On July 6, the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) issued an emergency order requiring all districts to offer in-person education five days a week beginning in August to all families that want it. It also allows districts to offer an 'innovative optional' model for providing instruction as long as they offer the brick-and-mortar option. 

Based on that order, Alachua County Public School students and their families will have three options to choose from this fall-- a traditional brick and mortar option (with extensive health and safety precautions in place) and two online options. Those include a Digital Academy linked to their regular school in which students would receive live instruction at home from their assigned teachers. Students would be expected to be engaged in digital learning following their typical school schedule—for example, 7:45 a.m. to 1:52 p.m. for most elementary schools.  

Families can also select the Alachua eSchool. Students in the eSchool receive virtual instruction from eSchool teachers, which allows for more flexibility, particularly in terms of a schedule. Alachua eSchool has been in place for several years and currently serves about 3000 full- and part-time students.

More information on all options can be found here.  We've also prepared a simple chart comparing the three models.

This pandemic is obviously a very fluid situation. The district remains in constant contact with local healthcare professionals to determine the best way to provide a high-quality education and other vital services while promoting the health of our students, staff and families.