MILLSTONE – The Millstone Township K-8 School District will offer a hybrid model of in-person and remote instruction, and an all-remote model of instruction for students when the 2020-21 school year begins.
New Jersey’s schools were ordered to close in mid-March by Gov. Phil Murphy at the start of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. For the remainder of the 2019-20 school year, students remained at home and received instruction remotely.
Parents were given two options for the 2020-21 academic year: the hybrid model that combines in-person instruction at a school with a remote instruction component, and an all-remote instructional model in which students will not attend a school.
Students whose parents selected the hybrid model will be divided into two cohorts.
In the first phase of the reopening plan, pupils in first through eighth grade will receive in-person instruction two days a week and remote instruction three days a week. The first phase will have early dismissal. Lunch will not be served in school.
Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten pupils will have partial in-person days on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, following a AM/PM schedule, and will receive virtual instruction on Wednesday. Lunch will not be served in school.
“Our return to school plan is not a single plan, but rather a framework of plans which allow us to phase in decreasing social distancing restrictions, while implementing stages of ‘new normals’ and returning to the regular or typical routines of teaching and learning,” Superintendent of Schools Christopher Huss said.
“This pathway also offers options for students to stay home and continue with (remote) learning while that option is still allowable. This framework allows for an interactive cycle of adjustments, meaning we have the ability to transition between all-remote, hybrid and full in-person instruction throughout the school year,” Huss said.
The second phase will continue the hybrid model for students in grades one through eight, but change the class schedule from early dismissal to a full day. A grab-and-go lunch will be offered.
For pre-kindergarten and kindergarten pupils, the second phase will be unchanged from the first phase.
District administrators said phase two will be implemented if all metrics seem favorable during the first two weeks of phase one.
In the third phase, which will be implemented if all metrics appear favorable during the second phase for an extended period of time and upon the recommendation of the health department and school physician, students who are following the hybrid model in grades one through eight will switch to in-person instruction five days a week.
Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten pupils will have partial in-person days five days a week.
During phase three, students who have been receiving all-remote instruction will be permitted to continue following that model of instruction, according to district administrators.
The fourth and final phase of the reopening plan, which will be implemented if all metrics seem favorable during the third phase for an extended period of time and upon recommendation of the health department and school physician, will see all students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade return to school for in-person instruction five days a week.
The all-remote model of instruction will end, with exceptions for students who qualify for certain medical accommodations, according to district administrators.
“In a perfect world, we will continue to move forward and arrive at a point where all students are present in school every day,” Huss said. “We must realistically prepare, however, for movement in any direction at any time.
“Changes and movement through the phases will depend on the public health situation in our schools, in our community and in the surrounding area.
“Each phase of this plan will be enacted in consultation with and input from the Monmouth County Health Department, our district physician and current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance,” the superintendent said.
The district is comprised of three schools: the Millstone Township Primary School, the Millstone Township Elementary School and the Millstone Township Middle School. The total estimated enrollment for Oct. 15, 2020 is 1,136 pupils.
According to Huss, approximately 70 percent of students are participating in the hybrid model and the other 30 percent are receiving fully remote instruction.
