News

Students return to class in person next week

By Lightning Reports, Published: January 25, 2021

Henderson County public school students will return to in-classroom teaching next week, with pre-K through grade 3 attending school five days a week and grades 4-12 resuming the alternate-day Plan B, the School Board decided Monday.

The so-called Return to Learn schedule is the same the school used before a surge in Covid-19 casesand  means PreK-3 and eligible Intensive Intervention students will begin attending class on campus in-person every school day (Plan A) beginning Monday, Feb. 1. Students in grades 4-12 will resume face-to-face learning under the hybrid (Plan B) model on Feb. 1. The schools will operate under these plans until further notice or new board action.

In December, the board discussed considering Plan A (fully in-person) for all elementary grades and Plan B (hybrid) for grades 6-12 in February. However, acknowledging that Plan A implementation would eliminate social distancing within classroom environments and on school buses for elementary students, district administrators recommended fully in-person for only grades K-3 at this time.

Students in grades 4-12 will attend class under Plan B with both face-to-face instruction days and remote learning days at home, on an “A Day / B Day” schedule. Group A and Group B will alternate meeting on campus for in-person learning two days each week, and access remote learning the other three days each week. Group A will attend in person on Mondays and Thursdays and Group B will attend in person on Tuesdays and Fridays; Wednesday will be remote learning days for all students in Grades 4-12.
Live and remote instruction will continue to be provided from 8 a.m. to noon every day except Wednesdays, which is remote only from 8 a.m. to noon for all students. Students scheduled to be on campus for instruction will remain in school after noon for lunch and small group instruction, as well as opportunities for social interaction and Social-Emotional Learning through the end of the traditional school day.

This recommendation is part of HCPS’ continuing efforts to reintroduce more students to the traditional face-to- face learning environment, as long as it is allowable under the governor's executive order and advisable by local public health officials, the school system said.
While operating under Plans A and B, HCPS will resume updating the COVID-19 District Dashboard with school-affected cases reported while in-person learning is occurring on campuses. The Dashboard reflecting this new stage of in-person learning will report cumulative positive cases since Feb. 1 and include a link to the dashboard data archiving the period of in-person learning from Sept. 21-Dec. 22.