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Due to the increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases in our county and limitations of social distancing in a 100-year-old building with small classrooms, the Marquette 2020-2021 school year will begin under a Hybrid Model.
Our Hybrid Model will reduce the student population on campus each day in half to maximize social distancing and hopefully mitigate the enforcement of quarantine protocols. All students, Kindergarten through 8th grade, will be split into two groups. Group A will attend class every Monday and Tuesday, while Group B will attend class every Wednesday and Thursday. The two groups will alternate having class on Friday. Our curriculum will extend past the classroom walls with graded work being assigned with expectations that it be completed during days off campus. This Hybrid model will be in place for the first eight weeks of the quarter. We will simultaneously work with our Medical Advisory Committee to monitor the COVID-19 numbers in Tulsa in order to determine if and when all students may return to campus full time. It is our goal to make a full return to campus as quickly, but more importantly, as safely as possible. This plan will also require masks for all students, K-8.
After weeks of planning and consulting with faculty, health experts, and parents, we believe that the Hybrid Model will establish the safest and most consistent reentry for our students and families to begin the year. The Hybrid Plan was built with safety and stability as our priorities.
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Safety for Students and Faculty
The safety of our students and faculty is our top priority. While early data suggests that children are not impacted as significantly by the Coronavirus, the same cannot be said for our faculty. Without teachers in our building, all plans fail. Additionally, the requirement of masks by students while social distancing allows our best chance to keep both students and teachers healthy. We understand this will be new for many students and pose its own set of challenges, however, we will work together to ensure compliance with the understanding implementation will not be perfect. -
Stability for the Family
Our required quarantine protocols leave parents with the reality that their children could be removed from class for up to 14 days at any time. While the hybrid model does not eliminate this risk, reducing our student population by half on a daily basis does reduce the chance that large portions of our school would go to quarantine protocol. It will allow us to implement social distancing that otherwise would not be possible at full capacity, and it will allow us to group students and teachers in smaller groups reducing potential exposure.
Although not a determining factor for the adoption of a hybrid model, it will result in reduced class sizes of approximately 1:11 teacher/student ratio. This will allow teachers to quickly assess the emotional, social, spiritual, and academic state of our students after five months away from school.
This year will require our community to come together like never before, but I know we are up to the challenge. We prayerfully ask for your commitment as we've put forth a plan that prioritizes the long-term outlook ahead of short term conveniences.
Download Hybrid Calendar here. -