Ramapo Indian Hills District Moves To Remote Restart

OAKLAND, NJ — The list of schools starting remotely has grown again.

In a letter to the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District — where students who live in Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes and Oakland attend high school — Interim Superintendent Bruce Watson announced the decision to delay in-person learning, but only for about two-and-a-half weeks.

School starts on Tuesday, Sept. 8 for students at both district high schools, but they won't return to the physical classroom until Sept. 24, according to the district. The board of education approved the altered plan at a meeting last Thursday.

In a second letter, from Ramapo and Indian Hills High School Principals Travis Smith and Greg Vacca, the duo cited a lack of visible improvement in coronavirus health metrics as a reason for the decision.

"Our plan was aggressive and assumed that New Jersey would continue to experience improved health metrics and advance through Stage 2 and potentially into Stage 3 by September 8th," they wrote.

"Simply put, the current health metrics do not support a full day of instruction and in-door, in-person lunches."

Remote instruction in the district, according to Watson, will mimic a normal school day, with virtual learning scheduled from 7:35 a.m. to 2:39 p.m.

Teachers will guide instruction from their classrooms, while students will be seated in front of their computer at home.

Phase one of the transition to hybrid learning, scheduled for Sept. 24, will feature three cohorts of students.

These cohorts will rotate through face-to-face learning, with one group attending classes in person while the others learn remotely.

More information, the district said, will be made available by the end of the week.