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  2. Daily Recap March 24

Daily Recap March 24

Daily Recap: March 24, 2020

During the suspension of normal school operations, Amarillo ISD continues to support the health and safety of our families, our staff and our community. We continue to actively monitor COVID-19 developments and follow the recommendations of local, state and federal health authorities. We plan to provide regular updates on our website to provide you with as much information as possible to help transition to at-home learning. Please visit AISD’s COVID-19 webpage regularly for the latest information, alerts, instructions and answers to frequently asked questions.

In this update, you’ll find additional information about: 

  • "Ask AISD COVID-19"
  • Meal Curbside Pick-Up
  • Instructional Materials & Snack Pak Curbside Pick-Up
  • WiFi Coverage
  • Help Desk Information
  • Senior Class Update
  • Assessments: EOC/STAAR , AP/IB , OnRamps , Dual Credit
  • Medication Retrievals
  • Musical Instrument & Athletic Equipment Retrievals
  • Extended School Day Tuition Refunds
  • Enrollment Information

"Ask AISD COVID – 19” questions
If you have specific questions for AISD related to COVID-19, for the quickest response and instead of emailing individuals, please use the Ask AISD COVID - 19 online form (Opens in new window).

Due to the volume of questions we are receiving, please be aware that we may not respond directly to your submission. Our intent is to respond to all general questions and comments through the District's COVID-19 web page, so check this site often. If you have a question or concern that is unique to your child or family, we ask that you reach out to your school principal.

FREE meals offered via curbside pick-up
As of March 25, AISD has added four new lunch pickup locations which include Eastridge, Mesa Verde, Rogers and Carver Academy. There is no eligibility requirement for students to receive these meals (such as qualifying for free or reduced lunch) and all meals are free of charge.

In order to follow social distancing restrictions, meal service will be offered using a curbside pick-up or grab-and-go method. One meal per child present will be provided. We will serve all children 18 and younger.

Service sites, meals offered, and times are listed below:

Lunch Service: 11:00 AM- 1:00 PM, Monday-Friday (begins Monday, March 23):

  • Caprock High School, 3001 East 34th
  • Palo Duro High School, 1400 North Grant
  • Austin Middle School, 1808 Wimberly
  • South Lawn Elementary School, 4719 South Bowie
  • Ridgecrest Elementary School, 5306 SW 37th
  • Glenwood Elementary School, 2407 South Houston
  • Forest Hill Elementary School, 3515 East Amarillo Boulevard
  • San Jacinto Elementary School, 3400 West 4th
  • NEW! Eastridge Elementary School, 1314 Evergreen
  • NEW! Mesa Verde Elementary School, 4011 Beaver
  • NEW! Rogers Elementary School, 920 N. Mirror
  • NEW! Carver Academy, 1905 NW 12th

Breakfast Service: 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM, Monday-Friday (begins Tuesday, March 24):

  • Caprock High School, 3001 East 34th
  • Palo Duro High School, 1400 North Grant
  • Austin Middle School, 1808 Wimberly
  • Ridgecrest Elementary School, 5306 SW 37th

Evening Meal Service: The High Plains Food Bank has generously agreed to provide Kids Café for evening meals at several schools. Beginning Monday, March 23, Kids Cafe staff will be in the front parking lot areas at the following schools/locations from 3:15 – 3:45 PM to provide grab-and-go meals. Food will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Meals will be provided in a to-go container and a child must be present to receive the meal.

  • San Jacinto Elementary, 3400 West 4th
  • Wills Elementary, 3500 West 11th
  • Humphrey’s Highland Elementary, 3901 SE 15th
  • Glenwood Elementary, 2407 South Houston
  • Hamlet Elementary, 705 Sycamore
  • Whittier Elementary, 2004 North Marrs
  • Eastridge Mission Center, 1300 Evergreen Street
  • Boys and Girls Club of Amarillo, 1923 South Lincoln
  • Gilliland Community Kitchen- High Plains Food Bank, 2199 SE 8th Ave.

Instructional Materials and Snack Pak Curbside Pick-Up

Individual campuses will be reaching out to parents Wednesday, March 25, 2020 to give detailed information about instructional packet and Snack Pak pick-up. Those receiving their instruction via at-home internet with a device do not need a packet. Instructional packets and Snack Packs can be picked up at campuses from 7am - 9am, 11am - 1pm, and 6pm – 8pm on Friday, March 27, 2020.Online instructional resources for elementary and middle school will also be posted to the Amarillo ISD COVID-19 page on March 27. High School will deliver assignments through Google Classroom assignments or packet pick-up on Friday. March 27, 2020.

WiFi Coverage
AISD has turned up campus-based wireless access points in an attempt to strengthen the WiFi coverage in school parking lots. By turning up our wireless access, staff and students of Amarillo ISD who need Internet access can park in a school parking lot and obtain connectivity while still observing social distancing guidelines.

Also, AISD has several school busses equipped with WiFi. The District is researching the best locations around the City to place these busses, and we will communicate the locations soon.

Help Desk Information
Beginning Monday March 30, Amarillo ISD’s Department of Digital Learning will begin operating a help desk for staff, students, and parents who need instructional help with at-home learning. Specifically, the help desk will provide support for the online tools that Amarillo ISD will implement during our at-home learning.

The hours for the help desk will be 9:00am to 6:00pm Monday through Friday for the duration of at-home learning.

To contact the help desk, please call 326-1100 to speak with one of our Digital Learning Specialists. If you do not reach someone immediately, please leave a message with a callback number along with a brief description of the type of support you need. A Digital Learning Specialist will call you back as soon as possible and do their best to support your needs. Please keep in mind the callback number may show up as ‘unknown’ on your caller ID.

In addition, the Office of Technology is manning its regular help desk for more technical computer issues that are typically hardware related. You can reach them at 326-1111 from 9:00am to 6:00pm Monday through Friday.

Senior Class Update
We know that the students and families of the graduating Class of 2020 may be anxious about how this suspension of normal district operations will impact the remainder of their senior year. As of today, Prom, Graduation, Class Rank and GPA (Grade Point Average) are currently moving forward and proceeding as scheduled. The District has made no decisions in regards to postponing graduation ceremonies or changing how GPA/Class Rank will be calculated. Proms may be postponed due to timing or cancellation by the Amarillo Civic Center. We will keep you updated if there are any changes.

Assessments
EOC/STAAR: Academic assessment requirements are suspended for the remainder of the 2019–2020 school year. This includes all STAAR assessments including tests for grades 3 - 8, End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments, and STAAR Alternate 2 tests.

  • If a student is a senior but still must complete one or more EOCs to graduate, will he/she be able to graduate?
    • For students who are still working to meet assessment graduation requirements as seniors in the 2019–2020 school year, required performance on academic assessments to graduate under TEC, §28.025(c) and §39.025(a) is being waived for spring 2020. Effectively, this means that current seniors may graduate through the Individual Graduation Committee (IGC) process regardless of the number of EOC assessments they still need to pass. Campuses will follow the IGC process developed at the District level. More information to come about the IGC process.
  • If a student is not graduating this year and still has one or more EOCs required to graduate, how will that affect the student’s credit in the upcoming year?
    • The required performance on academic assessments under TEC, §28.025(c) and §39.025(a) is being waived for spring 2020 only. This means:

      A) If the student is not graduating and is currently enrolled in an EOC course, the EOC passing requirement will be waived if the student receives credit for that course.

      B) If the student is not graduating and has an outstanding EOC assessment that they have not passed from a previous year, they will still need to retake and pass that EOC assessment prior to graduation.

AP/IB:
Advanced Placement (AP) Exams:

  • For the 2019–20 exam administration only, students can take a 45-minute online free-response exam at home. Educator-led development committees are currently selecting the exam questions that will be administered.
  • Colleges support this solution and are committed to ensuring that AP students receive the credit they have worked to earn this year. For decades, colleges have accepted a shortened AP Exam for college credit when groups of students have experienced emergencies.
  • Students will be able to take these streamlined exams on any device they have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone. Taking a photo of handwritten work will also be an option.

International Baccalaureate (IB) Exams:

  • The May 2020 examinations as scheduled between April 30 and May 22 for Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme candidates will no longer be held.
  • Depending on what the student registered for, he or she will be awarded a Diploma or a Course Certificate which reflects their standard of work. This is based on the student's coursework and the established assessment expertise, rigor and quality control already built into the programmes. For more information view the IB COVID-19 FAQs PDF (PDF opens in new window).

OnRamps Courses:

  • Transition to Distance Learning: All current OnRamps course work will move to an online platform.
  • College Assessment: Students must complete a sufficient portion of the college assessments to demonstrate mastery of the course. Each course will adhere to the standards of the UT Austin department in developing an alternate assessment plan by April 6. Assessments may be delayed as needed due to District cancellations.
  • Final Exams and Final Grades: We are likely to stay within the same relative time frame of administration and delivery of final exams and final grades. Please know that there will be exceptions and a clearly defined process for making requests for exceptions.

Dual Credit:

  • Delayed: Dual Credit Courses with Amarillo College will be delayed until April 3rd
  • Transition to Online Learning: Amarillo College Facilitators/Professors will work together to convert all coursework to an online learning model.
  • Courses with labs will work with Science department heads to implement virtual labs.

Medication Retrieval:
Between March 23 and March 26, if a verified medical need/emergency warrants the return of student medications to a parent, AISD will make every attempt to facilitate this return. If a medical need/emergency exists we ask that the parent call the campus principal. The principal will then consult with the AISD Director of Nurses and/or Deputy Superintendent to coordinate the return of the medication by March 26.

For all other medication returns determined not to be a verified medical need/emergency, parents should expect a phone call during the week of March 23 from the school nurse. The nurse will arrange an appointment with each family for medication return on Friday, March 27. School nurses will make attempts to arrange medication return times within the three established windows for pick-up of at-home learning materials and Snack Paks (7:00-9:00 AM, 11:00 AM-1:00 PM, and 6:00-8:00 PM) in order to ensure social distancing measures. If medication returns cannot be arranged during one of the three established windows, the nurse will schedule an individual pick-up time at some point in the day on March 27.

Musical Instrument & Athletic Equipment Retrieval
In the coming days, each school will develop and communicate a process that will utilize “social distancing” guidelines for musical instrument and athletic equipment pick-up. Except in emergency situations, we are unable to allow retrieval of other personal items left on campuses.


Extended School Day Tuition Refunds
We have received some calls from parents asking about refunds for Extended School Day (ESD) tuition. Parents will not lose any money that has been paid to the ESD. The students will have a credit available for additional days when school resumes. Parents who prefer to receive a refund should email britani.payne@amaisd.org to receive a refund request form. Because we are currently operating with a very limited number of staff, please allow at least two weeks for processing.

Enrollment Information
For current AISD students, if possible, we request that students maintain enrollment at their current Amarillo ISD campus for the duration of the school closures.

For students new to AISD, please attempt to contact the campus principal by calling your new school. If you cannot reach the campus, contact Tracey Morman, Director of Counseling/College & Career Readiness, 806-326-1315.