Approaches vary on how to address safety measures amid pandemic.
The reopening plans that Cape public school districts submitted to state education officials Friday are as varied as the districts themselves.
Several districts — including the Cape’s largest, Barnstable, and one of its smallest, Provincetown — are easing into the school year by having all students attend remotely for at least the first two weeks.
Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School in Bourne plans to offer all its academic courses remotely, although students will go to the building for their technical courses.
If there is a common theme, it’s that elementary school students are more likely to return in person, while their older counterparts are more likely to attend class via a hybrid model that alternates between in-person and remote learning because of space restrictions.
Some students, such as those at Nauset Regional Middle and High schools and the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Harwich, will be in the actual buildings just two days a week.
Sturgis Charter Public School students in Hyannis will be in the buildings one day a week, due to the “tight confines of our classrooms and buildings,” Paul Marble, the school’s executive director, said in an email to parents.
Most Cape schools will resume classes in mid-September, trimming the academic year from 180 to 170 days. State officials approved the reduction to give teachers more time to prepare for the transition, as schools have been shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic since mid-March.
Schools will space students 6 feet apart and require them to wear masks. Several districts will set aside Wednesdays as deep-cleaning days.
When it comes to in-person learning, school districts are prioritizing “high needs” pupils as well as younger students.
In addition to the school plans outlined below, which apply to students returning in person or via a hybrid model, all families have the right to have their children attend via remote learning only.
School districts were required to come up with three plans: one for in-person instruction, one for remote learning and a hybrid of the two.
But the actual return to school will hinge on metrics of health and safety, school officials said.
“Things can change,” Nauset schools Superintendent Thomas Conrad told the Nauset Regional School Committee.
“I can’t emphasize enough our reopening plans remain fluid,” Barnstable schools Superintendent Meg Mayo-Brown said.
Barnstable Public Schools
First day for students: Sept. 16
Students will attend school via remote learning for at least the first two weeks.
The plan is to move to a reduced learning model Sept. 28, when students will be in school for four hours a day.
Students from kindergarten through Grade 3 will attend school in person. Students in grades 4-12 will be divided into two cohorts that alternate in-person and at-home remote learning days.
If health metrics pan out, Barnstable plans to move to a full-time school schedule Oct. 13, with grades K-3 at school in person and grades 4-12 continuing to follow the hybrid schedule.
Wednesdays will be remote-learning days for all students, allowing for teacher planning and deep-cleaning of the schools.
Bourne Public Schools
First day of school for students: Sept. 16
Students will start by attending school remotely from home.
Bourne school officials expect to transition to a hybrid model within the first eight weeks. The transition date will be based on school and community health data and other factors such as educational equity and support for students’ social and emotional needs.
A hybrid model would divide students into two cohorts, which switch off weeks of in-school and at-home learning Tuesday through Friday. Students in both cohorts will participate in remote learning on Mondays.
“If the metrics prove safe and both staffing and space are feasible, we will then work to bring back our younger learners first into a full in-person model,” schools Superintendent Kerri Anne Quinlan-Zhou said.
Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School, Harwich
First day of school for students: Sept. 16
Students will attend school according to a hybrid model that divides them into two cohorts. Each group in the grades 6-8 school will attend class in person two days a week and learn remotely three days a week.
High-needs students will be in the building four days a week to accommodate their learning requirements.
Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, Harwich
Half-day orientations: Grade 12, Sept. 15; Grade 11, Sept. 16; Grade 10, Sept. 17; and Grade 9, Sept. 18
First day for all students: Sept. 21
Students will return to school according to a hybrid model, alternating in-person and remote learning at home.
No more than 50% of students will be in the building at any one time.
Students who do not complete remote assignments will be marked absent for the day.
Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District
First day of school for students: Sept. 16
Students in grades K-7 are scheduled to return to school in person. They will be grouped in cohorts that will stay together for classes, recess and lunch throughout the school day.
Grades 8-12 will attend Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School via a hybrid model due to lack of space at the high school. Students will be in school every other day and will attend remotely on off-days.
Preschoolers also will use the remote model.
Falmouth Public Schools
Tentative first day for students: Sept. 21.
Students in pre-K through Grade 4 will attend school in person. They will be grouped into cohorts of nine to 22 students.
Grades 5 to 12 will attend school in a hybrid model that alternates between in-person and remote learning on a weekly basis. Half the students will report to school for one week of in-person learning, while the other half learns remotely. The following week they will switch off.
Students in the hybrid model and 100% remote model will participate in the same assigned class using Google Classroom for grades 5-6 and Schoology for grades 7-12.
Mashpee Public Schools
First day of school for students: Sept. 16
Grades pre-K through 3 will attend school in person.
Grades 4-12 will alternate in-person learning and remote learning week by week according to which cohort they are in. Students will be divided into two cohorts, the Falcons Cohort and the Mashpee Cohort. During remote weeks, students will follow the same schedule as in-person weeks.
Siblings will be placed in the same cohorts.
Monomoy Regional School District
First day of school for students: Sept. 14
Students in preschool-Grade 7 will attend school in person every day.
Grades 8-12 will be in class in person two of every three days on a rolling schedule. On off-days they will participate in classes from home through livestreaming from the classroom.
Nauset Regional School District
First day of school for students: Sept. 16
Elementary school students will attend school five days a week in person.
Nauset Regional Middle School students will alternate two days a week of in-person learning and three days of remote instruction.
Some students will attend in person Monday and Thursday and others on Tuesday and Friday.
Nauset Regional High School students also will have two days of in-person learning and three days of remote instruction. One cohort will be in the building Monday and Tuesday and the other Thursday and Friday.
Provincetown Schools
First day of school for students: Sept. 16
Provincetown school officials plan a phased-in reopening, with students attending school remotely for at least the first two weeks.
School officials will assess health data to determine the next steps.
Sandwich Public Schools
First day of school for students: Sept. 15
Students at Forestdale and Oak Ridge (K-6) will go to school in person four days a week, with Wednesday being designated as an at-home learning day.
Students will have work assigned to them for Wednesday and will be expected to complete it before returning to school Thursday.
Students at the Sandwich STEM Academy (grades 7-8) and Sandwich High School will be separated into two groups for a hybrid model of learning.
They will take turns coming into the building two days a week and learn from home via remote lessons two other days a week.
The secondary students also will participate in the at-home learning day Wednesdays.
Sturgis Charter Public School, Hyannis
First day for students: Sept. 14
Students will attend remotely for the first two weeks.
Starting Sept. 28, they will switch to a hybrid model during which they will attend school in person for one assigned day a week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday.
On the days students are not attending in person, they will participate in livestreamed classes through Google Meet.
Wednesday will be a remote-learning day for all students to allow a midweek cleaning of all school facilities.
Truro Central School
First day for students: Sept. 17
The first seven days of class will be fully remote.
The pre-K through Grade 6 school plans to reopen its doors Sept. 28 to any of the 112 students who wish to go back to in-person learning.
To meet safety protocols, space in the building will be used differently.
Instead of students going to different rooms for art and band, teachers of those subjects will come to students in their regular classrooms.
Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School, Bourne
Half-day orientations: Grade 9, Sept. 8; Grade 10, Sept. 9; Grade 11, Sept. 10; Grade 12, Sept. 11
First day of school for students: Sept. 14
Students will come to the school campus for their technical week. They will learn remotely during their academic week via livestreamed lessons.
Staff writers Denise Coffey, Ethan Genter, Jessica Hill, Christine Legere and Beth Treffeisen contributed to this report.
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