DC Public Schools welcomes all students back to full-time in-person learning in the School Year. The health, safety, and well-being of our staff, students, and families is top of mind.
Learn more about how we are supporting in-person learning for every student, every day. Click here to read more about our health and safety measures for SY Students will now be automatically enrolled in the COVID testing program that supports asymptomatic testing, symptomatic testing and testing for close contacts. To opt-out, click here.
We are working as a community to build back stronger than before to create joyful and rigorous learning opportunities, support our excellent educators, and make progress toward educational equity. In cases where English learners could not participate in class and did not speak English at home, their exposure to English was limited and made it even more difficult to learn the language. I would use an app to translate the packet or homework. I would ask my oldest daughter to correct it for me. Not having study aids in Spanish was very stressful for me and my entire family.
It was hard to see how parents who speak limited English were being ignored and left without information. School spotlight: Resources for English learners. Many D. In addition to translation services, schools also provided resources for families related to financial support, physical and mental health, utilities, and COVID The implementation of and responses to distance learning across the District of Columbia are still evolving as the pandemic persists.
These lessons learned in the early days and months can be useful both now, and as schools and families plan and experience recovery in the coming years. When the pandemic began, in many cases the switch to distance learning was swift, and was believed to be temporary.
Immediate continuity of instruction was the focus for many, which often meant continuing with the traditional cadence of in-person school without adapting to a new, virtual context. Even from a practical standpoint, the digital divide and gaps in digital literacy meant that staff, students, and family members were not ready to fully engage. Taking the time to pause and assess needs and available resources may have led to a more systematic and holistic approach to distance learning in the spring of In some cases, schools and teachers devised creative solutions to solve these challenges such as translating instruction and materials, providing one-on-one support, and rethinking attendance tracking to allow students to begin the day remotely.
Across schools, OSSE hosted a series of Teaching and Learning webinars last spring, where staff could hear from OSSE subject experts, share best practices, and discuss what was and was not working well. Innovative practices could ease the transition back to in-person school and future school planning, with an opportunity for schools to seek and embrace equitable solutions to learning disparities.
Since the pre-existing inequities were so great, the effects of the pandemic will only set many students further behind, and schools will need to be even more innovative with additional and customized supports to address that challenge. In some cases, creating consistent schedules and user-friendly platforms made it easier for parents and students to stay on track. Parents and students noted communication as a key challenge over the past year.
School schedules and expectations changed often and drastically beginning in the spring of , and families were expected to be more involved with learning than ever before. The development and maintenance of strong relationships between schools and teachers and families and students improved the distance learning experience, but where communications failed, students and families struggled.
Listening to families, students, and teachers and communicating transparently will be critical as schools transition back to in-person instruction and work to rebuild trust where it has been lost.
It would be impossible if they had one child in fifth grade, one child in first grade, and only one device. How would those students get instruction if they had to share one device for different classes?
So we had staggered times for each grade level to have their live instruction on Zoom. What is she missing? They let us take home our computers and our iPads, so there was definitely support there.
They understood that we were all responding to the pandemic in our own ways, and people had their own children or parents or themselves to take care of. And I appreciated that flexibility.
How are you feeling today? What are you in need of? They did that every week, and they contacted me immediately to follow up. In the fall of as the pandemic persisted, DCPS and public charter schools largely continued with distance learning, but some began to explore limited in-person offerings. In September , 13 DCPS schools allowed small groups of students to attend in-person programming that included tutoring, physical education, and career and technical education.
By February of , all DCPS schools [xlix] and 86 public charter schools offered some amount of in-person learning. Policy Center conducted another round of focus groups with largely the same participants as the first round 33 out of 48 returned, and nine new participants were engaged.
Overall, parents reported improvements over their spring experience— most parents said that schools, teachers, and individual school staff were more organized and prepared for teaching in the virtual environment. Parents also stated that schedules and expectations were more clearly set in the fall as compared to the spring. Students in these focus groups reported that the fall was more challenging: specifically, the amount of screen time was too much for them and workloads were more intense.
Although some students are returning to classrooms for in-person or supervised distance learning as of February and COVID vaccinations have started with priority groups across the city, distance learning is likely to continue as the best option for some time.
Many families in the focus groups communicated that distance learning was still not ideal, but given the health and safety circumstances, very few were ready to return to in-person learning. This was also the case in a September PAVE survey of families: only 33 percent reported that they would probably or definitely send their children to school in-person for a hybrid option in November of Teachers also reported discomfort with returning to in-person learning in the D.
Policy Center focus groups. They were concerned that they would be exposed to COVID at work, that schools would not provide adequate Personal Protective Equipment PPE or cleaning supplies, or that schools would not take other key precautions including asymptomatic testing.
They also felt stressed about the additional work involved in preparing and delivering lesson plans both virtually and in-person. Now that distance learning has been in place for almost a full year, changes in technology access, new information on learning loss, and low levels of student well-being shed additional light on where the District needs to focus both in the near and long term to ensure an equitable recovery amidst lower levels of enrollment.
It is difficult to know the precise number of students who lacked access to technology in the fall of , but computer and mobile internet device availability has likely improved since the spring of At the start of school year , a survey of LEAs conducted by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education DME showed that there were an estimated 74, devices ready for distribution to students in the fall of compared to an estimated 93, public school students.
These access points do not all provide the same quality of internet service, but represent an improvement or a new source of internet for students. Parents also report that the availability of devices and internet has improved, although some issues with access persist. In a PAVE Back to School survey of families, 94 percent of respondents reported that they had internet access—although those with basic or lower-cost internet experienced glitches that made classes hard to follow; this was especially true for parents working from home or with multiple children.
In the same survey, nine percent reported that they still lacked a device. Amidst so much unforeseen hardship and stress during the pandemic, distance learning in D. Despite their great efforts, distance learning has not been as effective as in-person learning for most students, according to a December report from EmpowerK And distance learning has likely been more challenging for students who were designated as at-risk of academic failure during school year students designated at-risk in this sample likely lost five months of learning in math half a school year and four months in reading.
The pandemic has created new sources of stress for many individuals and households. There is no systemwide data point on mental health concerns for students, but a fall D. Student Well-Being Survey starts to tell the story. Over a time span of four weeks starting in late September , nearly 2, students in grades 3 to 12 from 22 D.
Nearly one in five students had recently experienced the loss of a family member in their household. When asked how confident they are in their ability to succeed during distance learning, high schoolers were the least confident.
Preliminary audited enrollment numbers show a decrease in enrollment fewer students from school year to school year 21, indicating that some students may have left for other jurisdictions, homeschooling, private school, or childcare centers. According to OSSE, these lower-than-estimated enrollment numbers have been driven by very young students and by adult students: 2, fewer students enrolled in pre-kindergarten and adult education than last year.
This corroborates with the experience of younger grades being particularly difficult to continue virtually, and some adult learners having conflicting responsibilities to which they must attend. OSSE also reported a preliminary increase of over students registered for homeschooling in school year Pandemic-related school closures and the subsequent transition to distance learning in spring were arguably the most significant and abrupt changes that D.
Despite the disruption, there have been bright spots in the responses of the education community and city alike. Teachers have found ways to close gaps in communication and engage with students and their families when suddenly disconnected from daily face-to-face interaction. The District government has made significant investments in education and COVID relief, at a time when other cities have experienced cuts. Philanthropic support has added needed resources as well. So this new year, they adjusted the program so that I can do most of my work at night.
I can just focus on that one student, and they can focus solely on me. The students know what to expect. The teachers always put the assignments in the same places, and the parents can look at what the kids are doing. The guidance counselor and the social worker are always there. Having gained experience over the spring, public schools have, by many accounts, made great improvements in the organization, delivery, and accessibility of distance learning.
However, many agree that distance learning is not a perfect substitute for in-person teaching and learning, even if some families are not ready to return to in-person school. With indications that the impacts of the pandemic are likely to linger into school year , public schools in D. Now, as the FY budget is being developed, there are discussions about developing a systematic approach to outdoor learning where risk of COVID spread would be greatly reduced , and providing tutoring and summer learning opportunities, among other needed responses.
Students, families, teachers, and schools have shown signs of great resilience over the past year, and the city needs to consider long-term systemic changes to match their strength. We have the children here who can make those answers happen. We have the kids here who absolutely can change the world and make it better.
Policy Center is grateful to present and analyze publicly-available data from the following key sources for this report. In May , seven adult public charter schools surveyed their learners to find out about these experiences. Of the 3, students who received this Citywide Adult Education Survey, 1, submitted responses, a 53 percent response rate.
More than 92 percent of survey respondents were people of color, including 58 percent who were Latino compared to 52 percent of adult learners who identified as Latino in and 26 percent who were Black compared to 44 percent of adult learners who were Black in In August of in collaboration with Bridges, the D. Policy Center conducted seven focus groups and six one-on-one interviews with parents, educators, adult and alternative learners, and high school students to hear about distance learning in the spring of The focus groups included 48 participants from across the city, with a focus on Spanish-speaking parents and parents living in Wards 7 and 8.
A second round of focus groups occurred in November of to follow up on findings and distance learning in the fall. This tool was launched in and provides interactive visualizations and downloadable data sets that cover these topics: school-age population and public school students, public schools, facilities, enrollment patterns, and neighborhood factors.
The DME received more than 15, responses representing 25, students in June of Parents were contacted to complete the survey by email, aside from some limited responses gathered in-person.
EmpowerK12 analyzed assessment results of nearly 30, students in traditional public schools and public charter schools and surveyed wellbeing of 2, students in grades 3 to Schools includes information from these reports:.
The Office of the D. Auditor provides the D. Council with recommendations after conducting performance audits, non-audit reviews, and revenue certifications. Schools includes information from this report:. The process for reporting graduation requirements changed in school year At-risk graduation rates are only available for school years 18 and Schools includes information from these datasets:.
The report cards provide an overall rating and more than data points to communicate how a school is doing with all its students, in addition to helpful information about the school itself. These learning plans were intended to cover the remainder of school year Annually, OSSE conducts an enrollment audit to determine the number of students at each public school in the District.
These files contain the audited enrollment by school and grade. Schools report. Census Bureau. Prospective graduates must also earn 24 Carnegie units one Carnegie unit is equivalent to hours of classroom instruction over the course of an academic year in required courses and complete hours of community service.
State Board of Education. State Board of Education Blog. Office of the Ombudsman for Public Education. Voices: Distance learning supports for students with disabilities and English learners. Public Schools In Coming Weeks. September Feature photo: Ivan Radic Source. Introduction section header photo: Phil Roeder source. Distance learning in spring of section photo: DC Prep source.
Policy Center Fellows are independent writers, and we gladly encourage the expression of a variety of perspectives. The views of our Fellows, published here or elsewhere, do not reflect the views of the D. The pandemic has upended lives across the country including in the District of Columbia. Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Github.
Search Subscribe Donate. Policy Center The D. About this report State of D. Other reports in this series State of D. Introduction The novel coronavirus pandemic, its resulting spring school closures, and the stay-at-home orders that followed brought unprecedented changes to the District of Columbia during school year Schools and students in school year School year brought extraordinary challenges to education in D.
Schools and enrollment In school year , there were DCPS and public charter schools—one more than the previous year—serving students in all grades. Special student populations When the school year began in fall of , shifts in the composition of the student body continued along the trends from previous years: English learners and students with disabilities made up larger shares of enrollment in school year than in Teachers, nurses, and mental health professionals Nothing prepared teachers for the abrupt mid-year shift to distance learning, but at least the majority 92 percent of the 7, teachers [vi] had been teaching for more than a year.
Student well-being The negative effects of the pandemic have been extreme in certain D. The next section explores how these students experienced distance learning in spring Distance learning in spring of In early March of , D.
Distance learning experiences There was significant variation in how D. Policy Center focus group overview The D. The 25 parents had children in a variety of grade levels, with 55 percent attending DCPS and 45 percent attending public charter schools.
There was an intentional focus on engaging parents living in Wards 7 and 8 and Spanish-speaking parents—the 25 parents included 10 living in Wards 7 and 8, seven Spanish-speaking parents, and eight English-speaking parents living elsewhere in the District. Six of the 10 high school students attended DCPS schools, and four attended public charter schools. Six of the students lived in Wards 7 and 8. The six adult learners lived in neighborhoods across D.
The digital divide Approximately one in every eight District residents did not have access to a computer or tablet in their household before the pandemic, [xxiv] and 24 percent of children in D.
Over time, new material replaced review sessions as it became clear that distance learning was here to stay. Statesmen College Preparatory Academy for Boys PCS took the first week of distance learning to look at local and national examples of how other schools were handling closures to see what was working and to create a phased approach. Racial justice In addition to the COVID pandemic and related school closures, events of this year brought a renewed call for racial justice in D.
Parents The need to spend more time with younger children and the difficulty of doing so while working remotely or away from the home was a common theme for the parents who participated in the focus groups.
School spotlight: Scheduling virtual classes At DCPS, elementary schools recommended about two hours of learning activities per day, which increased to around three hours per day of instruction in middle and high schools. Scholars PCS, a pre-kindergarten to grade 8 public charter school, educators found that older students were better at engaging in live sessions where students could interact with the teacher and each other, whereas younger students needed pre-recorded lessons that their families could access to assist with instruction when it was most convenient.
At Friendship PCS, high school students followed their course schedules with classes online from 9am to 3pm. Spanish-speaking parents To better understand the experiences of parents who were Spanish speakers, the D.
Adult learners All adult learner participants in the D. School spotlight: How adult learners experienced remote learning At Community College Preparatory Academy, adult learners who did not have access to a device or WiFi were provided with paper packets.
Those who could participate online logged onto the learning management system Brightspace to complete lessons, assignments, and assessments. The preferences that a school offers are listed on its My School DC school profile. How you rank a school does not impact whether you are eligible for a preference at that school.
At dual language schools or programs, out-of-boundary siblings are prioritized before in-boundary applicants without siblings. Citywide schools do not offer in-boundary or proximity preferences, and selective high schools and programs do not offer any preferences.
Please contact a school directly if you have a question about their preference order. This option is only available to families planning on enrolling an in-boundary student. After the lottery, these preferences are applied only when the older sibling is enrolled. Please contact the DCPS Enrollment Team at [email protected] or for additional information prior to the application deadlines. No, some schools only accept applications for new students at certain grades, although most schools accept applications from new students in all grades although space may be limited in some grades.
You may view this information on the list of participating schools , and each My School DC school profile also notes the grades for which schools accept applications.
No, there is no advantage to applying early but you must submit your application by the deadline. All applications submitted by the deadline are treated equally in the lottery and for placement on waitlists. Yes, you can edit your application any time before the deadline without penalty. This includes adding schools, deleting schools, or changing your school rankings. After editing, you must re-submit the application before the deadline to ensure your application is considered in the lottery.
Note: All lottery applicants are able to change the order of their schools if they so choose until March They can do so by logging into their family account. Applicants will NOT, however, be able to adjust any other information on their application, including adding or deleting schools. If your contact information changes after the deadline, please contact the My School DC hotline immediately at or at [email protected] to make note of the change.
You can submit a post-lottery application. Note: The best chance of getting into the schools you want is to participate in the lottery. Visit the What you need to apply page to learn what is needed to apply. Visit the DCPS website to learn more about school boundaries. Public charter schools are citywide schools with no school boundaries.
A My School DC lottery application is required for all new students at participating public charter schools PK3 — grade Yes, you must submit a separate application for each child applying to attend a new school. However, all siblings must be under one family account. This is the only way the application can identify your children as siblings and award sibling offered preference. The application is an online application; however, you can download and print a PDF copy of your application once it has been submitted for your records.
Families who do not have access to a computer have several options for completing their applications:. However, you will not receive in-boundary or proximity preference at DCPS schools. If you are matched with a school through the lottery, you must enroll at the school by the enrollment deadline or you will lose your space at your matched school.
Accepting your space requires submitting required enrollment forms and proving DC residency. Only residents of the District of Columbia are eligible to receive a free public education in the District and all parents and guardians are required to verify residency each year.
Families who move to the District after the lottery can apply to individual schools during the post-lottery application period using the My School DC application. Families currently living outside of the United States will need to apply using a U. For more information, please call the My School DC Hotline at or email [email protected]. If you are a non-DC resident and do receive a match or waitlist offer, you must enter into a tuition agreement with OSSE and make an initial tuition payment before the student is eligible to attend class.
Only DC residents are eligible to receive feeder rights. Non-DC residents will need to reapply to continue within a feeder pattern after the terminal grade of their current school. Prior to the application deadline you are able to edit and resubmit your application yourself.
After the application deadline has passed, please contact the My School DC Hotline at or at [email protected] , and we will update your account. We also recommend that you call the schools where you are enrolled or waitlisted to ensure they update their internal records. No, you should not create your own account. All information in the account should be family information only.
If you are helping multiple families, you must create a separate family account for each family and then, within that family account, a separate application for each child in that family who is applying to attend a new school. The application will prompt you to provide the contact information for a parent or guardian. However, you can list yourself as the additional contact on as many applications as you and the family would like.
My School DC will provide information about the application or allow changes from contacts listed on the application with the permission of the family. Please remember to provide the username and password used for each account to each family you assist so they may be able to access their account at any time.
To obtain materials to assist families, email us at [email protected] , call the My School DC Hotline at , or visit the Resources for Families and Schools page. Lottery results are released online. Log in to your family account on April 2, to view your lottery results. If you created a family account using an email address, you will receive your results via email. You can also indicate on the My School DC application to have your results mailed to you.
If you do not have an email address associated with your account, we will automatically mail a letter to the address listed on your application. If you are matched with a school through the lottery, you must accept your space by the common enrollment deadline or you will lose that spot. Accepting your space requires submitting the school's required enrollment forms, up-to-date health forms , and proof of DC residency.
Please note that accepting your match will NOT remove you from any waitlists, or prevent you from later enrolling at a school where you are waitlisted should space become available. Note: Enrolling at a new school removes your child from their current school. If your child is waitlisted at all schools you applied to, you may apply to additional schools during the post-lottery period. The post-lottery application period opens on April 2, for applicants who applied through the lottery.
Post-lottery applicants will be added to waitlists on a first-come, first-served basis below applicants from the lottery, except for applicants with lottery preferences. Note: Offers off waitlists are not guaranteed. To view historical waitlist movement by school and grade for past lottery years, click here.
Declining the match will not affect your waitlist positions at other schools. You may apply to additional schools in the post-lottery application period, as well as schools that you previously applied to but were not waitlisted at. A My School DC team member will update your application, explain how the grade change will affect your lottery results, and help you apply to additional schools if desired.
For example, some schools do not accept a D as a passing grade. If your child is matched to a school in the lottery and, upon reviewing your records, the school determines that they are not eligible based on credit requirements, your child may not have a space at that school. This means the school determined that your child is not eligible to attend.
For DCPS selective high schools and programs, students are not eligible if they do not meet the school's entrance requirements. If you have questions, contact the school directly or the My School DC Hotline at or at [email protected]. If you are matched to a school in the lottery, you must enroll your child by the common enrollment deadline, or you may lose your space at that school.
This includes submitting proof of DC residency , the school's required paperwork , and up-to-date health forms. Some schools may require you to complete paperwork online. If a school has space for your child, and you provided an email address when completing your My School DC application, you will be notified right away by My School DC through email when a school extends a waitlist offer.
If you did not provide an email address nor opted in to receiving text alerts, you will not receive an immediate notification from My School DC. However, you can log into your My School DC family account as often as you like, and if a waitlist offer has been made, it will be reflected on your lottery results page. If you are unable to log into your family account, please contact the My School DC Hotline at or at [email protected] for assistance.
The school will also reach out to you directly by phone and email to explain next steps, which will include submitting all required enrollment documents. If you receive a match in the lottery and you do not enroll your child by the commen enrollment deadline of May 3, , you may lose your space at that school.
And, if you are extended a waitlist offer and miss the deadline that the school sets, then you may lose your space at that school. Waitlist positions at other schools will not be affected by missing the enrollment deadline. If you think you are unable to meet an enrollment deadline, immediately contact the school.
No, many schools have their own enrollment requirements. Families should contact the school at which they are matched directly to learn about enrollment paperwork required by the school, including how to submit required enrollment documents and residency verification.
You can also visit the Enrollment Requirements by School page when lottery results are released to learn more. Please review the guidelines for verifying that you are a DC resident.
If you are unable to prove DC residency, immediately contact the school where your child is matched and ask what options are available to you. For example: A student applies to 5 schools and is matched to the school they ranked 4. The student is automatically waitlisted at schools ranked Remember: Enrolling your child at their matched school will not remove them off any waitlists.
Students who are not matched through the lottery are waitlisted at all schools listed on their application. Schools make offers off their waitlist in order. If a space becomes available at one of the schools at which your child is waitlisted and they are next on the waitlist, that school will contact you by phone. If you provided an email address on your application or opted in to receive text messages, you will also be notified immediately by My School DC through email and text when a school extends a waitlist offer.
It is common for applicants to move up the waitlist throughout the spring and summer.
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