Vernon School Officials Adopt Hybrid Opening Plan, Post Rules

Chris Dehnel
·6 min read

VERNON, CT — Vernon education officials Wednesday officially adopted a hybrid back-to-school plan with strict coronavirus safety protocols for the 2020-2012 academic year.

The first day of school is planned for Aug. 31. The last day is scheduled for June 9. Superintendent of Schools Joseph Macary sent out detailed charts for parents Thursday.

The hybrid model basically calls for students to attend schools in-person in cohorts two days a week. Those with last names beginning with A through L attend classes in the respective buildings Mondays and Tuesdays while the rest of the alphabet attends in-person classes Thursday and Fridays. Wednesday is to be a day of virtual learning and cleaning. On their respective stay-at-home days, students would have assignments and academic tasks to compete virtually for their classes. The plan allows for 50 percent of the students to be in schools at any one time.

Some special needs and alternative programs will operate with four days of in-person learning.

Families can opt for a 100 percent virtual school year. Mask policy will be strictly enforced

Here are some particulars:

Elementary Schools

In-School:

  • Each school will notify parents of the days children will be attending

  • Siblings will attend on the same days

  • Students will remain in their classrooms for all their core classes. Art, Music and PE teachers will travel to the home rooms

  • Students will follow social distancing guidelines and wear masks in school and on the bus

  • Students are being asked to bring in their own labeled personal water bottle

  • Classes can go outside. Teachers are being encouraged to take advantage of nice weather and bring classes outside for instruction and/or "mask and movement breaks" when appropriate.

  • Students not in the building are expected to work on their assignments. These assignments will either

  • utilize our learning platforms, Seesaw or Google Classroom, or will be paper and pencil tasks.

  • All students will need a personal device and parents of any student needing a device can reach out to their respective schools

Virtual Learning:

  • Students will follow the virtual learning schedule provided by their assigned virtual learning teacher

  • Entering the building is strictly prohibited

  • Students will need to sign in for live lessons at their scheduled time

  • Students are expected to engage in all virtual learning that occurs through Google Classroom, Seesaw, Google Meets, and/or Zoom

  • During Google Meet or Zoom sessions, all student videos must be on or students will be considered absent

  • Students must remain muted, to avoid background noise, unless they have a question or are asked a question from the teacher

  • Students will be responsible for all assigned work

  • Students should engage in appropriate behaviors and follow the dress code guideline in the elementary handbook

Full-time virtual learning:

  • Those choosing the option should notify the respective building’s principal. Based on numbers, the district will pool staff resources across all elementary schools. Any changes to a child's learning environment should be communicated to the school. Parents of students deciding to return to school must notify the child's school prior to returning. Students will be able to return approximately one week from the date of notification

Rockville High School

  • All students at home will be required to follow their daily schedules and participate in the lesson on their computers

  • On Wednesdays, all classes will be held virtually and will be shortened in length

  • Students will be expected to participate in all Zoom or Google sessions (teacher discretion) during their assigned class times

  • Blocks 1 through 4 will be in session Mondays and Thursday and Block 5 through 8 will be in session Tuesdays and Fridays

  • Blocks 1 through 8 will be featured in shortened sessions Wednesdays

  • Students who are learning from home full-time will be required to login to either Zoom or Google (teacher discretion)during their assigned class times to learn remotely yetsynchronously (in live sessions) with their classmates

  • Fall sports are on and will take place in accordance with Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference guidelines

Vernon Center Middle School

  • Traditional grading will be implemented

  • Each student will be assigned to a "cohort" on his or her academic team (in a home room)

  • Each team will have approximately five cohorts of 20-25 students

  • Students in the same cohort will have the same class schedule

  • A small percentage of students will 'break cohort' to receive supplemental support/specialized instruction

  • All five academic team classrooms will be on the same floor next to each other to limit hallway travel to classes

  • Upon arrival to school students will report to their assigned cohort classroom (the home room)

  • Students will rotate to their six daily classes following safehallway guidelines and expectations

  • Students will not have access to lockers and may carrytheir belongings or use a backpack or bag

  • Students will have scheduled movement/mask breaks throughout the day.

  • Students in the same cohort will have lunch at the same tables in thecafeteria (students will be spaced out no more than 3 students pertable to allow for maximum distance between students)

  • Steps are being taken to allow for appropriate social distancing while managing thenumber of personal contacts each student has per day to reduce the riskof virus transmission and improve our ability to perform contact tracingif necessary.Halls have been re-organized by grade level: bottom floor—Grade 6; middle floor—Grade 7; top floor—Grade 8

  • All students at home will be required to follow their dailyschedule and participate in thelesson on their computers

  • The school will receive a deep cleaning on Wednesdays

  • Sharing of materials will be significantly limited and cleaned in between uses

  • Unnecessary furniture will be removed from classesto maximize floor space

  • Small group instruction and partner work will be structured in alternative ways to allow for collaboration while social distancing

  • Students with an IEP will receive additional supports and related services asnecessary and may receive a combination of remote services through live videoinstruction and posted learning activities

  • Visitors will not be allowed in the building without administrative approval and will be required tofollow CDC guidelines while in the building

  • Protocols are in place for safe entry/exit of thebuilding, hallway travel, and mask/movementbreaks

  • All staff and students will be required to wear a face mask covering the mouth
    and nose while in the building

  • A decision on middle school interscholastic sports has not been made

A Thursday even session with school officials and health experts for parents is on tap for Thursday evening. Registers here.

Information on how to reach school officials with questions, including health policies and procedures can be found on the Vernon public school system's website.

School officials said changes will be made as needed.

This article originally appeared on the Vernon Patch