The Polk County Public School have chosen to delay the start of the upcoming school year due to concerns over the increasing number of COVID-19 cases within the county. Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd said it is necessary to delay the start of the school year because it isn’t safe to physically reopen schools at this time. She stated "We will continue to monitor the situation with health officials, and if the spread of the virus remains high, we can further delay the physical reopening of our brick-and-mortar schools if necessary."
At this time the school year will begin August 24th instead of August 10th. Teachers are scheduled to begin professional development on August 17th. To view the tentative public school calendar click HERE
Parent have three options for the upcoming school year.. Currently the options are between Campus Learning where students return to campus with safety measure in place, Campus eSchool where students remain enrolled in their school through online learning or Polk Virtual School which is the counties virtual school program. You can learn more about all three options HERE.
Polk County Public Schools are asking that parents complete a School Intent Form for the upcoming school year. The form is to be filled out for each child in the household. A family with 3 kids will need to fill out the form 3 times. School Intent Registrations are to be submitted before 6:00 p.m. on Sunday August 2nd. Click HERE to access the form.
** On July 28th the PCPS released a statement about face coverings. All students, Kinder through 12th grade, attending in person classes will be required to wear a face mask that covers the nose and mouth.
"Students must wear a face covering that covers both the nose and mouth and fits snugly against the sides of a person’s face with little or no gaps at all times to ensure their own safety and the safety of other students and staff. Students must wear the face covering at all times when on school grounds or district-provided transportation, unless the student is involved in an approved activity when a face covering would not be appropriate. All face coverings must comply with general dress code and school uniform requirements."
View the statement online HERE
Private and Charter Schools
At this time we could find no information indicating a change in the upcoming school year on the following schools websites. We have included links to the schools whose websites we found. We will be updating this article as information becomes available.
Catholic Schools: Per the Diocese of Orlando Catholic Schools will begin on August 26th. You can watch a video from the Superintendent of Catholic Schools HERE
- St. Joseph Catholic School
- Resurrection Catholic School
- Saint Anthony Catholic School
- Santa Fe Catholic School
- Crossroad Christian School Lakeland
- Excel Christian Academy
- Families of Faith Christian Academy
- Oasis Christian Academy
- Lakeland Christian School
- Winter Have Christian Academy
- Parkway Christian Academy
- All Saints Academy
- First Methodist School of Bartow
- Saint Paul Lutheran School
Charter Schools: Dates were taken from the schools websites
- Lake Wales Charter School - Classes begin August 10th
- Heritage Academy - Classes begin August 10
- Discover Academy of Lake Alfred
- Rochelle School of Arts - Classes delayed until August 24
- The Schools of McKeel Academy - Classes begin August 6
