In-Person Learning Returning To Philly Schools For 2021-22

PHILADELPHIA — School District of Philadelphia schools will be bustling with students for the 2021-22 school year.

The district, city, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and leaders from other union officials announced the intention for all students to return to full in-person instruction during the 2021-2022 school year.

Five-day-a-week in-person learning will return to the district on Aug. 31.

The District made the decision to give families the option to return to full in-person learning in the fall given the current:

• low (and declining) transmission rates in Philadelphia,
• relaxing of COVID-related restrictions across the city and nation,
• increasing number of people getting vaccinated which now includes children 12 years of age and older, and
• fact that positive COVID-19 cases in District schools have remained well below one percent since hybrid learning started.

For families with whom a return to in-person learning would pose a significant challenge, the district is exploring a 100 percent digital learning option. Details about this program will be coming in the near future.

Every school in the District will continue to follow any and all guidance from the CDC, Pennsylvania Department of Education and Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

"We understand both the need and importance of our students returning to full in-person learning, five days a week. Having students in classrooms with educators will help them heal and recover from the many devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic," Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said. "We are in full support of the national call to action of reopening schools, and are confident that we can do so safely."

The District is seeking input from staff and the community through a survey and small focus groups to help create formal plans for full in-person learning, as well as the new Digital School option. The survey, which is open now, will close at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 28.

In addition, the District is holding Back-to-School Engagement forums, a series of five focus groups in multiple languages so families can provide direct, verbal input, in a small group setting. These events take place May 26, May 27 and June 3.

The survey and the community forum registration are available online here.