At the April 12 District 202 Board meeting, Peter Bavis, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, described the Evanston Township High School hybrid learning plan that will go in effect on April 14.
In this new instructional mode, teachers will simultaneously instruct virtually and in-person. Students who opted for in-person learning are split into four cohorts: A, B, C, and D. In-person classes will occur Tuesday through Friday, and in-person students will attend classes on campus every other week. For each course, in-person students will attend one session every two weeks.
Students and parents can access a daily hybrid schedule on the ETHS schedule that shows the cohort rotation for that day. These schedules are posted two weeks in advance. Students can access their cohort group at myETHS and their class schedules at HAC .
In this hybrid schedule, ETHS students take a daily break from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. That time is dedicated to lunchtime or travel time for in-person students, who return home from campus.
With the new model, the school will never reach more than 25% capacity. Students and staff will have their temperature taken prior to entering the campus. They are also required to complete a self-certification by scanning in with a mobile ID before any in-person learning. Students can pull up their IDs on myETHS .
At the April 12 meeting, Dr. Bavis emphasized the importance of honestly reporting on the self-certifications. “When asked what we learned from other districts, we learned that dishonesty closes schools,” he said. “Be honest with that screener. If you fail that screener, it’s not a shameful thing. You’re doing your part staying home.”
A COVID-19 dashboard updated every Friday will publish the number of new positive cases among students and staff. The dashboard will also contain the number of students and staff in quarantine, including anyone who tested positive for the virus, exhibits symptoms, or had contact with someone who might have COVID-19.
To maintain the privacy of students and staff, names will not be published. Teachers who want to opt for some “hands-on” learning may do this, provided that such learning remains ungraded and qualifies as enrichment. ETHS administrators say they want to make sure that there are no major differences between the experiences of virtual students and in-person students. Safety protocols will still be mandated.
Teachers are also required to inform the department in advance of any such teaching methods and ensure that during instruction, remote students are still attended to. “[Hybrid learning] is a bridge between all-remote instruction and full-in person instruction,” said Dr. Bavis.
ETHS is planning on teaching fully in-person in the fall, he said, and administrators view this hybrid period as a chance to show how the school’s safety measures are working.