Our Mission

Working together as a team, we will end the predictive value of race, class, gender, and special capacities for our children’s success through high quality teaching and learning for all. We seek to build relationships with families and communities to ensure that every student succeeds. We will know every student.

Our Mission

Stage 1 Indicators

This page presents the factors that will help ACPS determine whether it is safe to continue with face-to-face instruction.

CDC Core Indicators

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published Indicators for Dynamic School Decision-Making to help communities better understand the risk of introduction and transmission of COVID-19 in schools. The guidance includes three core indicators of disease transmission:

Number of new cases per 100,000 persons within the last 14 days;
Percentage of RT-PCR tests (molecular diagnostic tests) that are positive during the last 14 days; and
Ability of the school to implement five key mitigation strategies (masks, social distancing, hand hygiene/respiratory etiquette, cleaning/disinfection, and contact tracing in collaboration with the local health department).

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) tracks these metrics daily and makes them accessible to the public on their School Metrics web page. You can view the COVID-19 pandemic metrics for ACPS by selecting Albemarle in the “Select Locality” drop-down menu.

Stage 1 Frequently Asked Questions

What metrics would prompt ACPS to shift to Stage 1?

If for seven consecutive days in Albemarle County the number of new cases per 100,000 persons within the last 14 days exceeds 200 and the percentage of diagnostic tests that are positive during the last 14 days exceeds 8%, ACPS will shift to Stage 1 of our Return to School Plan, which is virtual instruction for all students.

In this scenario, a shift to Stage 1 would not require School Board approval. If such a move became necessary, we would notify School Board members, employees, and families immediately, and the transition would occur at the beginning of the following week.

What would a shift to Stage 1 mean for my student?

In a shift to Stage 1, the majority of students would remain with the teacher to whom they are assigned in our current Stage 3. If schools need to change individual student assignments to provide more equal opportunities and access to instruction, principals will reach out to parents/guardians to consult on this change.

In Stage 1, school buildings would remain open to staff for use in virtual instruction and for the preparation of student meals, which would continue to be delivered along bus routes.

How long would the division remain in Stage 1?

The division would remain in Stage 1 as long as the two health measures (new cases and testing positivity rate) exceed the thresholds described above. When the two measures decrease and are on track to fall below the benchmarks, the division will announce a return to Stage 3. Stage 3 will begin when there is a downward trend of both CDC indicators for 14 days and at least one measure is below its threshold.

Are there other reasons why ACPS might move to Stage 1?

Beyond our locality’s COVID-19 pandemic metrics, other factors such as higher absentee rates of students and staff or evidence of spread in our facilities could result in a return to Stage 1 even if thresholds have not been reached. Thresholds are intended for division-wide decisions. Short-term decisions made by individual schools may occur separately if circumstances warrant and in consultation with the local health department.