Radford, Va. – In-person classes will resume on Monday, March 29, for students at John N. Dalton Intermediate and Radford High Schools.
In a letter, the Superintendent said it was “much” earlier than expected. Last week, the district announced it would suspend in-person instruction until April 2 and all extra-curricular activities until April 4.
“I think that the longer that this goes on, the more tired, that we become with trying to mitigate and provide those various strategies in place, not just in schools but all over,” Radford Superintendent Robert Graham said.
The school district’s nurses finished contract tracing and has advised everyone with direct exposure to quarantine. Leaders also worked with New River Valley Pediatrics to test the football team where one person tested positive.
“I think our community knew that there’s a chance that we, we could start to see an increase in cases, positive cases and, you know, our staff has done such a good job of being able to turn on a dime,” Radford Superintendent Robert Graham said.
As a result, in-person learning and all extra-curricular actives except football will resume on Monday, March 29. Football practice will resume on Wednesday, March 31.
If students do not feel comfortable returning, they can opt to continue online. Once you decide to go to virtual learning, you will need to stay that way the entire year.
“The virus is real, and we have seen that in the last week or so I think that, you know, we wear our mask we social distance as best we can we do all those practices that we’ve have have consistently done throughout the year and we’re hopefully we won’t have to go to a virtual platform for the rest of the year,” Radford Superintendent Robert Graham said.
You can read the Superintendent’s full letter here:
Good evening,
Please review the information below and contact a central office or building administrator if you have any questions or concerns.
Return to In-Person Learning...Earlier than Expected - We are so excited to announce that we will be returning to in-person learning much earlier than anticipated at JDIS and RHS. Our football team was tested today at NRV pediatrics (outstanding RCPS partners!) and only one member of the team tested positive. In addition, our school nurses, who are absolutely fantastic, have concluded their contact tracing from last week's spread of the virus and have all students who had direct exposure quarantined until they are safely able to return. Therefore, with this information and a blessing from our school board, health/safety committee and the NRV health department, we will begin IN-PERSON learning again this MONDAY, MARCH 29. All extra-curricular activities, except for football, may resume on Monday. Football practice may resume on Wednesday, March 31st. We realize that resuming in-person learning earlier than anticipated my cause some anxiety, so we are allowing opportunities for students and families to return to our online platform if they wish. Please know that if the decision is made to return to the online platform, that will be the platform they will use for the remainder of the year. If you have questions or concerns about the return to in-person learning...earlier than expected, please contact Rob Graham, rgraham@rcps.org, Tammy Weston, bhnurse@rcps.org or Kelly Minnick, kminnick@rcps.org.
RHS Forensics Team - The RHS Forensics team competed in the state championship and finished second place in Class 2. We are so proud our coaches and team members. Congratulations on a wonderful season!