San Mateo County schools easing students back onto campus
Staggered returns, hybrid models preferred among educators reopening campuses amid pandemic
As local health conditions grow safer and educators seek to improve learning opportunities for more students, elementary school districts across the county are establishing plans to gradually bring students back to the classroom.
San Mateo-Foster City, Burlingame, Redwood City, San Carlos and Belmont are among the local school districts where officials are expecting to incrementally introduce small groups of young students to campus again.
The decisions arrive as the community progressively advances through the state’s COVID-19 watch list, following an announcement Tuesday, Oct. 27, that more restrictions would be lifted while San Mateo County enters the orange tier.
Movement from the purple to red tier earlier this month paved the way for school officials to begin plotting returns to classes, once health plans have been examined by county education and health officials.
Recognizing educational inequities have been amplified by remote learning requirements, county school officials have agreed that campuses should be reopened as safety conditions allow. But even with the green light to bring students back, most districts are erring on the side of caution and starting small.
To that end, students in the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District may start returning Tuesday, Jan. 19. Under direction of the school board, the youngest students and those in special day classes would be the first to return to the classroom, followed by second, third, fourth and fifth graders. Middle schoolers are expected to stay in distance learning for the foreseeable future, according to a district report.
Large classes would be divided into two cohorts and those smaller groups would alternate days attending classes. For example, one cohort may attend classes Monday and Tuesday while another would be in distance learning those days, and on Thursday and Friday those two groups would switch. Wednesday would be a remote learning day for both groups.
State health officials have recommended relying on class staggering and hybrid models when possible, with hopes of keeping group sizes small and easing the path for students and educators to limit interactions in close quarters.
Burlingame Elementary School District officials will also use the recommendations as part of the plan to bring students back next month. Students between transitional kindergarten and second grade as well as middle schoolers are slated to begin hybrid learning Monday, Nov. 30. Third, fourth and fifth graders are planned to remain in distance learning until a return of all students Monday, Jan. 4, according to a district report.
In Millbrae, students between kindergarten and fifth grade are also expected to return to campus Monday, Jan. 4. Students will be in the classroom from the morning until lunch, then will return home and finish the day in remote learning. Middle schoolers will return to school at the same day in a staggered approach, with different classes alternating which days they attend classes and which days they are expected to learn from home, according to a district report.
Students in San Carlos with special needs and those in small groups will begin returning in November, leading to a larger return to campus for classes focusing on social interaction in December. A more comprehensive plan for in-person learning is still under development, and lessons learned from allowing small groups back will inform the district’s larger plan, according to a district report.
In the Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary School District, officials are planning to implement hybrid learning in January, with hopes San Mateo County continues trending toward the yellow, least restrictive, health tier, according to a district report.
Redwood City Elementary School District officials are headed in the same direction, with staggered plans to reintroduce students between transitional kindergarten and second graders as well as middle schoolers Tuesday, Jan. 19. The rest of the district students could be brought back the next week, according to a district report.
South San Francisco Unified School District officials established a similar plan as well, with hopes of allowing a staggered restart in the middle of January. In the interim, officials announced a learning pod program for students who need assistance with remote learning.
Under partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs as well as the local rotary chapter which granted the school district $250,000 to launch the initiative, students at Los Cerritos and Sunshine Gardens elementary schools as well as the district’s two high schools can get in-person assistance while taking online classes.
“In uncertain times, communities come together to look out for one another, and this is a lifeline to some of our students,” said school board President Pat Murray in a prepared statement about the program.
A similar program was launched for students in the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District as well, through a partnership with Newton Center, a local education and child care program.
The initiative will grant educational support, internet access, devices and meals to 60 students struggling with remote learning.
“This program is truly unique in that it offers a comprehensive solution to the equity issues that many in our community are experiencing as a result of COVID-19,” said center representative Tal Tamir in an email.