, governments, and others can take to improve the mental health of children, adolescents and young adults.
2022: Staying in School In-Person: Outlines four clear strategies to help K-12 school systems keep students, staff and educators safe in school throughout the 2021-22 school year. This succinct guide from the U.S. Department of Education (January 2022) advises, “We know what to do and how to do it as we return from winter break.” This short guide is replete with hyperlinked resources to support implementation of each infection mitigation and health promotion strategy.
Lessons from the Field Webinar Series: Archives the full, extensive and continuing national webinar series to support educational settings in safely sustaining or returning to in-person instruction. The U.S. Department of Education [ED] is hosting a webinar series in partnership with other federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], and with the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments [NCSSLE]. The series features lessons learned and best practices from teachers, faculty, staff, schools, districts, institutions of higher education, early childhood education providers, and other places of educational instruction, describing approaches to operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Click on an event title to access a recording and archived materials. The webpage is updated each time a new event takes place.
Return to School Roadmap - How to Prioritize the Health and Safety of Students, School Personnel, and Families: Provides clarity regarding existing requirements to enable schools and communities to prepare for safe in-person learning and welcome students back to physical classrooms for the 2021-2022 academic year. The US Department of Education’s (ED's) Roadmap explains four key steps that can help school communities remain safe and healthy during the return to school and beyond:
- Everyone Ages 12 Years and Older: Get Vaccinated Before School Begins
- Make a Plan to Prevent COVID-19 from Spreading at School
- Connect Students and Families to Nutritious School Meals
- Help Students and Families Access Safe Transportation to School
COVID-19 and the 2021-2022 School Year: Tracks COVID-19 pandemic data to provide schools, families and communities with current, relevant data to inform efforts to keep everyone safe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] provide real-time data tracking of the COVID-19 pandemic through several resources. The Department of Education [ED] draws school-related data from the CDC COVID Data Tracker, the HHS Protect Public Data Hub and other sources to provide the public with information to support safe and healthy learning in the 2021-2022 school year and beyond.
Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools: Updates (11/05/21) official CDC guidance to reflect authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5-11. This updated guidance for school administrators outlines strategies for K-12 schools to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and maintain safe operations. It continues to emphasize implementing layered prevention strategies to protect students, teachers, staff, and other members of their households, and to support in-person learning. This guidance is based on current scientific evidence and lessons learned from schools implementing COVID-19 prevention strategies.
ED COVID-19 HANDBOOK - Strategies for Safely Reopening Elementary and Secondary Schools (Volume 1 - 2021): Updates (April 2021) the February 2021 ED handbook to incorporate the latest official federal guidance on safe practices for in-person learning.
ED COVID-19 HANDBOOK - Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students' Needs (Volume 2 - 2021): Provides official federal guidance (April 2021) for creating safe and healthy learning environments, addressing lost instructional time, and supporting educator and staff stability and well-being. The handbook volumes are produced by ED's Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development