The Board of Education has approved the School District of Philadelphia’s revised plan for the 2020-2021 academic year, which proposes 100 percent remote learning for all students from the beginning of the year until at least the end of the first marking period. The new plan was discussed at the Board of Education’s meeting last night. The Board has also approved proposed changes to the academic calendar, which included moving the first day of school from Monday, Aug. 31 to Wednesday, Sept. 2.

The District’s revised plan will have all public school students in grades K-12 engaging in online learning five days per week and receiving instruction by teachers from their enrolled schools through the first marking period, which ends on Nov. 17. Students may transition to a hybrid model of in-person and digital learning after that if it is deemed safe.  A 100 percent digital learning option will also be available at that time, and the District will explore opportunities for students to be taught by teachers from their enrolled school.  Continue Reading

Re-opening of indoor dining in Philadelphia has been postponed until at least Sept. 1 due to COVID-19 concerns, according to an announcement by Philadelphia health officials made on Tuesday.

Philadelphia is currently in a modified Green re-opening phase with outdoor dining allowed. Indoor dining was expected to reopen in the city by the beginning of August, however the number of new coronavirus cases has increased in the past two weeks.

Some 142 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 were announced in Philadelphia on Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 29,945.  Continue Reading

The School District of Philadelphia has scrapped a plan that would allow most students to attend school in person a couple of days a week and announced today that all students will start the year online.

The district presented the new plan following public criticism of a plan introduced earlier this month that would allow most students to attend school two days per week. Students will attend school online until at least Nov. 17, the end of the first marking period.

The hybrid learning model, the district’s original plan of a mix of in-person and digital learning, will be reconsidered after Nov. 17.

The Board of Education will consider the proposed changes at its meeting this Thursday, July 30 at 4 p.m.

For more information on the revised plan, please visit the School District website.

If your trash/recycling collection days are Monday or Tuesday, please hold on to your recyclables until next week. The Streets Department has been a few days behind with collections for the past three weeks and has suspended recycling collection for these two days to help them return to a normal schedule. Residents can place trash out on their normal trash collection day beginning Monday, July 27.

The delays in collections were due to a few factors, including shortage of staff who called in sick with COVID-19, the tropical storm that hit our area on July 10 and an overall increase in trash/recyclables amount this month due to the holidays.

Recycling continues to be delayed by several days as the Streets Department is focusing on trash collection to mitigate risks to health and public safety. The Department expects to return to a normal recycling schedule on Wednesday, July 29.

Registration is now open for the School District of Philadelphia’s new “Digital Academy” for those Philadelphia public school students who would like to stay home while the COVID-19 epidemic continues. The digital academy allows families to opt in to a 100 percent virtual learning and instructional model for students enrolled in grades K-12.

Students registering for the Digital Academy must remain in that model throughout the first two terms of the academic year, and will only be able to transition out at the start of the third term.  Continue Reading

Due to a high volume of trash and recycling after the July 4th holiday, the tropical storm that hit our area on July 10 and the shortage of staff due to COVID-19, there have been lengthy delays in the collection, according to the Streets Department. The delays were up to four days last week, but the situation is expected to improve this week.

Over the weekend, the Streets Department brought in help from its Highways Division and other departments and has reduced the delays from 3 or 4 days to 1 or 2 days across the city, Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams said.

This week residents should still expect delays as crews continue to prioritize collecting materials not picked up from last week. Residents are asked to set their trash and recycling out one day later than their regularly scheduled day. Please note that recycling may take longer to collect as the city is prioritizing trash collection to mitigate public health risks.  Continue Reading