Morton Grove’s elementary schools are preparing for back-to-school season during the pandemic.
Golf School District 67 students will start the year remotely, but Susan Coleman, who became superintendent of the district on July 1, and the district’s Return to Learn Task Force have devised a hybrid model for returning students to in-person learning at the district’s two schools. No date has been set for implementing this model at Hynes Elementary School or Golf Middle School.
“The health and safety of our students and staff is paramount and we’ll continue to assess a variety of factors,” Coleman said. “I meet regularly with our partners from Skokie Health Department and other local officials and obviously with my Return to Learn Task Force.”
That all volunteer task force consists of teachers, staff, and parents.
When the district deems it safe to begin hybrid learning, students will gradually be phased into the program. Parents have the option of choosing whether to have their children participate in hybrid learning or continue to study at home through an enhanced remote model.
If parents are unsure, when hybrid learning becomes available, whether to choose hybrid or remote, Coleman suggested they choose hybrid, since they can always change and go back to remote.
In a video on the school district’s website, Coleman provides details regarding both the hybrid and enhanced remote models. Here are some of the highlights:
Once in-person learning begins, parents will be required to self-certify that their child is free of COVID-19 symptoms. Teachers and staff will also have to self-certify that they are heathy before entering the building.
If a student or staff member becomes ill or tests positive for COVID-19, the district will be in contact with local health officials to determine the course of action. Parents will be immediately notified if their child has been in contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19.
Students and staff must wear masks at all times when they are in the building.
Classrooms have been arranged to seat only 15 students each so that desks are at least six feet apart to maintain social distancing.
Because of space limitations in classrooms, there’s not enough room for all the children to attend every day. Consequently, one group will attend on Mondays and Tuesdays; another group will attend on Thursdays and Fridays. They will attend school remotely the other three days.
Students will remain in their classroom all day with teachers traveling between classrooms.
A lunch break is provided in the enhanced remote schedule. In the hybrid schedule for both schools, students will return home at 12:30 p.m. for lunch. During the afternoons, students in both models will complete work projects and access office hours to consult with teachers.
Buildings will be cleaned daily with enhanced measures and will be deep cleaned on Wednesdays and Friday evenings.
Devices and curriculum materials will be available for parents to pick up on a schedule to be determined.
Every student will participate in social-emotional learning activities during daily morning meetings where they will also socialize with their classmates. Some classes will also have a closing activity.
At press time, Coleman was still waiting for final responses to a survey regarding whether parents are choosing hybrid or remote learning for their children.
“Once we have the results and we analyze them with my Return to Learn Task Force, we can start planning class placements and teacher assignments,” she said.
Despite having a shorter school day, Coleman emphasized that, “We’ll still be teaching the core curriculum focusing on priority standards. We have been partnering with Niles Township High School for years for curriculum development and alignment through CFC, which is our Classrooms First Collaborative.”
She added that students will have both synchronous and asynchronous learning. Synchronous instruction is live instruction in real time. In asynchronous instruction, teachers prepare lessons and activities for students to complete on their own time and at their own pace.
Fine arts and physical education will still be part of the curriculum. “Our Return to Learn Task Force is still working out the details,” Coleman reported. “We do have PE teachers and fine arts teachers on our Task Force, specifically to help us with that.”
In terms of providing safety for students who ride a bus to school, Coleman noted, “Currently our ridership has gone from 75 percent down to about 20 percent.” There will be one child per seat, except for siblings.
“Northshore Transit is our bus company,” Coleman said. “They sent us a video illustrating their cleaning protocols before and after rides. All the students and the driver will be required to wear a mask.”
Park View School
This newspaper placed calls to the Morton Grove District 70 (Park View Elementary School) superintendent and principal last week inquiring about reopening plans, and those administrators have not responded. A representative for the district responded, but did not provide clarification, answers or additional details beyond what was on the website.
