Mercer Island School District second- and third-graders were next up with in-person learning on Feb. 8, this time being the first students utilizing the hybrid model. One cohort hit the books in classrooms and the other one streamed its studies from home.
In this segment of the district’s Learning Forward timeline, there are four primary cohort groups. One attends in-person Tuesdays and Thursdays, alternating Mondays; one attends in-person Wednesdays and Fridays, alternating Mondays; one participates in streaming/remote learning full time; and one cohort — only assigned to specific students based on identified needs for services — attends in-person Monday-Friday each week.
District kindergartners returned in-person on Jan. 6 and first-graders followed on Jan. 19.
In a letter to district families and the community on Feb. 7, Superintendent Donna Colosky thanked the local educators for their invaluable effort in leading the way with in-person and hybrid learning.
“Our teachers have been preparing their classrooms and participating in professional development related to serving students in-person while streaming to students at home,” Colosky said. “Though these educators will join those working with our kindergarten and first-grade students who continue to attend in-person five mornings a week, they are our district’s pioneers in this model.”
A message on the district’s Facebook page on Feb. 7 also gave an appreciative nod to the teachers for preparing to bring the next groups of students back into the buildings, and families for their patience as the district safely returns the students to physical classrooms.
Colosky said the district will continue to monitor the COVID-19 metrics that are displayed in the Washington State Department of Health’s Decision Tree/Toolkit. The district is also actively exploring local vaccine clinic partnerships for its employees, Colosky added.
“As of (Feb. 5), cases have dropped to 188 per 100,000 King County residents over the last 14 days, below the metrics in the Toolkit for bringing in high school students into the buildings. This is the lowest case rate numbers countywide in the past three months,” she said. “The reopening process for our schools depends upon everyone doing their part to improve the health and safety in our community.”
A timeline to bring students in grades 4-12 cautiously and safely into the hybrid learning realm was recently finalized after the district reached an agreement with the Mercer Island Education Association (MIEA).
The remaining scheduled rollout is as follows: Fourth- and fifth-graders will return on March 1; sixth-graders on March 15; ninth- and 12-graders on March 22; seventh- and eighth-graders on March 29; and 10th- and 11th-graders on April 15.
Colosky noted that the timeline follows the Decision Tree/Toolkit guidelines for returning to in-person learning.
“Separating each grade band’s return by two weeks will give the opportunity to continue to measure the success of limiting transmission of the virus within schools. We have had no COVID-19 cases traced to or transmitted within our schools since last September,” said Colosky, adding that a step forward with each phase will take place only after consulting with Public Health — Seattle & King County, reviewing data, implementing the district’s mitigation protocols, and meeting the Toolkit metrics.
The district and MIEA members felt that pairing the freshmen with the seniors would benefit both classes, since the seniors can provide leadership to the newcomers and the 12th-graders can more fully experience their final year with additional weeks of in-person learning.
