Dear Montgomery County School Families,

Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year!  Our focus at Montgomery County Schools is to ensure excellence for every student, every day and our work to start this year is focused on ensuring that even with the year beginning with distance learning.  I can assure you that our entire district and each and every staff member has been working hard to ensure a positive start for your child, especially in these difficult times.  Even though you may not see our teachers and staff on a daily basis, please know that they will be working harder than ever in planning; connecting with students 1-on-1; providing live, virtual instruction; grading; providing supplemental instruction outside normal hours; and many more activities to help our students be successful.

The decision to begin the year through distance learning was not an easy one.  It is our constant goal to return to in-person instruction as soon as possible.  I understand that no matter what the decision was on how the school year should start there are those who agree and those who disagree.  Part of the challenge for this school year is to accept the necessary flexibility required by the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that there are many variables outside our control.  In order to support our students, we need to help them be excited and engaged in learning whether it is through distance learning, in-person, or virtual instruction.  Our attitudes as adults, modeled in front of our children, will transfer to them and ultimately be the difference maker.  Please continue to be positive about the school year with your children.

What does beginning the year through distance learning mean for you and your children?  If you chose My MoCo Online nothing will really change for you.  Your child will continue to engage in instruction using the SchoolsPLP online platform.  If you chose in-person instruction, your child will be working with their assigned teacher through distance learning until we come back in-person at which time your child will begin attending in-person classes.  Distance learning for this period of time will include a mix of assignments through SchoolsPLP and additional teacher assigned lessons.  For those families without a device or internet, hard copies of assignments will be made available.

When we do return to in-person instruction, it is most likely that for the first few weeks of school, the in-person instruction option will utilize a hybrid schedule in which, using household geographic locations, our families choosing in-person instruction will be split into two groups (Blue and Red).  The Blue group will attend in-person instruction on Monday and Tuesday and then engage in distance learning from home on Wednesday through Friday.  The Red group will attend in-person instruction on Thursday and Friday while engaging in distance learning from home on Monday through Wednesday.  It is our hope and goal to be able to bring back all in-person students 5 days per week as soon as possible after that.  The Board of Education and district administration continues to monitor the active cases and community spread of COVID-19 across Kentucky and in Montgomery County on a daily basis.    

Montgomery County Schools will continue to offer breakfast and lunch at no cost to ALL students at ALL schools.  We encourage our families to use the MyPaymentsPlus on-line system to make on-line payments, check account balances, or receive email notification when account balances fall below a certain amount.  This system can be accessed at www.mypaymentsplus.com.  An App for MyPaymentsPlus can also be downloaded for use on mobile devices.

As a reminder to parents and guardians, our school start and dismissal times are listed below.  Elementary times were expanded by 15 minutes.

Please take time to read the welcome back letters from each school/program that impact your children.  In order to stay up-to-date with accurate information, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MontgomeryCountySchools and on our school website at www.montgomery.kyschools.us.

In closing, this school year promises to be a memorable one for many reasons.  I encourage everyone to adopt a mindset that includes flexibility and being prepared for anything as we continue to fight our common enemy, this devastating COVID-19 virus.   

Proud to be your school superintendent,

Dr. Matt Thompson