Dear NHS Community,
Next week we start the 2020-2021 school year. Although it is starting under unusual circumstances, it is a year that I am increasingly confident will finish with a series of events and celebrations our students will remember.
Per the Governor’s guidelines, we will start the year in distance learning, transitioning to our hybrid model after we have been off the county watch list for 14 days. We have created a bell schedule and instructional model that will support both distance learning and the safety guidelines necessary to bring students on campus in hybrid cohorts. The information below should help your family understand the structure of the school day, and make plans for the start of the year.
THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF SCHOOL
Below is the bell schedule for the first two days of school. Students will access course information through Canvas, and participate in “live” instruction for each class on their schedule. We will be sending a more detailed email to families on 8/19 to help new students find their courses on Canvas and links to access “live” instruction for the first day. During “live” instruction, teachers and students will be together online for instruction, discussion, and other synchronous activities for the duration of the period. You will notice a time for Teacher Advisement during both days. This will be a time that students can ask their advisor questions about their schedule and get reacquainted with the start of school.
| Time | Thursday 8/20 | Friday 8/21 |
| 8:00 – 8:55 | Period 0 - NO MEETING | Period 0 |
| 9:00 – 9:20 | Teacher Advisement | Teacher Advisement |
| 9:25 – 10:10 | Period 1 | Period 2 |
| 10:15 – 11:00 | Period 3 | Period 4 |
| 11:00 – 11:10 | Break | Break |
| 11:15 – 12:00 | Period 5 | Period 6 |
| 12:05 – 12:50 | Period 7 | Period 8 |
A TYPICAL WEEK OF SCHOOL IN DISTANCE LEARNING
Starting Monday, August 24, we will have our first typical week in the Distance Learning Schedule. On Mondays, students will access their course schedule for the week through Canvas, but will not meet for “live” instruction for each period. Teachers will be available by department during designated times (see table below). The only “live” requirement for students on Monday will be for Teacher Advisement from 1:30-2:00 pm. Attendance will be taken during Monday’s Teacher Advisement, so participation is mandatory. On Mondays, teachers will provide a calendar for the week, initial tasks for students, targeted interventions for those in need of support, and opportunities for re-teaching.
Tuesday through Friday will be on a block schedule with students meeting with their odd periods on Tuesday and Wednesday, and even periods on Thursday and Friday. One of the two interactions will be “live” requiring the students be online and engaging in synchronous instruction throughout the entire 85 minutes. The other will be an “independent” lesson, with the whole class meeting online for the first 10 minutes for attendance and instruction, then students working independently on tasks, assignments and projects for the rest of the time. This sequence may occur in either order (live then independent, or independent then live), and teachers may increase the amount of live instruction on the independent day beyond the 10 minutes. You will also notice the Office Hour block each day. This is a time that teachers will be available to help any students who have questions, similar to Tutorial that we typically have during regular school.
TRANSITIONING TO THE HYBRID MODEL
Once Orange County has been off the watch list for 14 days our school will be eligible to transition into hybrid learning. In this model, students will engage in distance learning three days a week, and in-person learning two days a week. At that time, we will divide the student population into two cohorts based on their last name (the first 50% being cohort A, the last 50% being cohort B). The Monday schedule will stay the same, as well as having odd periods on Tuesday and Wednesday, and even periods on Thursday and Friday. The Distance Learning Schedule was developed to mirror this schedule for smooth return to school.
Cohort A (last names letter A – K) will attend school in-person on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and cohort B (last names letter L - Z) will attend school in-person on Wednesdays and Fridays. Each class will start with a 10 minute, all class meeting that includes both those students who are online and those students who are in-person. Attendance will be taken for all students during this time. The in-person experience will be the student’s “live” instruction, and the at-home experience will be the student’s “independent” day. The cohorts will switch the next day, doing the opposite lesson.
Lunch will occur after periods 5 and 6 to minimize the amount of students who need to stay on campus. A grab-and-go lunch will be available for students. Those students enrolled in athletics will have their practices scheduled later in the day to allow for a lunch at home. Students with a period 7 or 8 class will engage in their courses at home online for the duration of the first semester. This will change as guidelines allow us to return more in person. A more detailed email will come out prior to our transition to the Hybrid Schedule, outlining safety guidelines and procedures for staff and students. Details of how each cohort schedule will look are linked below:
Thank you for reading all the way through this email! We realize that this is a lot of new information for families and want to thank you in advance for your flexibility, trust and support during this complex and challenging time. We will continue to do our best to communicate with you!