After months of being at home, MRHS students are finally able to dip their toes back into school with the new hybrid learning option.
On March 1st, a hybrid schedule was put into place. This schedule does not ultimately mean the virtual setting is going to be gone completely, rather that students have the option to return to part-time in-person learning.
Some people believe that going hybrid is not worth the risk. Therefore, students were given the option to stay virtual for the rest of the year or attend school if they pleased. This is a huge decision for HCPSS as a whole, and most staff and students are interested to see what this new learning model will actually look like.
“It is going to look relatively the same as to what we are almost doing now. Just for the sake that we can be equitable, there are going to be a lot of students who are going to be coming in hybrid, as well as a lot of students who are going to remain virtual,” Mr. Muscato said. “The only major differences will be that some will be in a school setting while others won’t be; classes will be longer and we will all try our best to make everyone happy.”
With teachers and students now subjected to change, there are obviously going to be some aspects to this type of learning that are both promising and challenging.
“There is still part of the remote environment with hybrid learning, which I think could be a setback for students who really miss how classes were before the pandemic,” sophomore Therese Kim said.
Despite some students wanting classes to look the same as pre-covid times, the school system is still attempting to accommodate the students who are virtual. The teachers are also giving their best effort to keep everyone safe, happy, and engaged during this time of transitioning.
“We are still planning on just maintaining the kind of curriculum that we have with the virtual learning environment. So, there might not be too many changes regarding that. If you are still going to be virtual, it’s going to be very similar to what the first semester looked like,” Mr. Muscato said.
Ever since the school closure that happened nearly a year ago, everyone is trying their best to stay safe during this time of transition. Here are some things that MRHS is doing to keep their students safe.
“Each of the desks are six feet apart from each other in all of the classrooms. [In the hallways,] there is grey tile on both sides, so we are telling students as you are walking, left or right, you stay on the grey side. This way, students can maintain proper distance between each other in the halls,” Mrs. Foyles said.
With everyone getting ready for the new learning model, some are sharing personal opinions about how they feel about hybrid learning.
“Even though it might not be as much as you really think it might be, I hope that it gives someone a little bit more motivation to get up in the morning and have something positive to look forward to,” Mr. Muscato said.
Now, with most students being able to access the building, there are going to be some technological changes that are going to occur. A new program known as Lightspeed will heavily moderate students’ Chromebooks and make sure they are on task and focused.
“What [Lightspeed] does is it allows there to be more efficient engagement between both teachers and students,” Ms. Foyles said. This program is mainly supposed to help students decrease distractions while doing their work and also prevent cheating that may have occurred over the past year.
With the help of the new program, MRHS is making sure that students have the best possible experience during this new time of change.