In-Person Learning Postponed
Naperville School District 203 announced they will not return to in-person learning until, tentatively, November 4 based on guidance released today by the DuPage County Health Department.
Some early childhood and kindergarten students were set to start their first day of in-person learning on October 20. Junior high and high school students were going to continue eLearning only, with some targeted students coming back to some in-person learning.
“On behalf of the board of education, I want to acknowledge how incredibly frustrating – we understand that this news is to the students’ parents and teachers who expected to return to school tomorrow. We understand that this leaves very little time for parents to prepare students for this enormous change and that this burden is even greater for working and single parents without flexibility in their schedules,” said president of the board of education, Kristen Fitzgerald at the October 19 board meeting. “We greatly apologize for this however the guidance from DuPage Health Department became more stringent over the weekend and is unequivocal that we should return to remote learning.”
The following are the updated changes based on today’s announcement:
Early Childhood
Early childhood students will not return to in-person learning at this time. eLearning schedules will continue with the teacher they are currently assigned to as of October 19 following the half-day or full-day schedule. Individual students will continue to be invited in for in-person learning.
Here is the early childhood eLearning schedule:
Elementary School
Students will not return to in-person instruction at this time. a.m./p.m. eLearning schedules will continue as planned. Mondays remain an eLearning day.
For now, elementary students will continue with the a.m/p.m. schedule that began on October 19. At the meeting, district administrators said this schedule was built for the hybrid option.
“In light of the news from the DuPage County Health Department earlier today, we will be reviewing the current a.m./p.m. schedule this week with our principals and educators,” said Chuck Freundt, assistant superintendent for elementary education. “We will communicate any scheduling changes to elementary parents as soon as possible, but no later than the end of this week.”
Here is the elementary eLearning schedule for now:
Junior High
The block eLearning schedule will begin as planned with the a.m. class periods on Tuesday/Thursday and the p.m. class periods on Wednesday/Friday. Mondays remain an eLearning day for students with all nine periods taught that day. The 10% model of in-person instruction will continue for targeted students.
High School
Block eLearning schedule will continue with periods 1-4 on Tuesday/Thursday and periods 5-8 on Wednesday/Friday. The 10% model of in person instruction will continue for targeted students. Mondays remain an eLearning day.
K-12 Specialized Programs
In person instruction will continue as scheduled. Group A will attend Tuesday/Wednesday and Group B will attend Thursday/Friday. Mondays remain an eLearning day.
- Elementary: 8:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
- Junior High: 8:35 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
- High School: 7:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Connections
In-person instruction will continue as scheduled. Group A/B cohorts will remain the same. Connections students started new, in-person schedules on October 19, and the plan is for students to continue half-day, in-person learning for five days a week.
“We have prioritized in-person instruction for these students and will continue with this schedule for the upcoming weeks,” said Christine Igoe, assistant superintendent for student services. “The reduced class size allows for students to maintain social distance and the schedule has been carefully developed to make sure groups remain static. We will be carefully monitoring our health metrics and cases within the district to guide our decisions about in-person learning.”
Childcare
Champions and YMCA will have childcare available for District 203 elementary students from 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. starting Tuesday, October 20.
You can watch the full meeting here.
Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.
