Rutherford County Schools sees a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, it's not THAT light, but instead a hope for a future where things can be planned in advance. 

To start, RCS has changed its academic schedule for 2020-21 because of the instruction time lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Rutherford County Board of Education approved this updated calendar on April 30, 2020, because of the COVID-19 shutdown.

As you are all well aware, students have been out of school for, seemingly, forever. To help regain some of the lost instruction time, nearly all partial days — including two-hour days and half-days — have been eliminated. Only the last day of school remains a two-hour day.

The new approved calendar is available here and was announced to parents on May 1.

The Rutherford County Board of Education also approved a modified grading plan in response to the COVID-19 shutdown. All schools will follow the same plan. Answers to a few commonly asked questions can be found here. The full grading plan can be found here. 

If you have specific questions about your child and how their grade or graduation requirements will be affected, please contact your children's teachers or school directly. 

And, because of the current COVID-19 circumstances, RCS Online 2020 summer classes will be available only for students who need to repeat a course. Learn more here.

Graduations will be held in June

The Rutherford County Board of Education has endorsed a plan for high schools to hold graduations beginning in late June.

The intent of the plan, and the reason for postponing graduations until the summer, is to allow some spectators at the graduations as long as CDC guidelines permit such. The school district will monitor those guidelines as they evolve during the phased reopening of Rutherford County following the COVID-19 shutdown. Parents will be kept informed as the situation continues to evolve. 

All graduations will be live-streamed on social media. The graduation schedule for each school can be found here.