More Details About District 203’s Transition to Hybrid Learning

Transition to Hybrid
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Transition to Hybrid

At the December 21 school board meeting, Naperville School District 203 said the district is still on track to transition to hybrid learning for all students starting the week of January 25.

Early Childhood

Early Childhood IEP students have already been receiving some in-person instruction and starting January 15, their time in school will increase to four days a week. Preschool For All will begin an alternating day hybrid schedule the week of January 19. Community early childhood students will begin a hybrid schedule the week of January 25.

Elementary School

All elementary school students will transition to an a.m./p.m. schedule the week of January 25.

“Dividing our students in half is necessary for a couple of reasons. First this decreases the number of students in a classroom to ensure staff and students have the necessary space to socially distance six feet from one another whenever possible,” said Chuck Freundt, assistant superintendent for elementary education. “Also when there is a positive case of COVID-19, appropriate social distancing will minimize the number of individuals who would be required to quarantine.”

Kindergarten students will begin in-person learning January 26, followed by first and second grade January 27, and grades three through five on January 28.

Mondays will be eLearning days for all elementary school levels. Families have an option to remain in full remote learning.

Junior High and High School

Junior high and high school students will also begin hybrid learning for all students the week of January 25 with an A/B block schedule. At both school levels, groups A and B will have in-person learning on two back-to-back days, with Group A in school Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Group B in school Thursdays and Fridays.

“The block schedule decreases the number of times that students are passing through the halls and changing groups of students each day, assisting us in implementing our mitigation strategies,” said Stephanie Posey, interim assistant superintendent of secondary education.

Group A is set to start in-person learning January 26 and 27, and Group B January 28 and 29. Posey said families will find out which group their student(s) is in over the winter break.

The high school schedule has periods one, two, three, and four on the first in-person learning day, then six, seven, eight, and five on the second in-person learning day.

Remote only students attend school through livestream technology.

Mondays will be eLearning days for all junior high and high school grade levels. Families have an option to remain in full remote learning.

Connections and Specialized Classrooms

Connections students have already been receiving in-person instruction using an a.m./p.m. model Tuesday through Friday and this will continue when the hybrid model is implemented.

Starting January 25, all students with IEPs will transition from an alternating day hybrid model to in-person instruction four days a week for four hours.

Transition Activities

Before January 25, transitioning students like kindergartners, sixth graders, freshmen, and new students will be able to visit their school to help acclimate to a new school and provide familiarity with mitigation strategies at certain school buildings.

The full school board meeting is available here.

Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.