Hybrid model of learning still a possibility for the future
The Virtual+ model is scheduled until November 6, at which point the school board could potentially reevaluate their plan
August 21, 2020
While the school year is confirmed to be starting online, using the Virtual+ model until November 6, administrators, teachers and staff have been developing what a hybrid instruction model could look like.
The most likely scenario is that half the student body would attend school in-person Monday and Tuesday while the other half would watch the live sessions from home. Both groups would work online on Wednesday, and then the second half of the student population would attend school on Thursday and Friday.
This plan would have students following the same schedule as with Virtual+, with the addition of being in-person for two of the four synchronous learning days.
“We think that if we end up back in hybrid, it’s going to be really important to keep people on the same routine that they’re going to be experiencing in virtual to kind of ease people back in that way,” Kenney said.
As far as when the district will transition to hybrid learning, it’s entirely dependent on the prevalence of COVID-19. The district has identified a system of measuring the progress and spread of the virus to determine when it is safe to return to partial in-person learning that includes weekly reports from the North Shore Health Department.
As far as when the district will transition to hybrid learning, it’s entirely dependent on the prevalence of COVID-19
“It’s all going to be working very closely with the Northshore Health Department,” Kenney said. “They’re the ones who are monitoring the situation. We’re in constant communication with them. They’ll be the ones that are able to help us.”
Administration will also be watching what happens in other school districts that are starting out in-person or in a hybrid model.
“It will also be interesting to see what happens with other school districts,” Kenney said. “Some are going to try to start the school year 100% face-to-face. I think that that’s going to cause a huge problem for them, and they’ll be virtual by the end of September. Then other school districts are going to be starting virtual and it’ll be interesting to see what happens with them, if they’re able to successfully pull it off and how they did and what’s happening with the number of positive tests.”