Reminder: Tomorrow, Tuesday, December 29, 2020, meals will be ready for pick up from 2:15pm - 2:45pm for any family that has pre-registered. These are for any child regardless of lunch status. If other arrangements for pick up are necessary, please contact Chris Ammon at cammon@jcsdk12.org. Also, to ensure a safe return to school, if your child has tested positive for COVID-19, is awaiting test results, or has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please contact your school nurse who will help determine quarantine dates.
December 23, 2020
Dear JCSD Families:
At this time the JCSD is committed to reopening our schools on January 4, 2021 with the 4-1 plan. We feel that our students need to be back in school as soon as safely possible. Please keep in mind that depending on the most recent county infection data and number of staff quarantined or infected, we may need to alter the timing or the way we reopen our schools. Any changes will be communicated through our school calling system and posted on the district website.
Moving forward, the district will try to react to active COVID cases, or staff shortages at the building level and avoid shutting down all school buildings, if possible. The criteria we will consider for these decisions can be found on the PDE website here:
https://www.education.pa.gov/Schools/safeschools/emergencyplanning/COVID-19/SchoolReopeningGuidance/ReopeningPreKto12/PublicHealthGuidance/Pages/SchoolClosureRecommentations.aspx
If in the event a school has to close, other models such as 2-2-1, may be implemented in order to reopen. This will be announced by the district administration.
Also, if your child has tested positive for COVID-19, is awaiting test results, or has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please keep your child home and contact your school nurse who will help determine quarantine dates.
JCSD Administration
A letter from Dr. Dawson can be found on our website: http://jcsdpa.apptegy.us/o/jcsd/page/letter-from-dr-dawson
Have a relaxing holiday break!
We have extra school meals available for any child under 18. If you need a meal box for your child, email cholderman@jcsdk12.org. These are available until they are gone.
All JCSD offices are closed today.
Dear JCSD Families: With the major winter storm anticipated for our area Wednesday & Thursday we will be closing our buildings at noon on Wednesday and reopening on noon on Thursday. Students will need to log attendance and complete work. Take time to enjoy the snow & stay safe!
Reminder: Tomorrow, Tuesday, December 15, 2020, meals will be ready for pick up from 2:15pm - 2:45pm for any family that has pre-registered. These are for any child regardless of lunch status. If other arrangements for pick up are necessary, please contact Chris Ammon at cammon@jcsdk12.org. Also, if your child has tested positive for COVID-19, is awaiting test results, or has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please contact your school nurse who will help determine quarantine dates. We have updated some IT systems. If you experience issues, please reach out to your building administrators.
The outage for G Suite has been resolved.
There is currently a widespread outage with G Suite which includes gmail, Google Classroom and Google Drive. We are working on resolving this issue.
JCSD Families: We will again have meals available on the following dates: Tuesday, December 15, 22 and 29 between 2:15 and 2:45pm. We are able to provide a free breakfast and a free lunch each day to all children 18 years and younger, regardless of lunch status. If you have registered for previous meals you do not need to do anything. If you have not received meals and would like to pick up on the remaining days, please email Chris Ammon at cammon@jcsdk12.org by the end of the day Friday. If you are unsure if you are on the list for pickup, please email your building administrators. If you are unable to pick up, other arrangements can be made. We are trying to reach all families in need. If you know of families, reach out to your building administrators.
Reminder: Tomorrow, Tuesday, December 8, 2020, meals will be ready for pick up from 2:15pm - 2:45pm for any family that has pre-registered. These are for any child regardless of lunch status. If other arrangements for pick up are necessary, please contact Chris Ammon at cammon@jcsdk12.org.
Also, if your child has tested positive for COVID-19, is awaiting test results, or has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please contact your school nurse who will help determine quarantine dates.
JCSD families,
After discussions with our athletic partners and consideration of the updated guidelines recently released from the Governor’s office and the Department of Health, the district has decided to delay the start of the winter athletic season until students are able to return to school. We will be closely watching our COVID data and will have students return to our schools and activities as soon as it is safe to do so. The scheduled date for return is currently January 4th with athletics and other activities starting on or about the same date. Please be advised, this date may change according to our COVID status.
Thank You,
JCSD Administration
JCSD Families, After receiving a COVID-19 update for the county, I would like to share the current situation with our families and stakeholders. Over the last three days, there have been 84 new cases confirmed, our PCR percent positivity stands at 26.4% and the incident rate is up to 591 per 100,000. These numbers place Juniata County among the highest in the state for COVID-19 transmission risk. In addition, the county has been in the “Substantial Level of Community Transmission” status for three weeks, and we are anticipating remaining in the substantial category next week as well. The information above and the rate of spread our county is currently experiencing is concerning and requires the school district to make adjustments to our previous return to in-person learning plans. Based on the above data and the most recent guidance from the Governor’s office and the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH), it is clear that we cannot open our schools for in-person instruction on December 1st. The guidance from the Governor and DOH indicate that we should remain in virtual learning until the transmission rate substantially slows and the county returns to a “Moderate Level of Community Transmission” for two weeks in a row. In order to achieve this goal, we are making the unfortunate decision to remain in virtual only learning until January 4th. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and reopen our schools for in-person learning as soon as it is safe to do so. Educationally Yours, Dr. Gary Dawson Superintendent Juniata County School District https://www.jcsdk12.org/o/jcsd/page/november-24-2020-covid-letter
Meal pickup is between 2 and 2:45 today.
Elementary Students and Families: You are reminded that student’s attendance is required on our remote instruction days. Please fill out the attendance form daily in your homeroom Google Classroom (the form that you have been filling out each week on Fridays; the form that HRE students fill out daily). Although the work your child completed in the Spring was not graded, please remember that all assignments during our remote learning days ARE expected to be completed and will be graded. Please remember that if you aren’t able to log in and participate because of illness, send an excuse to the secretary, just as we do during normal attendance. Any manner of submission to us is fine - email, mail, in-person, etc.
Secondary Students and Families: You are required to sign in to Sapphire by 8:30 am for attendance (regular Hybrid students should continue to fill out the form), and you must attend class Zooms and submit course work every day. Students check your email and Google Classroom every day. Although the work you completed in the Spring was not graded, please remember that all assignments during our remote learning days ARE expected to be completed and will be graded. Please remember that if you aren’t able to log in and participate because of illness, send an excuse to the secretary, just as we do during normal attendance. Any manner of submission to us is fine - email, mail, in-person, etc.
JCSD Families: We will have free meals available on Tuesday, November 24. All families are encouraged to sign up. Please visit the website for more information.
NOVEMBER 19, 2020 BOARD MEETING
Due to an increase in positive COVID-19 cases, the Thursday, November 19 board meeting will be held virtually.
Register in advance for this webinar at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yJjBeZJKSqKw77gEMRX4Hg
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
November 17, 2020 Dear JCSD Families: With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us and the current ranking of being #1 in the state for our COVID positivity rate, we have made the unfortunate decision to remain remote until December 1, 2020. We currently have twenty-five staff members in quarantine or isolation and over one hundred and fifty students in quarantine. We will continue monitoring county case numbers as well as positive cases within our schools. We were able to safely provide nine weeks of onsite instruction and we are frustrated we can not remain open for onsite instruction. We will continue to provide updates and information regarding our return to school. Please check your building’s social media pages for additional information regarding picture retakes and other activities that will need to be rescheduled. REMINDER: If there is someone in your household that is being evaluated and tested for COVID-19 infection, please notify the school nurse immediately. If you need books and materials from your school, please pick them up during the hours of 8 to 4, today through Friday, November 20th. Contact your building principals if you have questions. JCSD Administration
November 12, 2020
Dear Parents and Guardians,
We are here for you and your family. Juniata County School District and Metz Culinary Management would like to offer the option to families for bagged breakfasts and lunches for our students.
If you opt- in for this below, we will have a breakfast and a lunch for your child /children for each day of school to be picked up on Tuesday between 2:15- 2:45 PM in the parent pick-up line at your school or in the parking lots at the following locations: former Lack Tuscarora Elementary, former Tuscarora Valley Elementary, former Thompsontown Delaware Elementary, former Fayette Elementary and former Susquehanna Elementary. If you are unable to pick up the meals at this time, you can call your child’s school and make arrangements with the Food Service Staff to schedule a time between the hours of 8:30 AM and 2:45 PM.
Please email Chris Ammon at cammon@jcsdk12.org or call (717) 436-2111 EXT 5084 to let us know your interest in taking advantage of this option along with your child’s name. The sooner we are notified of your interest, the sooner we can get these meals out to your child(ren).
Sincerely,
Chris Ammon
General Manager (717) 436-2111 ex 5084
November 10, 2020
Dear JCSD Families:
Unfortunately we are again making an announcement regarding COVID positive cases within the JCSD. As of this afternoon, JCSD has added a positive student case at JES, a positive student case at JHS and a positive staff case at EJHS. With these cases we have almost twenty staff members in quarantine, as well as, over one hundred students. We have attempted to remain open for onsite instruction for our students but we have reached the point where it is not possible. We regretfully are announcing that for the week of November 16, 2020 we will be full remote for all students, Monday - Friday.
REMINDER: If there is someone in your household that is being evaluated and tested for COVID-19 infection, please notify the school nurse and keep all students in the household at home while awaiting test results.
JCSD Administration