The School District of Philadelphia has postponed the reopening date for its schools from Feb. 22 to March 1. The decision to delay the reopening, which is part of the District’s hybrid learning model, was made due to the ongoing third-party mediation requested by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT). The organization has instructed teachers earlier this month not to return to school buildings until it is decided by a third party that it is safe to do so.

The District is now planning to begin the first phase of the hybrid learning plan, which includes welcoming students in PreK-2 back to school buildings, on Monday, March 1. Older students will be phased in later. No additional dates have been provided yet. 

The District has also rolled out its COVID-19 vaccination plans for teachers and staff, in partnership with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH). Starting today, CHOP will begin sending invitations to vaccine appointments to the first cohort of approximately 10,000 individuals, which will include employees who will be returning to school buildings to support the instruction and learning for PreK-2 students.

Once an invitation has been received, employees can choose to make an appointment at one of seven locations across the city. PDPH announced earlier this month that COVID vaccinations for teachers will begin on Feb. 22. Following the first cohort of invitations, more will rollout in phases to three additional groups of District employees.

As another layer of safety, the District has announced that school nurses will provide COVID-19 testing to both students and staff regardless of whether they have any symptoms or not.

For more information and updates, visit the School District website.