School to reopen for hybrid learning

Hybrid learning begins April 12, with students being split evenly between cohorts A and B. Cohort information was released on March 16 via email. The faculty did its best to keep families together in cohorts, for the sake of commuting to and from school. 

“Our main focus was to keep siblings together in the same hybrid cohort. Lots of time, research, discussion, energy, and effort went into these assignments,” wrote Principal Blaine Torpey.

Freshman orientation is on March 29 and March 31, for groups A and B respectively, with a welcome-back for seniors on March 30. 

Cohort A is scheduled to be on campus from 9 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. on Mondays for periods one, three, and five. A free grab and go lunch will be available for all students after class, and students are instructed to eat off campus. On Tuesday, cohort A attends all even periods. Students with zero period will begin at 7:50 a.m., and those without zero period will begin at 9 a.m. and follow the same hourly schedule as Monday, but with periods two, four, and six. 

While cohort A is attending in-class instruction on Monday and Tuesday, cohort B will be tuning in at the same time remotely, at home. 

Wednesdays will be asynchronous for everybody. 

On Thursdays and Fridays, cohort B will attend in-person instruction, following the same schedule as cohort A does on Mondays and Tuesdays. Cohort A will attend classes virtually. 

While this is exciting for many, students can opt to remain in distance learning and attend all classes virtually from home. About one third of families have decided to do that. 

Returning students will hae to complete health screeners daily before coming to school. Masks are required on campus, and on the first day back, students must bring a completed COVID-19 Acknowledgement and Disclosure form.

Students must walk particular directions in the hallways, so as to avoid clogging and collisions. 

“I’m hopeful that in Castro Valley [in-person learning] will go well. We spent a lot of time planning for this. As a union, we represented teachers interests and through bargaining got a lot of really good resources for students and teachers, so I really am hopeful that it will go smoothly,” said Mark Mladinich, president of the teachers union. 

This kind of learning is going to be new for all of us: students, teachers, parents, and administration. Because we all have to learn and adjust, it is important that we stay as flexible and safe as possible. There is a lot of information, and new things to pick up on and understand, but with practice, all members of the CVHS community will work together to keep each other safe and promote a healthy learning environment, even though it looks different now than it did a little over a year ago.