Dear USD 401 Chase/Raymond School Family,

After listening to the feedback and desires of our staff and patrons, the USD 401 BOE has decided to start the 2020-2021 school year after Labor Day on September 8. With over 85% of staff and 60% of patrons desiring the later start, we have determined that this is the right thing to do. Although we are all anxious to get our kiddos back in school, the safety of our school family is our top priority.

We will front-load our teacher in-service time, moving the vast majority to August before school starts. This will allow us plenty of time to plan our approach both operationally and instructional for the upcoming year. There is much preparation that needs to take place for our staff so that we are all on the same page with how we conduct school safely and effectively to maximize student learning.

Our operations plan continues to be a work in progress, but we do know that parents/students will have the choice to attend school in-person or remotely. There will be specific guidelines to the remote learning but it will follow the same daily schedule and attendance requirements as the on-site learning. We will be prepared to adjust in the event that we have any quarantined students or entire classroom quarantines.

Look for further details on enrollment to come. You will have the opportunity to enroll online beginning August 6. We will then have a schedule for walk-in enrollments the week of Aug 13. All immunizations, sports physicals, school lunch applications, fees, etc. will still need to be completed prior to starting school. KSHSAA has determined that fall sports practice may begin on August 17.

The school calendar has been adjusted in a way that assures that we meet KSDE requirements. There is still some wiggle room for those occasional snow days, etc. The calendar includes the traditional Christmas and Spring Break. If we get any significant COVID related shutdowns during the year, we may have to adjust a few things. The printed version of the year-long calendar will be distributed as soon as we can get them edited.

Thank you to those who took the time to complete the survey. We appreciate your input and have made every attempt to respond to your desires. We will provide more updates in the near future.

Kindest Regards,
Jim Johnson

USD 401

Return to School Update