Dear Bulldog Families,

With less than two weeks to go before the official first day of school for our students on Tuesday, September 8th, we have all hands on deck and are busy with preparations for the 2020-2021 school year.  This past Monday, August 24th, we welcomed all of our Bulldog staff members back to the buildings and held our annual convocation event via a YouTube livestream which was broadcast across the district to twelve separate locations to allow for proper social distancing. 

Since then, our dedicated team of teachers and support staff have joined administrators and all have been working diligently on-site, in our buildings. As you might imagine, there is much to do as we continue to work to get this unconventional school year officially underway. I have had an opportunity to visit all of our buildings over the past few days and I want to recognize our outstanding team of Bulldog staff for all of the great work I see happening in our buildings and classrooms.  I am confident that we are prepared for whatever this school year brings.

I want to also extend my sincere thanks to all of our Bulldog families for your patience and support throughout these summer months as we worked to create and finalize our OFCS Responsible Restart Plan. Thank you for completing the individual OFCS Restart Forms for each of your students last week.  Our staff across all buildings are currently working with that data to finalize pathway selections, class lists and schedules, technology and transportation.  Building principals shared out their individual Building Restart Guides yesterday afternoon. Should you have any questions about the pathway (A or B) that you have selected for a student, please plan to reach out to your child’s school building directly for assistance.

We are receiving a number of questions regarding whether Olmsted Falls City Schools will be starting Pathway A in a Full Remote eLearning 2.0 or Hybrid mode on Tuesday, September 8th. The determination of how we will begin the school year will be made following the weekly update for school superintendents from the Cuyahoga County Board of Health which takes place tomorrow afternoon.  We have continued to monitor their data regarding positivity rates and the number of new cases in Cuyahoga County, which have both been improving in recent weeks. All Bulldog families will receive an email from me no later than Monday, August 31st which will confirm how our school year will begin. 

It is important to note that no matter how we start, there will be the strong likelihood that we will need to transition between the Full Remote eLearning 2.0, Hybrid and All-In models over the course of the year.  We have committed to providing at least one week advance notice ahead of shifts from one model to another for students in Pathway A.  The only exception will be if we need to shift from the in-person Hybrid or All-In model back to Full Remote eLearning 2.0 due to the county entering Level 4 (purple designation) on the Ohio COVID-19 Risk Level scale - as that would require a more immediate transition.

Finally, I want to confirm for our families that the usual Returning Student Registration portal will open this Friday, August 28th at 5:00 p.m. All Bulldog families will receive an email alert at that time which will include instructions and deadline information for completing this required annual update of student information.

Again, please plan to watch for an update from me via email by this Monday, August 31st confirming whether OFCS will start school in Full Remote eLearning 2.0 or Hybrid mode for those students who are in Pathway A. 

Thank you again for your time, attention and patience.

Sincerely,

Jim

Dr. Jim Lloyd

Superintendent for the Olmsted Falls City School District

26937 Bagley Rd.

Olmsted Township, OH 44138

Phone: 440-427-6000

Twitter: @OFCSSuper

Web: www.ofcs.net