Hybrid instruction will resume Jan. 5 for St. Charles East, North

St. Charles high school students will return to a mix of in-person and remote learning when the second semester starts Jan. 5, and an expansion of the hybrid model will begin Jan. 19.

That was the plan announced at Monday's St. Charles Unit District 303 Learning and Teaching Committee meeting, a plan that could be adjusted following requests by school board members to shift the expanded hybrid model a week earlier.

After another batch of recorded phone calls was played from residents expressing their opinions on in-person learning, Assistant Superintendent Mark Moore outlined a recommended schedule with St. Charles East Principal James Richter and St. Charles North Principal Audra Christenson.

Moore noted the continuation of the hybrid model, as opposed to fully in-person learning, remains necessary because of COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings. No more than 50 people can be in a given space, and student desks must be spaced 6 feet apart.

"These requirements significantly constrain us on the number of students that we can have in a class at any time," Moore said, "well less than the number we would typically have in a class."

The plan when school resumes Jan. 5 is for high-school students to stick with the first-semester hybrid model that was in place until the district paused all in-person learning in November.

The schedule shifts on Jan. 19 to eliminate the Monday all-remote day. Following the day off to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., students will rotate having in-person learning each day from Monday through Friday.

Another key change is the addition of extended learning sessions from Tuesday through Friday to allow students the opportunity for additional contact with teachers. The two 40-minute sessions at the end of the school day will correlate with specific class periods.

The changes, including the addition of five minutes to each learning block period, were welcomed by school board members, although some expressed a desire to move up the starting date of the new hybrid model to Jan. 11.

"We're certainly open to doing that," said Superintendent Jason Pearson. "We would need to talk to the administrators and make sure that that works, but that's certainly possible."