Green Dot Public Schools Tennessee Re-Entry Updates 1/3

2020: A Year In Review

Happy New Year! If you’re reading this newsletter, you have successfully survived the most challenging year in recent memory. The Green Dot Public Schools TN family is excited that you have made it to 2021 and hope that you will continue to thrive in the coming year! So many things happened this year to impact our school community that are worthy to note:

• March 12, 2020 will go down in infamy as the day schools were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Memphis went into quarantine that closed down all non-essential services.
• Students and teachers completed the 2019 – 2020 school year in their homes.
• GDPST decided to open schools on time, August 10, 2020 and 100% virtual.
• December 7, 2020, teachers returned to Green Dot campuses to prepare for in person instruction coming in January 2021.
• December 11, 2020, the GDPST leadership team made the announcement to push back the January start date.

We are ready to move forward into 2021, focused on student achievement and growth. Our teachers, administrators and staff pledge to continue building relationships and opportunities for the students we serve through challenging in the urgency and our mission to transform public education is more clear now than ever before. We hope you will continue this academic journey with us and partner with Green Dot Public Schools TN to ensure equity and accountability for all students in the city of Memphis. We also know that Tennessee and Shelby County in particular, are considered hotspots in the country right now for diagnosed cases of the COVID – 19. Our hope is that each of you will continue to enjoy family but do so as safely as possible, using social distance and masks. To address the COVID spike that has resulted from the holiday season, we have decided to postpone the student return to school until Tuesday, January 19, 2021. This decision is not contingent upon Shelby County School’s plan for return and should only change if the Shelby County Health Department deems it necessary to return to a county-wide lockdown. This adjustment will allow us 10 additional days on site to prepare for the return of students. Additionally, we will condense the student phased return as follows:

• January 19, 2021: 6th, 9th and 11th grade students return to school
• January 25, 2021: 7th, 8th, 10th and 12th grade students return to school

This past year has challenged us in ways nobody could have predicted. Collectively, schools and parents have stepped up and out of our comfort zones to do right by our students. The shift to In-Person and Distance Learning will continue to be a challenge but we’re confident that we can make a successful transition if we hold ourselves and each other accountable for maintaining a safe learning environment. Please feel free to reach out to your school administrators if you have any questions.

We Are A Top Workplace 4 Years Running!

Thank you to all the teachers, administrators and staff for making Green Dot Public Schools TN a Top Work Place for the fourth year in a row. GDPST is on a mission to transform public education, preparing students for college, leadership and life! we know it can’t be done without the dedication of the people in this organization who continue to do this work every day.

Upcoming Event!

Our next virtual community meeting will be January 14, 2021 at 6 pm. Keep any eye out for more information in the next newsletter. Interested? Apply Here!

Check out what’s happening with some of our partners!

United Parents and Students Committee Sign Ups UPAS is excited to be launching issue-based committees this spring! These committees will enable parents and students to learn more about and discuss our key platform issues (digital equity, supermarket quality/ food justice, housing, and violence prevention), while also planning campaigns together to organize for change. Committees will meet once a month for approximately 1 hour and will require a brief amount of time between meetings to work on the next steps. This could include meeting with, calling, or emailing public officials, planning an event, and/or spreading the word and asking others to take action. Interested in joining a committee? Sign up here. 

In Case You Missed It

Need WiFi at home?

Green Dot Public Schools TN understands the technology gap that exists for families in our communities. We are proud to be able to partner with Comcast to provide six months of free internet service to enrolled families who qualify. After the six months of free service, families will have the opportunity to continue, with a nominal fee.

We have extended this opportunity to all of our current students and have received an overwhelming response. Fortunately, we are able to extend this to newly enrolled students as well. So, if there are families contemplating enrollment but are afraid they will not have access to internet for their students to attend distance learning, we will work to get them enrolled, assign a laptop and set them up with Comcast for WiFi.

Please email your full name, your student’s full name, and your best contact number to tnops@greendot.org or call your student’s school to sign up today!

How to Guidelines

How to Log in to Your Chromebook

How to Log in to Google Classroom

How to Log in to Your Green Dot Student Email

How to Start Classes With Zoom and Nearpod

How to Join Advisory

Important Documents

Curious about what our classrooms will look like when we return for in-person learning? Check out this video!

Don’t forget, you can still enroll for the 2020-2021 school year!

Click here to enroll and reserve your computer for the 2020-2021 school year