED, WINTER BREAK

• CLICK HERE TO SEE THE DISTRICT CALENDAR

• TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7: "Free Holiday Help" - As our community enters the holiday season, several of our district’s partners are stepping up to provide help to families who might need extra assistance, including gifts and food. But finding the right organization to help can be tough when families are facing crisis. Our Tuesday Virtual Family Engagement Session will feature our partners at Lutheran Social Services who staff the 2-1-1 community help line with easy-to-access information about all of the charitable and social service resource available to CCS families. We'll also hear from the Salvation Army in Central Ohio on what families can do now to get help in time for the holiday

  • Tuesday, December 7, 6:00-7:00 p.m. – Please click here to RSVP for this session (https://forms.gle/XbqxNBzWMzbid1u56).

  
  THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9: "School Choice Lottery" - Beginning in January, Columbus City Schools families will have the opportunity to enter the School Choice Lottery to send their children to schools outside of their local neighborhood or to schools with specialized programs. During our Thursday Virtual Family Engagement Session, our district’s enrollment experts will talk about the lottery process and the opportunity for families to learn more about all of our schools and find the right fit for their children.

  • Thursday, December 9, 6:00-7:00 p.m. – Please click here to RSVP for this session (https://forms.gle/BytBBYcDQhaT9EJL7).

  
  Our sessions are recorded and posted in our Virtual Family Engagement Session Library in case you are unable to attend.

  
  

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• Columbus City Schools is in the midst of its Facilities Master Plan (FMP) process in which community input is vitally important. The plan takes a regional approach to discuss the future of Columbus City Schools' buildings and facilities; what they need to look like to meet the District's mission and vision of academic success with students leading the way.
  

  "The purpose is to bring more voices, more ideas, and more innovation to our conversation. It's important for equity to be a big part of the conversation," said Columbus Board of Education President Jennifer Adair." "Keeping equity at the center of the conversation to make sure every neighborhood, every region, and every school building gets what they need to meet the full vision of academic success."

  FMP Frequently Asked Questions

  Over the next three months, CCS will resume its regional approach to discussing the future of district school buildings and facilities with community, student, and staff voices as part of the process. This past spring, the District completed the first three phases of the process; Phase 1: GATHER; Phase 2: ENVISION; and Phase 3: DEFINE. In early October, Phase 4: ANTICIPATE, was also completed.

  The final phase of the process, which will go through mid-December, is:

  • Phase 6: TRANSFORM

  Each step of the process is built to create a consensus of community values and a complete and clear understanding of the community’s expectations of future learning environments as part of the Facilities Master Plan.

  The community, students, and staff must have a voice in these conversations. The ideas they bring to the table are invaluable in how our facilities and learning spaces look and feel to support our Portrait of a Graduate and student academic success and teacher success.

  The first four phases of the multi-step FMP process provided an inside look at our facilities. We first gathered in April 2021 to share the strengths and challenges of our school buildings.

  Next, students, staff, and community members envisioned what school buildings should look like in terms of a positive, creative learning space.

  We then defined how that vision helps our students and staff be creative, critical thinkers and the role technology plays in our school spaces.

  In the most recent Anticipate phase, we compared and contrasted new and old buildings.

  The final two phases of the process, Consider and Transform, are best described as the four C’s:

  • Concepts
  • Costs
  • Collaboration
  • Consensus

  These two phases are the most critical phases of the FMP process. We need you to help us examine each region and reassess the structure of each region by considering educational and extracurricular programming, grade-level configurations, and the optimal use of existing facilities.

• FMP Phase 4-6 Overview
  

• Get dates for upcoming meetings in Phase 5 and Phase 6.
  

  What the FMP Committee IS and ISN'T

• Register for the session of your choosing in the registration survey below!
  

  The meeting dates are as follows:

  • Tuesday, November 30, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. | Region 6 | Columbus Alternative HS
  • Wednesday, December 1, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. | Region 4 | Whetstone HS
  • Thursday, December 2, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. | Region 3 | Marion-Franklin HS
  • Saturday, December 4, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. | All Regions | Main Metropolitan Library (96 South Grant Ave)
  • Monday, December 6, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. | Region 5 | Mifflin HS
  • Wednesday, December 8, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. | All Regions | Main Metropolitan Library (96 South Grant Ave) (LIVE STREAM)
  • Wednesday, December 8, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. | Region 1 | Briggs HS
  • Thursday, December 9, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. | Region 2 | Walnut Ridge HS

  The results from Phase 5 will inform Phase 6 -- the sixth and final phase of the process. In this final “Transform” phase, we will ask the community to review the options outlined in Phase 5 and build a consensus around a specific plan that we would refine and ultimately bring to the Board of Education for final approval.

  Now is the time to have serious conversations about which schools in our District need to be replaced sooner than others. Where should these new schools be located? Now is when we need our families, staff, students, and community stakeholders to speak up.

  Register at https://www.ccsoh.us/Page/9061 to participate.

  
  

The meeting is streamed via Facebook Live and on the Columbus City Schools' YouTube Channel, which allows the public to attend virtually.

What was covered?

HVAC Upgrades (Two contracts)

Using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, Board Members will be asked to approve a design-build contract with Miles-McClellan Construction Co., Inc. for $7.2 million for HVAC repairs at three schools. Those schools are:

• Valleyview Elementary School
• Westgate Elementary School
• West Broad Elementary School

These funds will repair and improve these facilities to reduce the risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards and to support student health needs. All HVAC repairs are expected to be complete at the start of the 2022-23 school year. At the conclusion of the project, the buildings will have upgraded HVAC systems complete with electronic temperature controls, and air-conditioning in all classroom spaces.

Board Members will also be asked to approve a design-build contract with Prodigy Building Solution for $6.6 million using ESSER funds for HVAC repairs at two schools. Those schools are:

• North Linden Elementary School
• Westmoor Middle School

The repairs and upgrades are expected to be completed by the start of the 2022-2023 school year. At the conclusion of the project, the buildings will have upgraded HVAC systems complete with electronic temperature controls, and air-conditioning in all classroom spaces.

Literacy Intervention Resources

Using ESSER funds, Board Members will be asked to provide literacy intervention resources and professional development to Kindergarten instructional assistants with School Specialty LLC for $250,000. School Specialty will provide Sound Sensible literacy intervention kits, student workbooks, decodable readers, and professional development.

This partnership aligns with the following strategic priority: Implement a comprehensive plan to increase our students' development and proficiency in the areas of literacy and numeracy. School Specialty is a CCS partner and currently collaborates with special education staff members for the same program. School Specialty will provide supports and fill gaps for Kindergarten students and potentially increase the number of students.

Children’s Disposable Face Masks

CCS has an ongoing need for child-sized disposable face masks due to the pandemic. It is recommended that Board Members authorize the purchase of children’s disposable face masks from Amazon.com, for $100,000. At the Board of Education meeting on October 5, 2021, Board Members approved the purchase of two million children’s disposable face masks. The face masks were shipped, but due to delays at west coast seaports, the masks were shipped to Vancouver, British Columbia. The arrival date from Vancouver is unknown due to supply chain transportation disruptions. Being proactive, these purchases from Amazon will be used to ensure the District has enough child-sized face masks to meet the need.

Digital Academy Curriculum

It is recommended that Board Members authorize the use of ESSER funds to enter into an agreement with Edgenuity for a total cost not to exceed $250,480 for digital curriculum for grades K-8 students enrolled in the Columbus City Schools Digital Academy. Edgenuity offers a curriculum for elementary school students who complete all their learning online. Students will have access to courses in Reading, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, as well as elementary electives. The content includes online instruction as well as offline workbooks for the core content areas.

Donations

East Linden Elementary School requests authority to accept a donation of $1,200 from the New Salem Missionary Baptist Church Trustee Board. The donation will be used to provide support in reading and writing through incentives/rewards for progression on reading assessments (iReady and Ohio state tests).

Linden-McKinley STEM Academy requests authority to accept a donation of $1,650 from the Lindy Infante Foundation. The donation will be used to purchase uniforms for the cheer team.

Linden Park Elementary School requests authority to accept a cash donation of $1,000 from Chad and Courtney Clark. The donation is for the Linden Park ECE Employee Benefits for staff activities, food, flowers, and gift cards.

Important Dates

December 8: All Regions FMP Meeting, Main Metropolitan Library 10 a.m.
FMP Region 1 Meeting, Briggs HS 6 p.m.

December 9: Policy Review Committee Meeting 8:30 a.m.
Neighborhood School Development Partnership Committee Meeting 8:00 a.m.
FMP Region 2 Meeting, Walnut Ridge HS 6 p.m.

December 15: Finance and Appropriations Committee Meeting 4:00 p.m.

Want online learning resources for grades PreK-5? Click here.

COLUMBUS METROPOLITAN LIBRARY'S HELP NOW

Your local library is more than just a space for books. They’re also a space for your students to get the help they need to be – and feel – successful this school year.

School Help Centers are NOW OPEN, offering your K-12 students after-school help, plus 24/7 access to free tools and resources.

Plus, they can get connected with virtual tutors for one-on-one help Monday through Friday from 2-11 p.m. using HelpNow.

Masks are required to attend our School Help Centers. Hours vary by location.

Download the 7 page list below!

Searching for the school lunch menu? Look no further--click HERE for the December Breakfast and Lunch Menu

Here are some ideas to keep you inspired during the month of December!

Columbus Parks and Recreation Department is offering camp for children during winter break! Click here to learn more!

Phone: (614) 365-6023

Attendance Phone: (380) 997-6012

Attendance Email: attendance.dux@columbus.k12.oh.us

Transportation Department: 614-365-5074/ https://www.ccsoh.us/domain/230

School Hours: 8:50 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.