Welcome to Day One! This limited edition "Back In Action" newsletter will be sent out through Aug. 19, and is designed to help keep our APS community informed now that the 2021-2022 school year has begun.



8.5.21 Edition

On-Site COVID-19 Vaccines at Middle and High Schools

Atlanta Public Schools will host local school-based vaccination clinics beginning the week of Aug. 9 (first dose) and Aug. 30 (second dose) for staff and students ages 12 and up. Families will be notified of the vaccination day for their school.  

Vaccines will be administered in partnership with Georgia CORE and Fulton County Board of Health. 

• Consent forms – Physical copies of the consent form must be completed by a parent/guardian in order for a student under 18 to be vaccinated. You may download the consent form here. 
• Emergency Use Authorization – The vaccine clinics will administer the Pfizer vaccine. Please view the emergency use authorization form here.

Quarantine Guidance for COVID-19 for 2021-2022 School Year

The District is implementing quarantine guidelines for the 2021-2022 school year. This includes protocols such as who needs to quarantine after exposure to a positive case, and who doesn't need to quarantine. Please review these important guidelines by clicking here.



Universal Mask Wearing Protocol in Schools and Buildings

Atlanta Public Schools has implemented a Universal Mask Wearing protocol in all schools and buildings.

In reviewing our data, here are a few key considerations:

• Approximately 18% of our eligible students are fully vaccinated (source: Fulton County Board of Health) and approximately 58% of district employees have indicated that they are fully vaccinated or plan to be (source: Atlanta Public Schools survey data).
• Children under 12 years do not have the option of being vaccinated and remain vulnerable to contracting and spreading the disease.
• The Delta variant is now the dominant variant of COVID-19 in the United States and may spread 225% faster than the original virus.
• Consistent and correct use of mask wearing has been shown to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all students and school staff, wear masks, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and the CDC recommends that all unvaccinated people wear a mask.

For more information, and for the full mask wearing protocols, click here.

HealthCheck

APS has released a helpful resource for parents while preparing for Back to School - a COVID-19 screening tool called HealthCheck. HealthCheck is available as a mobile app and website, and all schools will utilize HealthCheck to manage daily health screenings for students. In the coming days leading up to the first day of school, you may receive a user account and activation email from HealthCheck. Once you receive the email, please be sure to click the activation link, and register your account. Once activated, you will be able to access HealthCheck on any smartphone, tablet, or web browser to begin performing health checks immediately.

If you did not receive an activation email by today, no worries! You can also self-register for HealthCheck by clicking here.

Additional health guidance can be found on the Student COVID-19 Screening webpage by clicking here.

Immunizations

There is a new 11th-grade immunization requirement! As students prepare to come back to school on Aug. 5, 2021, here’s a reminder that Georgia state law requires all of our students to have a valid Certificate of Immunization on file with the district. In addition, Georgia's immunization requirements for students entering or transferring into the eleventh grade have been revised to align with the current recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

Effective July 1, 2021, all students who are new entrants or transfers into a Georgia school in the eleventh grade, will require proof of a booster dose of the meningococcal conjugate vaccine, unless their first dose was received on or after their sixteenth birthday. 

Be sure you’re prepared! Get the full details on our APS Immunizations Requirements site.

Bounce Back With School Meals

Be sure to visit the Nutrition website to check out back-to-school breakfast and lunch menus!

Seamless Summer Options

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has extended the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) waiver throughout the 2021-2022 school year. This will allow APS to offer FREE meals to all schools throughout the District without requiring parents to complete the Household Free and Reduced Meal Eligibility application. APS will provide breakfast and lunch in the classroom to all students attending an APS school for in-person learning.



Additionally, APS will provide FREE 5-day meal kits (5-breakfast meals and 5-lunch meals) for Atlanta Virtual Academy (AVA) learners and children (ages 1-18) that do not attend APS schools.

Beginning Wednesday, Aug. 11, AVA students and non-APS community children (ages 1-18) are welcome to receive FREE 5-day meal kits from one of the four curbside pick-up locations listed below from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.



• Frederick Douglass High School - 225 Hamilton E Holmes Dr. NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
• Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School - 545 Hill St SE, Atlanta, GA 30312
• Sutton 6th Grade Academy - 4360 Powers Ferry Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30327
• Sylvan Hills Middle School - 1461 Sylvan Rd SW, Atlanta, GA 30310

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