Transitioning to Hybrid Learning: Our New Normal

On March 8, 2021, the high school will transition to in-person hybrid learning after a year of online school. With vaccine distribution available to teachers and weekly testing for students, the week-on-week-off hybrid school model has finally been deemed safe. 

Last month, the School offered supervised distance learning (SDL). SDL provided students the opportunity to be on campus for their Zoom classes. 10th grader William Baxter, who attended SDL, said “it was a really fun way for me to both safely socialize with friends and do online school.”  

SDL was a great and successful start to returning to campus. However, the hybrid model will bring everyone a sense of normalcy that has been missing. The hybrid model allows students to come to campus every other week and have in-person classes with the teacher present. The COVID-19 protocols will be the same as SDL: mandatory masks, social distancing, and weekly coronavirus testing. 

Most students who participated in SDL, and many who did not, are coming back to campus for hybrid learning. 10th grader Meley Haile, who did not return for SDL, says, “I decided to come back for hybrid because I would be in class with my teachers, and it would feel more like a normal school day.” Haile also mentioned that she feels confident in the School’s COVID-19 protocols, especially the weekly testing. 

Baxter, who is also planning to do hybrid learning, says, “I am quite excited to see and interact with the people in each of my classes.” In addition, Baxter has already seen the COVID-19 protocols work, and he feels that the School has created a safe learning environment amidst the pandemic.  

After the chaotic year of 2020, many students are excited to go back to school and feel a sense of normalcy. Having teachers in the classroom and seeing peers on a daily basis gives the School community hope that the crazy rollercoaster of COVID-19 will soon come to an end.