Free Meals for All Children at Ames Schools Through the 20-21 School Year
The Ames Community School District is excited to share that we will be able to offer free breakfast and lunch each school day to every child in our community through the end of the 2020-2021 school year. The U. S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that it would grant the flexibility for school districts to offer no-cost meals to all children through the end of the school year.
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New Quarantine Guidance / Mask Wearing
On Tuesday, September 29th, Governor Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) released new quarantine guidance for COVID-19. This change impacts situations where both the person positive for COVID-19 and those in close contact with them (less than six feet for greater than 15 minutes) were wearing masks. This change differs from current CDC guidance, which states individuals in close contact with someone with COVID-19 should quarantine for 14 days following the exposure, regardless of whether masks were worn.
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New Parent Absence Reporting Online Form
Regular attendance is an essential part of the educational program for each student in our District. To report your child absent, please utilize the option that works best for you; either call the school or use our new online absence reporting form. You can report the absence any time before 9:15 A.M the day your child is out. The new absence reporting form includes questions about your child’s illness symptoms, if they have had a COVID-19 test, or if they have been identified as a close contact of someone with COVID-19. The most important thing you can do to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in our schools is to keep your child home when they are sick.
Read moreRTL Update – Hybrid Model Begins Monday
Hybrid Instructional Model to Begin Monday Last night, the Ames School Board approved to move to the 50% face-to-face hybrid instructional model beginning on Monday, September 21. This also includes the restart of extracurricular activities. Cohort Group - Prior to the start of school when we anticipated starting in a “Phased-In” Hybrid model, students were assigned to a cohort group 1-4. Those same groups will be used for the 50% hybrid model with groups 1/2 and 3/4 being combined.
Read moreRTL Update – Delivery Model Transition Requests
Here is the latest information around Return to Learn for the 2020-2021 school year. School Board Meeting (September 14, 2020) The school board will hold a regularly scheduled meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. The meeting can be found at the Zoom URL below or streamed on our YouTube Channel. https://ames-k12-ia-us.zoom.us/j/86849490767
Read moreRTL Update – Required Continuous Learning
School Board Approves the Recommendation to Start the School Year in Required Continuous Learning Last evening, the school board voted unanimously to begin the 2020-21 school year in a 100% off-site Required Continuous Learning delivery model due to the rapidly increasing COVID-19 positivity rates in our community. This decision was based on the COVID-19 positivity rates in our community. On Monday, the 14-day positivity rate was 21.1%, which exceeds not only our local metrics but those outlined by the Department of Education.
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Revised 2020-2021 School Year Calendar Approved (August 28, 2020)
As a result of the ongoing pandemic due to the coronavirus, and in order to return to school safely, we have made slight changes to next year’s calendar. The easiest way to understand these changes is to know that outside of the federal holidays indicated below, every other day in our calendar will be a student contact day, giving teachers and students increased opportunities for instruction. A special thank you to the Ames Teacher’s Union for working collaboratively on these changes.
Read moreRTL Update – Cohort Group Emails Sent / Tech Device Distribution
School Board Meeting (August 28, 2020) The school board will hold a special board meeting tonight at 5:30 p.m. The meeting can be found at the Zoom URL below or streamed on our YouTube Channel. https://ames-k12-ia-us.zoom.us/j/83762585724 Cohort Groups / Student’s Teacher Today, emails were sent out indicating student cohort groups and teachers. Student schedules were also available for Ames High and Ames Middle School. Please check your Infinite Campus Parent Portal.
Read moreRTL Update – Cohort Groups / Device Pickup
When will I know what day of the week my kid goes to school? As the online request form closed last week Friday, we are working to roster students within our student information system, Infinite Campus. We are finalizing that process this week and will communicate which cohort group your student will attend to start the school year along with their teacher (elementary) on Friday, August 28. Ames Middle School and Ames High School will release student schedules on Friday as well.
Read moreRTL Update – School Board Statement on the Importance of Local Control
Here is the latest information around Return to Learn for the 2020-2021 school year. Department of Education Permission for Phased-In Hybrid Denied The Ames Community School District requested permission from the Department of Education (DE) to begin the school year in a “phased-in” hybrid delivery model and it has been denied. We are continuing to work with the DE to understand what options are available to us and how instructional hours completed during the “phased-in” time period will contribute to the overall total.
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