Littleton Public Schools will begin the school year Monday, August 24, with in-person learning for PreK–5 and a hybrid/blended model for Grades 6–12. This plan – originally announced during the July 30 Board of Education meeting – was confirmed during the August 13 Board meeting after an impactful and in-depth discussion about the merits and concerns of starting in this model and another review of Arapahoe County COVID data, which shows that it is appropriate for students and staff to return to school, with overlapping extensive health and safety protocols in place. The plan for the start of the school year is as follows:

• Preschool–Grade 5: All students return to in-person learning with overlapping extensive health and safety protocols in place.
• Grades 6–12: Hybrid/blended model of both in-person and remote learning. Students will attend school in-person with their teachers two days a week, with overlapping extensive health and safety protocols in place, and engage in learning remotely from home the other three days. This model allows for greater physical distancing, as only half of the students will be at school at the same time.
• TOPS: A temporary, fully online program from K–12 and Transition Services will remain available for the 2020–2021 school year and will not be impacted by changing COVID data. TOPS will begin as scheduled on Monday, August 31, 2020. The TOPS registration deadline was Friday, August 7, 2020. The course catalog is now available on the TOPS web page. 

This approach is aligned with current research and recommendations of pediatricians and other health experts regarding what is appropriate for preschool and elementary-age students and what is appropriate for middle and high school students.

Decisions regarding which school model LPS will follow at the start of the year and in coming months are based on Arapahoe County’s COVID-19 data as reported by Tri-County Health and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).

View Process and Data

Learn More: Restart Plans & Health and Safety Measures 

“I want to again express my deep gratitude to all LPS employees for their tireless efforts to develop improved learning models for all of our students over the summer. We are ready to move between an in-person school model and a hybrid/blended learning model, as well as a robust online learning model should Arapahoe County COVID data suggest we need to do so for the safety of our students and staff,” said LPS Superintendent Brian Ewert. “We will do our very best every day to meet the individual needs of our students regardless of which model of learning we are in at any given time.”

Students, staff, parents and community members must work together to make the start of the school year successful. We will follow the guidance of health officials and will implement the public health and safety measures in place at the time that are shown to limit spread of the virus, such as mask wearing, health screenings, frequent hand washing and maintaining physical distancing to the greatest extent possible.

We all must have patience and must be dedicated to following the safety protocols at every school, every day. It will not be perfect, but please know we are committed to doing our best to keep everyone safe. Our chances to continue and maintain an in-person learning model increase with the successful implementation of safety precautions. 

It’s also critical that we all continue to remain flexible and open to change. The circumstances around the pandemic and the return to school this fall seem to change daily.