Beginning Monday, the entire Marblehead school system will be under a hybrid learning protocol, meaning that for the first time since the March shutdown due to COVID-19, students will be taking classes inside their respective buildings.
The Village School, middle school and high school will be the last three educational institutions in the town to switch from remote to the next phases. The lower grades began going hybrid earlier this week.
“We’re very excited about it,” said high school principal Dan Bauer, who even did a short tutorial/virtual tour last month in preparation of welcoming the students back.
The video, released Friday, has Bauer taking the students on a virtual tour of the building, showcasing the changes that have been made in anticipation of Monday’s first day of classes.
“It’s the same great high school we all know and love,” said Bauer. “The only thing that’s missing from it is you (students).”
There have been minor alterations. For example, furniture has been removed from the atrium and from the corridors to allow for wider corridors, giving ample opportunity for proper social distancing. Also, Bauer said, the doors to the school will be propped open “to allow for contact-less entry.”
Bauer said hand-sanitizer stations have been put up throughout the high school, as well as in every classroom. And some of the desks have been removed from classrooms, allowing for six-feet social distancing with the ones that are left.
Signs and markers designation the proper social distancing have been put on the walls and floors, and corridors and stairways have been made one-way to further eliminate the chances of casual, accidental contact that comes from large populations rushing around to get to classes.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said in the video. “You will have plenty of time to figure it out, and we will help you.”
The structure of the hybrid system is pretty basic. There will be two cohorts. Group A will attend Mondays and Thursdays and learn virtually Tuesdays and Fridays. Group B will be in the schools Tuesdays and Fridays and be learning virtually Mondays and Thursdays.
Wednesday will be the swing day, with A and B alternating the days.
“We hope to make this transition as easy as possible for everyone,” Bauer said, “And we look forward to seeing everyone.”
This has been Marblehead’s plan all along, Bauer said. It began the school year entirely on a remote system, with plans of integrating students back into the buildings, with Oct. 5 being the target date.
Since the state began using a color code to designate the relative risk of communities when it comes to COVID, Marblehead has been consistently green, which means it has recorded fewer than four cases per 100,000. Neighboring Swampscott has fewer than five per 100,000 (gray), according to latest statistics while Salem, the other bordering community, has fewer than eight (yellow).
