Register for In-Person Learning by November 15

Ready to make a switch?

Earlier this fall, New York City’s public schools opened their doors to students for the first time since last March, and thanks to the efforts of thousands of DOE staff members, including our dedicated educators and custodial personnel, hundreds of thousands of students are receiving in-person instruction in clean and safe school buildings across the five boroughs. Since our reopening, COVID-19 infection rates have stayed markedly low citywide as well as in our schools, and now, many City families with students currently receiving full-time remote instruction are beginning to consider having their children return to school for in-person learning.

If your child is currently a full-time remote NYC public school student, now is your chance to opt into blended learning for the remainder of the school year!

From November 2—November 15, City families can opt into in-person (blended) learning on behalf of their students by completing the DOE’s Learning Preference Form online. Once the form is submitted, your student will begin in-person instruction during the weeks of November 30 or December 7, 2020—your child’s school will communicate your child’s official start date and in-person learning schedule with you directly.

Families that need assistance with our online form can call 311. Please note that this will be the only time this year that students will be able to switch into blended learning.

Consent for Random COVID-19 Testing

City students who are learning in-person will participate in random testing for COVID-19 throughout the school year. Regular testing of staff members and students in schools allows us to keep our schools and broader communities healthy and safe. Testing is easy, quick, and safe—all it takes is a short, small swab (like a Q-Tip) that goes just in the front of the nose.

To ensure that your child can be tested, we’re asking you to please submit a consent form for testing. You can complete the consent form in two ways:

Online:

Fill out your consent form online by logging into your New York City Schools Account (NYCSA).

If you already have a NYCSA account linked to your student(s), log in, click your student’s name, click “Manage Account,” and then when a dropdown menu appears, click “Consent Forms.” Read the page, and then choose the “consent” option at the end for your student.

Don’t have a NYCSA account? No worries—you can create one right away! If you have an account creation code from your school, you can create a full account in approximately five minutes, and then provide consent as described above. If you do not have an account creation code from your school, you can still provide your consent right away on NYCSA by clicking, “Manage Consent,” under “COVID-19 Testing,” and providing your and your child’s information to provide consent.

Paper Form:

Fill out, print, and submit a paper form to your child’s school. These forms are available as PDFs in ten languages on the DOE’s COVID-19 Testing for Students and Staff webpage.

To learn more about COVID-19 testing in City schools, check out the Frequently Asked Questions section on the DOE’s COVID-19 Testing webpage.

Given the ongoing complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that family circumstances may change throughout the remainder of the school year. This is why we are committed to providing flexibility to families who need to transition to full-time remote learning at any point during the school year for any reason. Families who would like to switch out of blended learning and into full-time remote instruction can also submit the Learning Preference Form to opt into remote learning at any time.

We are excited to welcome even more students into City school buildings this fall. We thank you all for your ongoing partnership as we continue our work to provide outstanding educational experiences to City students, regardless of how they are learning in school this year.