The Mehlville School District will be opening a virtual school in August called Mehlville@Home for students in kindergarten through high school, the district announced Wednesday.

The district will host virtual informational meetings Tuesday, June 30 for families interested in learning more, as well as to provide the opportunity to ask questions about Mehlville@Home.

Only 300 spots are available in each meeting. To reserve a spot:

• Elementary school (6 to 7 p.m.): bit.ly/mehlvilleathomeelementary
• Middle school (7 to 8 p.m.): bit.ly/mehlvilleathomemiddle
• High school (8 to 9 p.m.): bit.ly/mehlvilleathomehigh

The meetings will be recorded and shared afterward for anyone unable to attend.

To learn more about Mehlville@Home, visit bit.ly/mehlvilleathome. 

In a news release and YouTube video shared by Mehlville, Superintendent Chris Gaines said “there remain too many unknowns to predict what school will look like on our first day” in August. 

“Our Return to School Committee has been working since April to plan for a variety of scenarios… to minimize the risk,” said Gaines. “Our scenarios are kind of in-person scenarios… It would be great if we were able to come five days, with everyone here and really doing our best as social distancing. We also looked at staggered schedules… If we think about not in-person… we do know that last spring it was kind of an emergency pivot… but we’ve had a lot more time to plan for this coming school year, so anything that we have to do at home will be more robust than what we did in the spring.” 

Detailed operational plans will be shared with parents the week of July 20. 

Parents are encouraged to fill out a survey about return-to-school options and Mehlville@Home at www.surveymonkey.com/r/B2DWBZN. 

“We don’t know what the impact of COVID-19 will be in the fall, and guidance from public health officials change frequently. However, I’m optimistic that by July 20, we will have a solid plan to educate our community’s children in a continuing pandemic,” said Gaines. “Thank you to the teachers and administrators who are working throughout the summer to create these plans… Thank you for your patience and grace as we continue to work together.”