October 10 — We want to share an important update from NOLA Public Schools regarding the return of students to ReNEW Schools buildings later in the month of October. Today, NOLA Public Schools announced that 5th through 8th grade students can begin returning to school in-person in mid-October, as long as the health data remains positive in New Orleans.

We are proud to say that our schools are sanitized daily, high-touch areas are disinfected hourly, and numerous safety measures have been put in place. You can find all the information regarding our safety protocols on the ReNEW Schools Homepage at https://renewschools.org/.

The plan for students to return to school was always based on meeting certain health data milestones and, as of this week, the city has met and exceeded all of those milestones.

ReNEW will welcome back our our students on the following schedule:

Schaumburg Elementary:
- 5th through 8th grades will return daily beginning on Thursday, October 15
SciTech Academy:
- 5th through 8th grades will return daily beginning on Thursday, October 15
Dolores T. Aaron Academy:
- 6th and 8th grades will return on Thursday, October 15
  - 6th and 8th grade students attend only on Tuesdays and Thursdays
- 5th and 7th grades return on Friday, October 16
  - 5th and 7th grade students will attend Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays

Even though we are excited to see our 5th through 8th grade students back in classrooms, some families have chosen to remain virtual and we will continue to support all our virtual classrooms similar to the in-person classrooms.

Again, families that opt for students to remain in virtual classrooms have chosen to remain virtual through the end of the second quarter, Friday, December 18. All families that remain virtual for the second quarter will be contacted in December with the option to begin in-person instruction in January.