IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
ICS Parent/Guardian Notice
December 15, 2020
ICS Response to Dec. 10, 2020 Covid-19 Rescinded Order
2020-2021 School Year Semester 2 Planning Next Steps
Late last week, Dr. Virginia Caine, the Marion County Public Health Department director, and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, announced that Marion County schools were cleared to be back in session in person as of January 4, rescinding the original order effective through January 18. This news came as quite the surprise to public school leaders throughout Marion County, especially given the still climbing Covid-19 positivity rate in Marion County -- now at 14.5 percent over the past seven days -- and the increasing local hospitalization rate. Unfortunately, Indiana is now the nation's hot spot for Covid-19 spread. As stated throughout the pandemic, safety for students and staff remains our top priority during this public health crisis. Your support through this challenge has been remarkable and deeply appreciated.

Per our Nov. 13, 2020 message, the ICS Leadership Team committed to providing you with an update today regarding the academic model options for the second semester of the 2020-2021 school year. Additionally, we want to use this opportunity to provide clarification regarding the first two weeks of the third quarter. Please see below for information addressing these two points: 

  • January 4 - January 15, 2021 | ICS will be in full virtual mode for grades K-12. This gives us some essential distance to better assess how the spread of the virus is going following the Christmas and New Year's holidays and assists all of us with planning through mid-January. School-specific information will be sent out to families during the week of Dec. 28, 2020, regarding specifics for these two weeks. 

  • January 19 - March 26, 2021 | As shared in previous communications, ICS intends to offer two academic model options for the third quarter. Parents will be notified through email, text and social media on Thursday, Dec.17, to begin the sign-up for hybrid or full-time virtual learning academic model options. The deadline to complete this process is Wednesday, Dec. 23, at 11:59 p.m. Please note that as we continue our planning for the K-12 hybrid model, this ambition could be scaled back based on how the pandemic is behaving. Note that Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, is an observed holiday for ICS and school is not in session. 

  • April 5 - June 10, 2021 | The ICS Leadership team will continue to assess the pandemic’s progression throughout the third quarter to determine any adjustments in the hybrid learning model for the fourth quarter. Again, any type of adjustment is dependent on professional medical advice from local health officials, as well as consideration for the safety of our students and staff. Information regarding the fourth quarter will be communicated in mid-March. Please note that ICS is on Spring Break Monday, March 29 - Friday, April 2, 2021, and school is not in session. 

We want all of you and yours to stay safe throughout our Winter Break. Please keep in mind the best thing we can all do to knock down the spread of Covid-19 so that we can resume our former lives is to behave responsibly. That said, in echoing the recent messaging from our national infectious disease experts, I'm asking you for another sacrifice in a year of many: this holiday season, please think twice about holding any indoor gatherings with friends and extended family. The light we've all been patiently waiting for is on the horizon, with vaccines now being deployed to our nation’s healthcare workers. We will get through this, but we still have a ways to go. All of us simply need to do our part -- which is The Irvington Way.

So stay safe, enjoy your holiday time with your immediate family, know that we are thinking of you, and be sure to check your email, text and social media platforms on Thursday, Dec. 17, for the launch of the third quarter academic model sign-up. 

Stay safe, Ravens!