Ridgewood Public School's Reopening Plan Takes Shape

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Ridgewood Public Schools have proposed a phased restart approach for the 2020 fall semester, which includes hybrid learning to start the year.

From Sept. 1 to Oct. 16, Ridgewood schools will be in phase-one of the reopening plan, which includes half-session school days, cohorts and a 50 percent reduced class size capacity.

The A cohort and B cohort will be separated alphabetically, with students whose last name begins with A-K making up the A cohort, and L-Z in the B cohort.

According to the plan, families whose last names cross these alphabetical lines will be given consideration to attend class on the same day.

All levels of Ridgewood schools were given a remote plan and a hybrid plan for learning, which includes a break down of health and safety measures, as well as academic considerations while laying out what these days will look like.

For the elementary level, students will receive four hours of in-person instruction on days in which their cohorts physically attend class. These half days were instituted partly to eliminate the need for in-school lunch as a health and safety measure.

Students will be dismissed for the day at 12:45 p.m., and teachers will have a planning period stretching from 2 to 3 p.m.

During remote learning days, students will participate in two 45-minute periods of live virtual instruction with specialists, meaning art, physical education, music or library teachers and staff.

Additionally, a Google Meet session with their classroom teacher in the afternoon will touch base with students to gauge their progress on remote academic work.

Students will be expected to learn during the morning hours, with the teacher check-in scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on remote learning days.

For middle school students, live instruction will also be done on an alternating day model, with virtual classes scheduled in the afternoon.

Different from elementary and high school students is implementation of longer class times, which the district said "are developmentally appropriate for middle school as they adjust to being back in school."

Lunch will also not be served for middle school students.

On remote days, teachers will engage in virtual live instruction for all scheduled classes for "at least part of the period" with a check-in at the end of the period.

Students will be required to virtually attend the classes, and have their cameras on during instruction.

High school students will also attend the hybrid schedule, with four classes scheduled for each in-person learning day.

The four classes, the district said, support the high school learning model.

"Pace of high school instruction warrants four classes meeting in person each day," the district said.

For remote learning, the high school sessions will mirror those at the middle school level.

Like other districts, in Ridgewood, students enrolled in self-contained special education will attend school for a daily half-day.

Preparation

Throughout the summer, the district said, teachers have been participating in professional development, focused on remote instruction enhancement and collaborative unit revision.

Counselors, child study team members and other specialists took part in professional development that focused on trauma-informed care and relationship building in virtual settings.

The district has also purchased additional Chromebooks and other programs to enhance the virtual learning experience.

Next Steps

The district's plan was informed in part by parent surveys, which received over 6,000 responses, according to the district.

A second survey will go out to families on Tuesday.

That survey will further inform the plan, the district says, which means nothing is set in stone just yet.

"We will analyze survey results from parents and staff to determine how to meet the needs of both our students and the staff. Please understand that the data gathered from these surveys may result in changes for your child, including change of class schedules and /or teacher assignments at all levels," the district said.

If all things remain the same, however, the district has released preliminary recommendations for what phase-two and phase-three of the plan would look like.

Starting Oct. 19, phase-two would reassess the schedule and make necessary modifications, but would keep class sizes at 50 percent capacity.

However, in-person instruction would move to full days, if possible.

At this point, parents who chose the only virtual option for phase-one would now have the chance to opt back into in-person learning.

If all goes well with phase-two, phase-three would start on Nov. 30.

The schedule would again be reassessed, but capacity could be changed, and there is the possibility for the re-institution of daily in-person learning.

View the full presentation here: https://bit.ly/3374xZF