On Monday, October 5th, the Mountain Lakes Board of Education announced their plans to reopen the high school with a hybrid schedule. The high school hybrid plan, which is currently in week one of implementation, is for students to be split into two cohorts that attend school physically on alternating days. After a midday break, the students will return home to spend two class periods virtually. Board members and parents have expressed excitement, and it’s not ambitious to say that students are excited too. But, will the hybrid schedule hold up to the board’s expectations for a smoother school year? And, if worst comes to worst, will we have to move back to all-virtual learning?
To gather some insight on the potential concerns for returning to in-person school, we reached out to students and teachers from Briarcliff Middle School, who, under their own hybrid model, have made it through an entire month of school without any known cases of Covid-19. First, we interviewed the 8th grade teachers one-on-one; then, we sent a survey to the eighth grade students. Let’s take a look at their responses and interpret what they could mean for our high school hybrid opening.
One Step Closer to Normalcy
Of course, everyone wants things to go back to normal. Many Briarcliff students reported that their least favorite part of the hybrid school day was going back home to take online classes, and many disliked all-virtual days. But social interactions will obviously not be returning to normal for a long time. Thus, the hybrid model may share some flaws with virtual learning.
Unfortunately, as much we all want to return to “face-to-face” learning, masks stand in the way. In our survey, one student reported that the presence of masks on others’ faces diminishes their experience in school. And it is very common for students to feel uncomfortable around their masked peers. Studies show that masks give a semblance of mistrust; this makes the learning experience less intimate and enjoyable. That being said, this shouldn’t be an issue for mature high school students—but in general, expect a bit of awkwardness in the classroom.
What may be more distressing to us high school students is the constantly alternating schedule. Students in our survey reported that part of their stresses that stemmed from the hybrid model were due to them not knowing which days they were to attend school in-person along with the significant shift from in-person classes in the morning to virtual classes in the afternoon. When we interviewed Briarcliff teachers asking them what recommendations they have for high school students, they suggested that students keep organized digital folders and listen to teachers’ directions very closely. Just something to think about as we dive further into hybrid instruction at the high school.
Teacher Perspectives
Overall, Briarcliff teachers reported that the hybrid schedule was working well for students and faculty alike. Again, there have been no reported cases and students are following social distancing and mask rules obediently. According to one teacher, the janitors and teachers wipe down desks and spray the rooms after every period.
To make the classroom experience more equitable for in-person and virtual learners, teachers have given different cohorts different quizzes and assigned different activities. Teachers also actively use Zoom’s “Breakout Room” feature to assign groups and bridge the gap between the cohorts. Most importantly, they have adjusted their curricula to focus on giving foundational principles over time rather than assigning multiple projects to make up for lost time.
However, there have been challenges addressed by the teachers that still arose with hybrid teaching, such as the shorter periods. One teacher noted that they had never taught like this, even in 25 years of teaching, and they had to completely readjust in a matter of days. Plus, the semi-virtual, semi-physical learning is draining, and makes the school day “feel like two distinct days,” as one teacher noted.
The teachers also gave us important information on middle school sports, which, by their account, have been cut back significantly. Cross country competitions, which once boasted as many as 24 runners per team, now only have about a third that number. Though athletes are required to wear masks when not in play, maintaining social distancing is extremely difficult, especially in contact sports. Other sports, especially indoor sports like basketball, haven’t even begun the season, and schools are still very hesitant.
Health Concerns
As the Board of Education stated, keeping everyone in safety and health is the district’s top priority. So far, doing so has not run into severe problems at Briarcliff. But the high school is different: it has more students and teachers, and it engages students robustly in more extracurricular clubs and sports. So what exactly would a hybrid model look like in the high school from a health and safety perspective?
The objective of a hybrid schedule is to balance in-person interaction with safe social distancing, creating the “best of both worlds” for students and teachers. However, as experts from top universities have expressed, the hybrid model, while allowing for greater social interaction than an all-virtual one, stops short of this goal simply because it increases contact and possibility of transmission in school.
Outside of school, older kids such as high school students may feel more inclined to meet in person; among the eighth grade Briarcliff students surveyed, 75% reported that they enjoy hanging out with friends after school. In an all-virtual setting, this wouldn’t be a problem since kids tend to keep with a consistent group of friends. In a hybrid-model setting, however, different friend groups and teachers intermingle and create a situation in which increased possibility of transmission endangers both students and teachers. Even if a case arises from a non-school-related setting, it could easily spread to those in school.
Thankfully, Briarcliff is a small school that lacks many in-person extracurricular activities and sports. For the high school, it’s a very different story: on top of many kids participating in a multitude of contact sports, many high school students are able to drive to different places and tend to spend time with each other more often and in larger groups. The dangers that arise from a hybrid high school model have already been seen in the Chatham, Morristown Beard, and Morristown High Schools, among many other surrounding schools in recent days, which all had to shut down and contact trace after discovering cases.
Recommendations for Course of Action
What can Mountain Lakes High School do to avoid the hybrid model’s dangers? The short answer is to revert to an all-virtual schedule, but as Briarcliff students have expressed, this would quickly fall out of favor. The high school can only mitigate the situation while favoring the public interest by effectively confronting the hybrid model’s consequences. If a student or teacher catches a case, the high school must be ready to contact trace vigorously and ask contacted students and teachers to quarantine for fourteen days.
This can be done with contact tracing apps that use bluetooth signals from devices to track users. If a person gets infected, they can anonymously notify the app that they have been infected, and the app will then notify any contacted devices. Although such apps have not yet been widely used in municipalities, they have been used by businesses, and they can be used in schools. If Mountain Lakes High School aims to truly keep its students safe while also allowing social interaction, it should consider adopting—and possibly mandating for students and faculty—a contact tracing app.
In Conclusion
The hybrid model is exciting, but it is in our best interest to proceed with caution. Students, teachers, and administrators must all do their part to make the most out of this school year. What will the next few weeks look like? What challenges will we face, and what stories will we be able to tell? Only time can tell, but let’s hope that Mountain Lakes serves as a positive case study (with no positive cases, hopefully) for us to look back on in the future.
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