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Dare County Schools Superintendent John Farrelly sent out this update to Dare County Schools families prior to the Dare County School Board meeting Tuesday, Oct.13:

“1. Virtual School:

We have over 1200 students currently registered for the Virtual School. Parents of students who are registered for the Virtual School will receive an email from their new teacher(s) this coming Monday, Oct. 19. North Carolina Public Schools will not have access to Powerschool this weekend as the state performs a platform upgrade. We believe that all parents will be able to log-in to Parent Portal by next Wednesday to see their assigned teacher and schedule. If you have any questions about the Virtual Program, contact Dr. Ashley McBride at mcbrideas@daretolearn.org

“2. Traditional Teacher Reassignments:

With over 20% of the students in the district moving to the Virtual School, we have to staff the Virtual School with Dare County Schools teachers who have chosen to teach virtually. This means that some students coming back for face to face (traditional school) will be reassigned to a new teacher at your child’s school. At the elementary level, this is less than 190 students. Students who are assigned to new teachers at your child’s school will also receive an email from their child’s teacher on Monday, introducing themselves, providing contact information, and making themselves available for any questions you may have.

“3. Teacher Workdays

A reminder that teacher workdays are next Wednesday through Friday, October 21 through 23.

“4. Preschool and Kindergarten Orientation

Our elementary schools will be communicating dates for Preschool and Kindergarten parent/student orientation during the week of October 26 through 30. These meetings will have a staggered entry with four or five families coming in each day.

“5. Registration for Transportation:

Dare County Schools collected family preferences for bus transportation in August through the Parent Portal in PowerSchool. We understand that your plans since August may be different. If you need to change your transportation preferences, you can fill out the Change of Transportation Request Form from your PowerSchool Parent Portal. This document and this video walkthrough will demonstrate how to get to your child’s forms.

“6. MANDATORY Daily Health Screening Registration

Students and staff who will be entering the school building for face-to-face instruction will need to fill out a short COVID 19 survey prior to entry. This survey can be sent to a cell phone number through text message or by email. The survey will have to be completed each morning that the student is entering the building. Our team needs to know your preference for receiving this survey and the number or email address that you would like us to send the survey to. To gather this information, we have built a form in the PowerSchool Parent Portal titled COVID 19 Screening App Information. To fill this form out you will need to login to your PowerSchool Parent Portal. This document and this video walkthrough will demonstrate how to get to your child’s forms.

“7. Bell Schedules and Arrival/Dismissal

All Dare County schools will be sending out bell schedules and arrival/dismissal procedures next week. In order to alleviate social distancing at crowded times, we are strongly encouraging parents to drop their children off as opposed to walking them up to the school. At the elementary level, we will be coordinating “drop-off and pick-up zones” for families that typically walk their children to the school or pick them up on foot. Each school will be sending out school-specific procedures next week. Any adult who is on a Dare County Schools campus will be required to wear a face-covering unless they have a medical exemption.”

READ ABOUT MORE SCHOOL NEWS HERE.