Adapting to the challenges of COVID-19 gives America's schools the opportunity to provide what is uniquely possible in the schoolhouse while seeking new ways to fully use technology and community partnerships. Families and communities need schools to be ready to reopen as soon as public health officials signal that it is safe. After all, the nation has recently been reminded just how vital schools really are. Schools connect students with peers and mentors, channel youthful energy into productive pursuits, teach essential academic skills and knowledge, and give overwhelmed parents room to breathe and work. Reopening schools in a manner that is safe and responsive to the needs of families and communities will involve novel challenges. State policymakers, school leaders, and community leaders should develop plans based on the following assumptions: (1) Schools will remain closed for the rest of the 2019-2020 academic year but will reopen in the 2020-2021 academic year (albeit with the potential of localized rolling closures for 14-28 days triggered by additional waves of infections); (2) Reopened schools will need modifications based on guidance from national and state health officials, which could include physical distancing, temperature screenings, and frequent disinfecting of classrooms; (3) Accommodations will be needed for the one in five teachers, one in four school principals, and other school staff who are over age 55 (and thus in a high-risk COVID-19 category), as well as for those at risk due to other health factors; and (4) A vaccine might not be available for 18 months or more, meaning that plans should take into account both the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years. [For the full report, "A Blueprint for Back to School," see ED606266.]