The goal of the GCS administration is to return to in-person school five days a week, as soon as it is safe to do so. Under guidelines produced by the AccelerateED task force, schools should correlate attendance plans to Community Spread levels. In general, as community spread increases, the number of students present in school each day should decrease, down to and including zero. DHEC issues a new community spread rating each Monday, and as a result, we will not know which attendance plan will be in effect for the start of school until much closer to August 24, the first day of school for GCS.. Our Attendance Plan Roadmap provides four possible attendance scenarios for students:  0 days of in-person attendance (also known as eLearning), 1 day of in-person attendance (1/4 of students attend each day, Mon-Thurs), 2 days of in-person attendance (1/2 of students attend each day, Mon-Thurs), and our regular five-day schedule. We are only able to maintain social distance in schools under Attendance Plans 1 and 2.

Parents who need to change their child’s color group due to childcare issues or transportation should complete the form below. Revising student groups is a very complex process, so please use this option only if necessary. Changes are based on space availability on buses and classroom capacity in the school, taking social distancing into consideration. Please allow a few days for changes to be processed.

7:45 a.m. – 2:15 p.m.

Greenville County Schools has made a 15-minute shift in the elementary school start time beginning in August to ensure on-time drop off for high school students. By shifting elementary bus rider drop off to 7 a.m. and start the school day at 7:45 a.m. instead of 8 a.m., we are able to add 15 minutes to the window of time buses have to complete secondary routes, without extending the workday for elementary teachers.

Greenville County Schools has moved the start-date for the 2020-21 school year from August 17 to August 24, which is one week later than our original plan.  The main reason for this change is to allow us time to reconstruct class rosters and allocate teachers in response to the new Virtual Program option. This change in the start-date will not affect the end-date of the school calendar.  Days will be made up by converting our three “snow days” to student attendance days, changing Monday, November 2 to a student attendance day, and changing the teacher workday/student holiday on January 15 to an attendance day. In addition, the Teacher Professional Development Day/Student Holiday on October 19 has been moved to October 23.

In response to the needs of our community, GCS has added a new full-time virtual option for students in grades 5K-12. You must be enrolled in your assigned school if you plan to register in the GCS Virtual Program. Unlike eLearning, which was implemented under emergency conditions during last spring's school shutdown, students in the Virtual Program will have a normal daily instructional schedule, earn grades, and receive timely teacher feedback in response to class or homework. Teachers experienced in online platforms and virtual instruction will help and support student engagement using live and recorded lessons and tutorials. Because staffing the virtual program requires the removal of teachers from traditional classrooms, we are asking parents to commit to a full year of virtual instruction.  However, if a family requests a transfer back to brick and mortar instruction before or at the semester break (January), we will work for a mid-year transition, so long as appropriate space is available.

GCS Virtual Program WebsiteVirtual Program Supply Lists

Think you’re up on all the latest school lingo? Take this quiz to test your knowledge of GCS back-to-school terms. Spoiler Alert! Chalkboard is not on the list.

Greenville County Schools is asking ALL families who will have a student or students enrolled for the 2020-21 school year to complete a new Transportation Request Form. The form should be completed for EVERY student, including bus riders, car riders, walkers, bicyclists, and daycare bus riders. It is very important to complete the form so GCS can efficiently plan for how students will arrive and depart campuses daily. It is particularly important for students who have moved or changed schools. In order to ensure school bus transportation on the first day of school, forms are due by Wednesday, July 15. School bus requests submitted after July 15 will not be routed until after Labor Day.

New Transportation Request Form

Videos

• Facebook Live: Health and Transportation Questions
• Facebook Live: Academics and Special Education
• Facebook Life: Facilities
• Preguntas y Respuestas: Destino Volver A La Escuela 2020
• Google Classroom for Parents
• Guía para padres sobre Google Classroom

Resources

• CARES Act Provides Free Internet for Eligible Families
• Extended Day Program Information
• Extended Day Program Sites

5-Year-Old Kindergarten Waiver

Children who will be five years old on or before September 1 of the current year must enroll in public or private kindergarten unless the parent or legal guardian signs a waiver and turn it in at their home-based (assigned by residence) school.

If a parent chooses to keep their child out of five-year-old kindergarten, the child will begin first grade the following year.

Kindergarten Waiver Form
Formulario de exención de kindergarten

Parents are strongly encouraged to create a Backpack account for their children. Greenville County Schools uses Backpack to provide parents with the most recent news and information about our schools. The Backpack for Parents account also provides parents, guardians, or contacts with a central place to sign in to:

• View their student's information including demographics, attendance, classes, grades, lunch balances, and test scores
• Apply or register their student to Special Focus schools and programs (Fine Arts Center, Career Centers, etc.)
• Receive alerts and notifications regarding their students
• View their student's school and contact information
• Manage parent and contact information for their students

• Community Spread – Greenville County - August 3, 2020
• Community Spread – Greenville County - July 27, 2020
• Community Spread – Greenville County – July 20, 2020
• DHEC - SC Testing Data & Projections (COVID-19)
• DHEC Community Spread Indicators
• Indicadores de difusión comunitaria de DHEC
• DHEC Guidance for Schools
• How to Protect Yourself from COVID-19
• Helping children cope with changes around COVID-19
• When should your child stay home?
• Going Back to School after COVID-19 Social Story
• Mask Up GCS - Video ( Los subtítulos en español se proporcionan haciendo clic en el botón CC en la parte inferior del video.)
• Mask Guidelines for School
• Reglamentos de máscara para la escuela
• Mask Wearing Toolkit
• Use of cloth face coverings (CDC)
• Handwashing Procedures

Classroom Posters

• What you need to know about COVID-19 |  Lo que necesita saber sobre COVID -19
• Wear a Mask |  Use una máscara
• Stop the Spread of Germs |  Detener la transmisión de gérmenes
• Handwashing