North Hills releases preliminary plan for return to school

North Hills school officials have released a preliminary plan for a return to school on Aug. 25 that offers students the option of enrolling in the district’s Online Academy or attending classes in person.

The school board is expected to make a final decision on which plan to follow during its Aug. 6 meeting.

The return-to-school plan released July 23 contains four options being considering.

A so-called “traditional” option would only provide in-person instruction five days a week for all students who are not enrolled in the Online Academy.

A second option would be “virtual” only, with all classes conducted online in a manner similar to the instruction provided this school year during the state-mandated shutdown to slow the spread of coronavirus.

While the online academy and “virtual” instruction models both are technology-based programs, they use different approaches and material for instruction.

The “hybrid” option developed calls for students in all grade levels to attend classes in-person two days a week with virtual instruction during the remaining three days.

A “blended” option the district is considering would provide a combination of in-person and online instruction using different schedules based on a student’s grade level.

Here is the district’s breakdown for how the blended option would operate:

• High school

Option 1: Hybrid schedule with students divided into two groups based on their last names for in-person instruction. Group A — names beginning in “A” to “L” — attend in-person on Monday and Tuesday. Group B — names beginning with “M” to “Z” — attend in-person on Thursday and Friday.

Option 2: In-person classes five days a week with students split between the two high school cafeterias and the middle school cafeteria to maintain proper social distancing.

• Middle school

Students attend school for in-person instruction daily from 7:50 to 11:45 a.m. followed by two hours of at-home virtual instruction.

• Elementary

Pupils at Highcliff and West View grade school attend in-person classes daily from 8:30 a.m. to noon followed by two hours of virtual instruction.

Students from McIntyre and Ross elementary schools attend in-person classes from 9:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. followed by two hours of virtual classes from home.