Grade Schools Keeping Kids Connected
In order to min- imize contact, students will be broken into core groups they’ll remain with through- out the school day. Their homerooms will be self-contained hubs where all instruction will take place, includ- ing the related arts. Classes like music and band will be theory and virtual demon- stration, not practice, and all subjects will focus on student en- gagement rather than assessment.
SAFETY IN CORE GROUPS
To reduce densi- ty, improve social distancing, and better facilitate contact tracing, the blended learning schedule, beginning Septem- ber 8 (see page 14), allows elementary students to attend school in-person every other day. On remote learning days, students will complete lessons via their Chromebooks, newly issued to grades pre-K-2, and for the first few days of in-person learning, students will learn new procedures and safety protocols such as social distancing, proper hand hygiene, and mask wearing, which are re- quired of all staff and students. Nearly 6,000 elementary students attend Monongalia County schools. Reduced social mixing will help keep them safe.
#55SAFE
Monongalia County teachers want to return—when it’s safe.
Although teachers miss their students, their highest priority for getting back into the classroom is the safety of students, teachers, staff, ser- vice personnel, and all of their families. On July 28, the national American Federation of Teach- ers voted in support
County teachers’ concerns were suffi- cient availability of personal protective equipment and the ability to maintain safe social distanc- ing. Fifty-four per- cent of respondents preferred full-time remote learning—a possibility teachers are better prepared for than in the spring, after almost 800
In smaller schools, classrooms
of “safety strikes” if school re- opening
will function as lunch rooms—students will have their brown bag lunches delivered. Recess will take place as core groups, too, each assigned an area on the playground. Busses, shared among all grade levels, are a different story. While the CDC recom- mends a maximum of 18 students per bus, Monongalia County will instead prioritize sanitizing and recom- mends car transport when possible.
plans don’t meet
partici- pated in a three-
educators’ health and safety stan- dards.
week Chrome- book Camp. But even if their schools don’t go fully remote, employees across the state who have medically documented health conditions will have the option to teach remotely. Accommo- dation will be han- dled on an individual basis within each employee’s county.
Locally, a July AFT–Mononga- lia survey of 320
Monongalia County school teachers and staff found that just over half weren’t comfortable with reopening plans as proposed at that time. Prominent among Monongalia
November 3 Students’ first day off will be Election Day. Thanksgiving break remains a five-day break, and Christmas break will be eight days.
May 28, 2021 The tentative last day of the 2020– 21 school year. Students will have accumulated the legally mandated 180 days of instruction.
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