COVID-19 Testing Program Begins Today
Our CHS COVID-19 testing program begins Friday, September 17. In order for your child (any minor under the age of 18) to participate in testing, a parent or guardian will need to register them for the program. Please use this link to do so.
Your registration will provide the one-time consent needed for your child’s participation throughout the school year as well as HIPAA authorization to share results of testing with the school.
Your results will be delivered to you by text or email within 24 hours, and you will be contacted directly if your child has a positive result. We will test weekly on Friday’s during the lunch period in F Building. Offered through the Louisiana Department of Health at no cost to participants or to our school, the program utilizes the highest quality PCR testing available and is administered by a trained healthcare team from Orion Laboratories.
We strongly encourage all of our families to register for testing to keep our school community safe. Along with our other mitigation measures, including masking, social distancing and encouraging vaccinations, our hope is that we will be able to continue with in-person learning and engaging in the kind of social interactions that are critical to the full CHS educational experience.
For questions or concerns about the testing program, please read over the Frequently Asked Questions about the program, visit the testing program’s website or contact Orion Laboratories directly at (225) 910-8308.
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School Closure Update
It is our sincerest hope that you remained safe and well through this trying time. We are pleased to inform you our campus was largely spared from any significant damages. However, the building is still without power. Additionally, like many in our city, our school staff has been impacted in a variety of ways.
School will be closed for the remainder of this week. Our hope is to return to school in-person and/or virtually, by Tuesday, September 7. However, this is wholly contingent upon the restoration of power city-wide and at our facility and staff capacity.
If you do have power and internet capability, we strongly encourage you to have your student logging into their Google Classrooms to review assignments. Work will not be graded while we are closed, but this will help mitigate the loss of instructional time. Please be sure to monitor the school’s social media pages and continue to be on the lookout for further outreach from staff over the coming days. Baton Rouge is a resilient city. Capitol High School is a resilient institution. We will overcome this and be better for it.
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2021-22 Operational Guidelines
We have announced the restrictions and requirements that will be in place for the 2021-22 school year, based on the School Opening Guidelines provided by the Louisiana Department of Education. Please note these guidelines are subject to be modified as the health situation locally and across the state shifts.
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Capitol High School Bus Routes Available Now
Bus routes for the 2020 -2021 school year are available.
Utilize this document to identify the route your scholar will be on and the times you can expect your scholar to be picked up or dropped off.
The route for your scholar is listed in line with his or her Student ID number.
Feel free to reach out to CHS front office with any questions and concerns.
We can’t wait to see all of our scholars Monday morning.
Click here to access the bus routes.
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Capitol High School will Reopen for In-Person Learning on Oct. 19
Dear Capitol High School Families,
We want to thank you for your patience and flexibility as we move these unprecedented times. While we have successfully navigated our transition to a 100 percent virtual learning environment, we could not have done it without your understanding and support. Thank you.
As many of you may be aware the State of Louisiana has officially moved into Phase III of its reopening plan. Phase III guidance indicates group sizes may increase to up to 50 people and school buses are allowed to operate at a capacity of up to 75 percent.
Capitol High School students will return to in-person learning five days per week starting on Monday, October 19. Students who wish to remain in the virtual learning environment will still have an option to do so.
The safety of our students and staff is of the utmost importance. To that end, we will operate our schools with the most effective health and safety protocols upon our opening. The protocols outlined in our original School Reopening Plan will remain and in many aspects be enhanced. These include but are not limited to the following:
- Practicing social distancing, to the greatest extent possible, in every classroom
- Hand sanitizing stations in every classroom
- Requiring masks for all students and adults at all times
- Temperature checks prior to building entry
- Increased custodial staff and increased cleaning and sanitation efforts
Please remember to complete the CHS Return to In-Person Survey by no later than Sunday, September 20. All students opting into virtual learning will remain virtual for the remainder of the semester. If we do not receive a survey response your student, they will automatically be assigned to in-person instruction.
On Thursday, October 8, we will host two virtual meetings for parents of students who have opted to return to in-person learning. These meetings will be held at 12 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. On Tuesday, October 13, we will host two virtual meetings for parents of students who have opted to remain virtual. These meetings will also be held at 12 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Whether in-person or virtual, we will continue serving our students with the same level of pride, excellence, and innovation that is the foundation of Capitol High School.
Thank you for your support.
In service,
Capitol High School
Read MoreCapitol High School will Reopen for In-Person Learning on Oct. 19
Dear Capitol High School Families,
We want to thank you for your patience and flexibility as we move these unprecedented times. While we have successfully navigated our transition to a 100 percent virtual learning environment, we could not have done it without your understanding and support. Thank you.
As many of you may be aware the State of Louisiana has officially moved into Phase III of its reopening plan. Phase III guidance indicates group sizes may increase to up to 50 people and school buses are allowed to operate at a capacity of up to 75 percent.
Capitol High School students will return to in-person learning five days per week starting on Monday, October 19. Students who wish to remain in the virtual learning environment will still have an option to do so.
The safety of our students and staff is of the utmost importance. To that end, we will operate our schools with the most effective health and safety protocols upon our opening. The protocols outlined in our original School Reopening Plan will remain and in many aspects be enhanced. These include but are not limited to the following:
- Practicing social distancing, to the greatest extent possible, in every classroom
- Hand sanitizing stations in every classroom
- Requiring masks for all students and adults at all times
- Temperature checks prior to building entry
- Increased custodial staff and increased cleaning and sanitation efforts
Please remember to complete the CHS Return to In-Person Survey by no later than Sunday, September 20. All students opting into virtual learning will remain virtual for the remainder of the semester. If we do not receive a survey response your student, they will automatically be assigned to in-person instruction.
On Thursday, October 8, we will host two virtual meetings for parents of students who have opted to return to in-person learning. These meetings will be held at 12 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. On Tuesday, October 13, we will host two virtual meetings for parents of students who have opted to remain virtual. These meetings will also be held at 12 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Whether in-person or virtual, we will continue serving our students with the same level of pride, excellence, and innovation that is the foundation of Capitol High School.
Thank you for your support.
In service,
Capitol High School
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Take this Survey, Possibly Win a $100 Gift Card
We need to hear from YOU!
The First 100 respondents to the CHS Return to In-Person Learning Survey will be entered into a drawing for a $100 Visa Gift Card.
Take the survey by clicking here.
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Details on When Capitol Will Return to In-Person Learning
I want to start by commending you all for a great start to the new year. We are in our fourth week of school, and despite the challenges of opening in a 100% virtual environment, our students and teachers are doing great work together.
Although we are pleased to see the energy and enthusiasm for virtual instruction, it is now time for us to turn our attention to when and how we might return to in-person instruction. We have three key principles that guide our COVID-related decision making:
- Safety of students, staff, and families remaining the top priority of decision-making
- A commitment to quality instruction, whether we are in-person or virtual
- Families having choice in determining whether to return to in-person instruction or to continue with virtual learning
As of now, Capitol High School will remain closed for in-person instruction through Labor Day. To consider when we will reopen after Labor Day, we have been conferring with education leaders across the city and, after much discussion, consideration, and with the help of public health experts, including Our Lady of the Lake and Ochsner, decided upon the following approach.
We will continue to follow health expert and health agency guidelines as necessary conditions
We will continue to abide by all local, state, and federal health department recommendations and mandates, and we will treat the guidance and recommendations as necessary conditions for opening. Right now, public health experts are making recommendations on safe return based on 14-day trends on a combination of different COVID-related metrics for Baton Rouge, including the daily number of new cases, the percentage of tests that return with a positive result, the decline in the number of positive cases, hospital capacity, etc.
Our local healthcare partner, Our Lady of the Lake, is a part of the district reopening task force, and we will continue to rely on their advice and guidance.
We will operate our schools with the most effective health and safety protocols
Our protocols for in person learning will include the following:
- Practicing social distancing in every classroom
- Hand sanitizing stations in every classroom
- Requiring masks for all students and adults
- Reducing cross contamination by reducing classroom changes and keeping students together to the extent possible
- Screening for COVID symptoms every day
We value parent choice
In the coming days and weeks, our team will be reaching out to get information from parents on whether you want to stay with us virtually or whether you want to return to in-person instruction. We are pleased to be in position to support either option.
We will communicate next steps for in-person learning on or before September 28th. It is important to remember that to ensure effective social distancing, we will be returning in a hybrid format with roughly half the students on campus on any given day. This means students will attend school in-person for two days of the week, while spending three days participating virtually.
Again, please be on the lookout for further communication from us in the next few days, and let’s continue to work together to do the things in our personal lives that will allow us to open our campus safely.
Sincerely,
Justin Blanchard
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Details on Reopening School
We hosted a virtual parent information session on Saturday, August 8. The session was designed to explain how we will manage online learning for the start of the school year, including student expectations and how to access our online learning tools.
We realize that not every parent had an opportunity to attend this session. Therefore, we have made available the slide deck from our session, which contains valuable virtual learning details for our parents and students.
To access the slide content from the orientation session, please click here.
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