Schedule changes for middle, high school students in Tacoma coming Feb. 8
High school and middle school students in Tacoma, get ready.
Schedules are about to look different.
Tacoma Public Schools shared updates to bell schedules for its secondary students at a school board meeting Thursday, Jan. 21.
The changes are meant to prepare students and staff for a return for in-person learning.
A date to return has not been determined, according to the district, but officials said grades 3-12 could begin to return starting March 1 if Pierce County’s 14-day COVID-19 case rate falls between 50 to 350 cases per 100,000 people.
As of Friday, Pierce County was at 421 cases per 100,000 people, with a six-day reporting lag for accuracy. Without the lag, the number would be at 405.5 cases.
The new schedules will go into effect Feb. 8, the first day of second semester.
More information on the new schedule will be coming directly to parents this weekend, the district said.
What it will look like on Feb. 8
First, students will be split into two cohorts: A and B.
Students are split into A and B cohorts because there is not room inside schools for everyone to return at once and maintain social distancing, said district leaders.
Wednesdays of every week will be remote learning for every student with office hours for all six periods.
On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, all students, regardless of cohort, will start school with remote learning at 7:45 a.m.
Between 7:45 a.m. and 9:25 a.m., students will be in remote learning with their class for a half hour each for Periods 1, 2 and 3 on Mondays and Thursdays. That will switch to Periods 4, 5 and 6 on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Between 9:25 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., students will work on independent assignments from their classes.
Lunch is between 10:45 and 11:05 a.m.
Between 11:05 a.m. and 2:15 p.m., both cohorts will be in remote learning with their teachers for one hour each for Periods 1, 2 and 3 on Mondays and Thursdays and Periods 4, 5 and 6 on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The school day ends at 2:15 p.m.
When hybrid starts
When hybrid starts, the new schedule changes slightly for each cohort.
Each Wednesday will remain remote learning for all students.
The start of each Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday also will remain the same, with remote learning for all students between 7:45 a.m. and 9:25 a.m.
At 9:25 is when changes start. Between 9:25 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., one cohort will travel to school while the other remains at home for independent class work. Students traveling can take the bus or be dropped off.
Cohort A goes in person on Mondays and Tuesdays, while Cohort B stays home and does individual work. On Thursdays and Fridays, Cohort B will travel to school while Cohort A stays home and does individual work.
Lunch begins at 10:45 a.m.
At 11:05 a.m., Cohort A students have in-person classes with their teachers for one hour each for Periods 1, 2 and 3 on Mondays and Periods 4, 5 and 6 on Tuesdays. Cohort B does the same on Thursdays and Fridays. Cohorts that are not in person are working independently from home.
There are some exceptions to the new schedule — SAMI, SOTA, IDEA, Foss, Oakland, Giadronne and Bryant might look different because of their school structure.
Why this design?
The district made the updates after conversing with principals of secondary schools. Deputy superintendent Joshua Garcia said the district does not want to have to swap schedules in the middle of the semester if secondary students get the green light to return in-person.
Also, if secondary students return to in-person learning later this semester and there is an outbreak of COVID-19, students and staff can more easily transition back to the remote version of the schedule.
The new schedule also gives students the ability to see their teachers in some capacity five days of the week, Garcia said at Thursday’s meeting.
Tacoma Education Association president Shannon Ergun said the new schedule does have its challenges but that it should function and that there is time to make revisions if necessary.
“We don’t see any major issues with the structure, but I think there may be some challenges to family transportation,” she said.
Ergun added splitting up class periods with 30 minutes in the morning and an hour in the afternoon might also present a challenge in terms of continuing instruction.
“It’s just going to take some flexibility,” she said.
