St. Charles District 303 Students To Return To Classrooms Jan. 5

ST. CHARLES, IL — St. Charles District 303 students will return to classrooms next month following a school closure that began on Nov. 30 and will continue through the end of winter break.

Students will return to their previous schedules starting on Jan. 5, Carol Smith, director of communications and community relations, told Patch. Upon returning, elementary students will attend shortened in-person classes five days a week.

Older students in middle and high school will return to a hybrid model that includes some days in classrooms and others learning online. Fully remote education is also offered by semester.

The district made the move to remote-only education in late November after cases of the coronavirus in the district more than doubled in a week, bringing the total case count to 280 with 116 cases remaining active among students and staff, Patch reported previously.

The closure was also recommended by the Kane County Health Department after the county's positivity rate climbed to 18.4 percent.

The district's coronavirus dashboard shows total cases between Nov. 16 — when the decision to return to remote education was made and Dec. 11 climbed to 342, an increase of 62. In the same timeframe, the number of active cases in the district fell to only 14 as of Thursday.

Smith told Patch the number of active cases on the dashboard represent only the people who have recently been in a school building and who have tested positive for the coronavirus. It is possible, she said, that some additional students or staff members contracted the coronavirus during the remote learning period but are not represented in the dashboard.

Here’s a look at cases as of Dec. 11, the most recent data available:

• Anderson Elementary - 0
• Bell Graham Elementary - 0
• Corron Elementary - 0
• Davis Primary - 1
• Ferson Creek Elementary - 0
• Fox Ridge EC - 0
• Haines Building - 0
• Lincoln Elementary - 0
• Munhall Elementary - 0
• Norton Creek Elementary - 2
• Richmond Intermediate - 1
• Wasco Elementary - 0
• Wild Rose Elementary - 0
• Thompson Middle School - 1
• Wredling Middle School - 4
• East High School - 0
• North High School - 3
• Facilities/Peck Road - 2