In-person or virtual classes next semester? Wake elementary families must decide soon.
Thousands of Wake County parents will soon have to decide on where their children will go to school either next semester or next school year.
Tuesday marks the start of an 11-day filing period for Wake County high school parents to request that their children not be reassigned to a different school for next school year.
Wednesday marks the start of a one-week application period for elementary school parents to request their children only take online classes next semester.
Virtual Academy registration opens
From Dec. 2-9, elementary school parents can register their children to attend the Wake County Virtual Academy for the spring semester that starts in January.
The Virtual Academy was created for families who don’t feel comfortable returning for in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program also appeals to families who don’t want to deal with changing back and forth between in-person and online classes.
More than 38,000 of Wake’s 69,000 elementary school students, or 56%, are in the Virtual Academy this semester.
More than 47,000 middle school and high school students are currently in the Virtual Academy. But 4,000 fewer students signed up for the spring semester when their registration period was held earlier this fall.
This registration period is meant for:
▪ Virtual Academy students who want to return to in-person instruction next semester after having previously signed up for online classes only all school year.
▪ Virtual Academy students who registered for the fall only but who now want to stay in the spring semester.
▪ Students not currently in the Virtual Academy who want to join in the spring semester.
Families now in Wake’s PreK program will be contacted about how to apply for the Virtual Academy.
No action is needed from Virtual Academy students who signed up for the entire school year and who want to stay in the program. No action is needed for people who didn’t choose the Virtual Academy before and who wish to stay with in-person learning next semester.
Families may apply and find more information at www.wcpss.net/Virtual-Academy.
Families weigh in-person options
The registration period comes at a time when Wake plans to give daily in-person classes next semester to all PreK-5 students not in the Virtual Academy.
PreK-3 students are now getting daily face-to-face classes. But fourth and fifth-grade students are on a rotation of one week of in-person classes and two weeks of online classes.
Some families may be reluctant to return because Wake can’t guarantee at least 6 feet of social distancing in every elementary school classroom. Some fourth and fifth-grade classes could have more than 30 students in the room.
Coronavirus cases are spiking statewide and nationally. Some people have complained on social media about Wake offering in-person instruction this week when families are returning from mass gatherings over Thanksgiving break.
The district has reported 146 confirmed COVID-19 cases since students began returning for in-person instruction on Oct. 26.
Grandfathering period opens for families
The time to act is now for families who were impacted by the school board’s December 2019 vote on a reassignment plan to fill Willow Spring High School.
Wake will move some Middle Creek High and Fuquay-Varina High students to fill Willow Spring High when it opens in August 2021. Wake is also moving some Holly Springs High students to help refill Fuquay-Varina HIgh.
From Dec. 1-11, Wake will open its “grandfathering” period during which students who are being reassigned can request to stay at their current school. Two groups are eligible this year:
▪ Students reassigned to Willow Spring High don’t have to go there if they have a sibling who will be a junior or senior next year at Middle Creek or Fuquay-Varina high schools. They can grandfather and will have bus service until the older sibling leaves the school.
▪ Current Holly Springs High students can grandfather at the school instead of going to Fuquay-Varina High. But they won’t get bus service if they stay.
The district says it will notify all students who are eligible for grandfathering and will approve all requests made by Dec. 11.
Families who don’t like their new school assignment can also choose to apply to an early college high school or other magnet high school. The application period runs to Dec. 14 for early colleges and Jan. 28 for magnet schools.
Areas facing future reassignment
Wake is also giving families advance warning about who might be reassigned when three new schools open in 2022. This comes after complaints in prior years from families about being blindsided by proposed moves.
The Office of Student Assignment has created a Future Schools website (www.wcpss.net/Page/46462) showing the areas that could be affected by the opening of Apex Friendship Elementary, Barton Pond Elementary in Raleigh and Herbert Akins Middle in Fuquay-Varina.
“Those who live in the shaded areas will not all be proposed to be assigned to the new schools,” Wake says on the website. ”These maps are simply a reference for parents as we prepare for the forthcoming Student Enrollment Proposal in Fall 2021.”
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 12:56 PM with the headline "In-person or virtual classes next semester? Wake elementary families must decide soon.."
