By Serena Sajumon
For months, students in the Sewanhaka Central High School District have been following hybrid or remote learning schedules while teachers have reported every day for work. For the second semester of the school year, the district has implemented a change to the current hybrid scheduling: students are now permitted to attend school five days a week if requested. However, this option is not be available to all students, since school buildings have to limit the number of children who can attend to properly maintain the six feet requirements and keep everyone safe.
Source by Saanvi Mirchandani
Math teacher Ms. Kurian teaches an almost full precalculus class now that students have been coming in five days a week.
The district has offered students the opportunity to come into school five days a week if they filled out a survey in December, and remote students were also allowed to return hybrid or five days a week. The schools met the majority of the students' requests; however, Floral Park Memorial High School and H. Frank Carey High School only started fulfilling the requests of seniors and juniors due to limited space within those buildings.
Many students have been comfortable with the change due to the district’s safety precautions, such as enforcing six feet distancing and masks. These procedures are the safest way to transition students back into school, according to medical directors of Northwell and Nassau County Department of Health. On the other hand, some students may feel hesitant to return to school due to the drastic change without a proper solution to the virus.
“I am all about building positive and professional relationships with my students, and I'm doing my best to make sure that still happens...”
“I think that switching to every day is a good way to ease into the transition of schools fully opening up, but vaccines are fairly new, and it'll be a while before it's available to everyone, so people are still at risk. Not to mention that people who have health issues already are at higher risk. So, I think it's too soon and would be a better idea to open up when vaccines are readily accessible,” said junior Prianka Ramlall.
Some students and parents are aware of the pandemic's effects and do not want to take the risk without a proper solution to the problem. The amount of vaccines being distributed is increasing, but many people are still waiting to receive it. However, the majority of the teachers are excited and pleased to be working with kids within the classes again.
Source by Saanvi Mirchandani
Contrasting from the December Issue where no one was physically in the room with AP Biology teacher Ms. Gelber, there are now more students showing up to school due to the ability to come into school five days a week. FRONT: seniors Nasheed Choudhury, Olivia Wong, Ari Boldur, and Joshua Eisenberg. Row 2: senior Yasmin Abdelhamid, juniors Paula Chavez and Grace Aderibigbe; BACK: junior Liam O'Connor;
“This has been a challenging year for both teachers and students. I miss being with all my students terribly. In fact, my favorite part of the day is being in the classroom with all of you! I am all about building positive and professional relationships with my students, and I'm doing my best to make sure that still happens,” said business chairperson Ms. Stein.
Many teachers miss the full classroom experience, so the five-days-a-week model for students is truly a step forward. Teachers agree that students are taking proper precautions within our district and are following the appropriate safety protocols. Sewanhaka Central High School District has been performing cleaning and proper procedures to maintain the safety of its staff and students to properly progress towards helping kids transition from the hybrid model to attending school five days a week.
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