BY ANDY GARDNER

North Country This Week

MASSENA -- Massena Central will offer a hybrid of face-to-face and remote learning for the 2020-21 school year with an option to take all classes online.

For the hybrid model, grades three to 12 will attend in person every other day while taking online classes on opposite days. All students will take remote classes on Mondays. One group of students will attend in person on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with remote classes on Wednesdays and Fridays. The other group will be the opposite with in person classes Wednesdays and Fridays and remote lessons Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Complex needs students will attend face-to-face Tuesday through Friday.

Grades one and two will take remote classes on Mondays and attend in person Tuesday through Thursday. A presentation from Superintendent Pat Brady says they will enable the four days of classes per week by “targeting resources, reassigning existing staff, and utilizing existing spaces.”

“This is particularly important for creating foundations in literacy,” the presentation says.

Kindergartners attend half days in person Tuesdays through Thursdays. One group will take morning classes and the other will attend in afternoons. Monday is a remote learning day.

For pre-kindergarten, students will also attend half days. To assure social distancing, they will be broken into an A-group and a B-group. Both groups will be split into students who attend in the morning and with the rest of the children take classes in the afternoon. The A-group will attend in person on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and take remote classes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The B-group will take classes from home Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and attend in person Wednesdays and Fridays.

All students and employees will be required to complete a health screening at home and have their temperature taken before arriving at school each day.

An electronic screening tool will alert the school nurse if any students answer yes to any questions on the screening, or if a student didn’t fill it out upon arrival. Paper forms will be provided to employees and families who don’t have electronic access. The Community Schools program may be able to provide thermometers to those who don’t have access to one.

A district survey shows that 76.2% of parents are planning on having their children return to school this year, and 23.8% are not. Based on that, there will be an option for an all-online instruction model.

“We will provide opportunities at the end of every quarter to allow students to opt in to the hybrid model, if they elect to start the year in remote learning,” Brady’s presentation reads. “The students will also have the general plan of a … hybrid schedule but all instruction happens via technology.”

Chromebooks will be distributed for taking classes at home. There will also be wifi hotspots in the community where students can go for free internet access.

Meals will be served whether they attend school in person or take classes online. For those who take classes from home, a meal package will be available for pickup on Mondays each week unless otherwise scheduled, Brady’s presentation says.

“Grab and go” breakfast and lunch will be available at school. To abide by social distancing, students will eat either in the classroom, or the cafeteria based on a schedule.

Polycarbonate barriers around high-traffic areas, such as clerical stations and cafeteria cashiers, will be installed in each building, and drinking fountains will be replaced with water bottle filling stations. HVAC filters will be changed out with increased airflow in classrooms. There will also be spaces turned into isolation areas for potentially ill students and staff. Custodial staff will use cleaning and disinfectant logs, and increase the frequency of cleaning for high-contact areas.

The first day of school is planned for Sept. 8.

Brady’s complete presentation can be viewed at https://bit.ly/3fkro6p

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