In central New Hampshire, most public school districts are starting September in a remote or hybrid learning model that has students home two to five days of the school week. By contrast, area private schools are mostly opting for in-person models that have students in school as usual, with extra safety precautions.
Area charter schools, which receive government funding but are privately managed, are going in both directions. Those choosing hybrid models cite a desire for caution while those choosing in-person cite small class sizes that keep risks down.
PACE Career Academy in Pembroke, a 9-12 school with 66 students, is opening fully in-person on Aug. 31.
“We have a diverse population of students here, from all different backgrounds and some of our students really need the support that our staff is able to give them,” said Anthony Rongione, the school’s culture liaison. “Building relationships and giving that kind of support is always easier in person.”
Distancing will be implemented at PACE, with desks spaced six-feet apart, and masks required for everyone. PACE will also have remote and hybrid options for students who prefer that.
The students who choose remote-only will follow their typical class schedule as though they were in school, but the classes will be virtual instead. This is the same schedule format that PACE used in the spring and Rongione said the idea was to help the students work on their time management skills.
“Not a lot of high schoolers are truly learning how to time-manage. That makes them be the master of their own schedule while they’re in the most comfortable environment ever – their bedroom,” Rongione said. “We wanted to give them that schedule and that structure. Our hope was it would make it easier for them to go to those classes and show up.”
Still, he said, the level of engagement among students decreased significantly last spring during remote learning, and PACE Career Academy’s student population is one that benefits from in-person support.
“All of our students were impacted in some way at having to go remote,” Rongione said. “Our kids actually really like being here at the school. A lot of them, this is a place where they feel really supported and cared for. That was the biggest hit – they didn’t get to have their friends and they didn’t get to have the school.”
Just down the road in Pembroke, Strong Foundations Charter School plans to use a hybrid model with an option for remote learning. The students, who span grades K-8, will be divided into two groups. The first group will attend Mondays and Wednesdays, while the second group will attend Tuesdays and Thursdays. Students will learn remotely whenever they are not in school, and Fridays will be remote for everyone.
Strong Foundations principal Beth McClure has been tracking COVID-19 case rates in New Hampshire daily, and believes a cautious partial return to school is the best decision. Plus, she said, returning with half the normal class size makes it easier to manage students who are still getting used to abiding by new regulations.
“By coming back in two cohorts, we can teach the students the new procedures they will need to learn such as social distancing, mask-wearing and hand-washing, and we can do it with smaller groups of students,” McClure said.
Then in the future, when everyone is able to be back in person, “everyone will know the routine at that point,” she said.
At Strong Foundations, which starts class on Sept. 8, masks will be required with scheduled outdoor mask breaks. Sneeze guards will also be placed around desks.
Students who choose the remote option will have a mixture of face-to-face and recorded lessons, and some instances where kids at home can tune in live to the lesson happening in the classroom.
“I think the way we are setting it up, the kids won’t feel as isolated. They will have their peer group even if they won’t be with them,” McClure said.
CSI Charter School in Penacook, which is geared toward high school students ages 17-21, plans to offer all three options to students: in-person, remote and hybrid. CSI co-administrator Christine Barry said that because of the school’s small student body and individualized areas of study, students will be able to set their own individual learning models and decide how much time they want to spend in the building.
When anyone is in the building at CSI, masks are required, frequent hand-washing is encouraged and student computer work stations are spaced 8 feet apart.
Capital City Charter School in Concord is on a one-year hiatus this year, per Department of Education orders.
In Manchester, both Kreiva Academy Public Charter School (grades 6-12) and Spark Academy of Advanced Technologies (grades 9-12) are operating on a hybrid model where students are divided in half, and the groups take turns attending two days of the week and learning remotely two days of the week.
Polaris Charter School, which teaches grades 1-6, will be fully in-person except for Wednesdays, which are remote for everyone. It has an option to learn remotely through Virtual Learning Academy Charter School (VLACS).
The Founders Academy, which teaches grades 6-12, will be in-person four days of the week for grades 6, 11 and 12. Students in grades 7-10 will be on a hybrid model that rotates between in-person and remote learning. A remote-only option is available for everyone.
“I think every school in the state has put in a lot of time to prepare,” McClure said. “I have been really impressed that the schools have been very willing to help each other with sharing ideas. We are all figuring out a lot from the ground up so it has been nice to see all that working together.”