HAMBURG, N.Y. — Summer break is officially over for students in the Hamburg Central School District. Thursday marked the start of the 2020-2021 school year, though things won't look the same for all students.
According to Superintendent Michael Cornell, the majority of students in the district are doing hybrid learning. They are divided into groups and will have two days of in-person instruction and three days of off-campus learning.
About 370 students are doing 100% remote instruction. That's about 11% of the total student population, according to Cornell.
Special needs students and ESL students will be in school four days a week.
Cornell said the district has worked for months on a back-to-school reopening plan. He said as many as 180 different stakeholders have had some part in creating and reviewing the plan.
"We feel really good that our plan can be executed in a way that becomes effective daily practice. Because it has to work every day with real teachers and real kids and a real school. We feel really good about that. We feel that we've had a lot of eyes on the plan," said Cornell.
He said it's inevitable that the plan will need minor changes and tweaks over the coming days and weeks, but he said one thing will remain the same — the shared responsibility to keep each other safe with masks and social distancing.
Cornell said students will notice more cleaning and sanitizing and less furniture in classrooms, but there won't be a lot of plexiglass separating desks or dividing classrooms. He said the district worked to create a plan for a safe learning environment, but they didn't want things to look drastically different or intimidating.
That being said, this school year and the changes students will experience can be a bit intimidating.
Hamburg Central Schools will tackle the emotional challenges first thing Thursday morning.
Students and teachers in all grade levels will sit in what the district calls a "restorative circle." They will be in a socially-distanced circle to start class. There they will discuss how they are feeling and anything that may be bothering them during the pandemic.
"Because everyone has had their own COVID experience. It's been hard for everybody whether you are a child or an adult, and all of us really need an opportunity to unpack that. Be heard in sharing what their COVID experience has been like. That's part of rebuilding people's relationship with school," said Cornell.
Remote learners will have the same opportunity to discuss their feelings.
Cornell said this exercise will also allow teachers to identify students who might be having a harder time with the changes and get them the help they need to succeed.