Peninsula district high school students to resume in-person learning March 11
The Peninsula School District is bringing back high school students for in-person hybrid learning, the district announced Monday evening.
In an email sent to parents, the district said that “we are now ready to invite 9th-12th grade students to begin hybrid in-person learning on Thursday, March 11, starting with 9th graders.”
“To practice safe distancing, we can only allow roughly half of our student populations on campus at the same time. We will create two cohorts, referred to as A & B,” the district said. “The “A” cohort will come to campus on Mondays and Thursdays for in person instruction; the “B” cohort will come to campus on Tuesdays and Fridays for in person instruction. As soon as schedules and cohorts are set, we will communicate those to students and families.”
Here is the schedule the district sent out:
9th grade ‘A’ day first day is set for Thursday, March 11;
9th grade ‘B’ day first day is set for Friday March 12;
All other grades in cohort ‘A,’ first day (includes 9th grade ‘A’) is set for Monday, March 15; and
All other grades ‘B’ first day (includes 9th grade ‘B’) is set for Tuesday, March 16.
The cohort model resembles the plans in place for middle-schoolers, who are beginning in-person hybrid learning starting on Feb. 25.
“Most remote students will continue to attend three class periods a day,” the district said, adding that “the length of class sessions will be shortened to approximately 50 minutes with periods 1, 2, and 3 occurring in the morning every Monday and Thursday, while periods 4, 5, and 6 will be held every Tuesday and Friday afternoon for most students.”
There was an exception for “students in unique or specialized classes, such as AP classes, College in the High School classes, CTE, or World Language classes” whom the district said “may have more than three classes on any one day in order to pair them with teachers who are uniquely qualified to teach those courses.”
The district also said that there will be virtual parent nights for “parents of both in-person and remote students prior to students returning to campus,” which will be announced at a future date. The email stated that the decision was made because of the current COVID data that the district said it believes supports the return. However, the email also warned that “health metrics can fluctuate widely and relatively quickly, so it is important to remember these plans may need to be adjusted as the environment evolves.”
The News Tribune recently reported that there were 84 COVID-19 outbreaks at Washington schools last fall with an outbreak defined as two or more positive cases. The district’s own COVID Dashboard shows 38 cumulative cases in Peninsula Schools and a district spokesperson said there have been two cases in the last 14 days.
The district said it is going to continue operating with health precautions, including an internal testing program of some students. The email said those requirements continue to be physical distancing, encouragement of hand washing, required face coverings, as well as health screenings with attestation forms and temperature checks.
This story was originally published February 22, 2021 at 7:03 PM.
