Cherokee High Schools Closed From Coronavirus Set Reopening Date

CHEROKEE COUNTY, GA — After closing just weeks after school began due to coronavirus outbreaks, three of Cherokee County's high schools will reopen next month.

The three high schools temporarily closed for in-person learning are Creekview High, Etowah High and Woodstock High. All will reopen for in-person learning using a hybrid model on Sept. 3.

Teachers at these schools will participate in additional training over the next week to prepare for this transition while they continue with the existing remote-learning model until that time, the district said Wednesday.

The hybrid model will remain in place at these three high schools until at least Oct. 9, which is the last day of the first nine-week grading period. An announcement will be made as soon as possible as to what operations will look like after Oct. 9. The district said this decision will be made for each school individually based on the state of public health in each school community.

The hybrid model will reduce class sizes at these three high schools, allowing for greater social distancing and limiting the number of students impacted by quarantines.

The hybrid model will be considered as an alternative to two-week temporary closures for middle schools and high schools moving forward. No other Cherokee County schools are at risk of temporary closure, and school closures are based on Department of Public Health guidance to prevent spread within a school and to alleviate staffing and operational issues.

“We are committed to keeping our schools open for in-person learning for as long as possible," Superintendent Brian Hightower said at a school board meeting last week. "Although this hybrid plan does not provide five days of in-person instruction in our schools, we feel it is a better alternative to reopening without changes and likely soon shutting down again due to cases and quarantines, or to offering only online learning to all students. Two days are better than none. When I said that operating in-person school during a pandemic would require all of us to be flexible, this situation is an example of how we need everyone to be willing to do just that.”

Through the hybrid model, students will study the same content each day with one group learning in-person, and the other completing work at home. On at-home learning days, students will be expected to log into the Canvas learning management system daily and complete all assigned work on time. On Wednesdays, all students will learn at home and, on that day, 30-minute Microsoft Teams meetings will be held for each class, with all students attending together virtually.

Hightower also is authorized by the vote to use a hybrid model, in a tiered approach, should any other district high school or middle school reach a “tipping point” that would otherwise require a two-week school closure. Instead of closing for two weeks, the school could instead close for one day to allow for deep-cleaning and for teachers to shift their lesson plans, and then reopen with this hybrid model.

This “tipping point” for school closure isn’t a fixed total or percentage, but a case-by-case decision that takes into account both guidance from the Department of Public Health to prevent spread within a school and staffing and operational issues that may affect the feasibility of continued in-person school. By splitting each class in half through the hybrid model at these three high schools, greater social distancing will be achieved, reducing the number of students impacted by quarantines.

Students at these three high schools who do not have access to a laptop computer to use for learning at home should contact the front office of their school as soon as possible. School bus transportation will continue, and bus routes for hybrid schedule schools will not run on Wednesdays. To-go bags of breakfasts and lunches will be available for the days students are not attending in-person classes; the three high schools will be sharing more information with their students and parents later this week with this information as well as more detail as to class schedules.

The hybrid model does not change coursework for Digital Learning students. Should students currently enrolled in our Digital Learning program want to return to in-person school due to the implementation of the hybrid model, they need to contact the front office of their school as soon as possible, so they can be assigned classes in a timely manner. However, parents should be advised that the hybrid model is not being viewed as a permanent solution.

Students and parents at the three high schools reopening on Sept. 3 should contact the school front office with any follow-up questions.