Beginning Jan. 25, all pre-kindergarten through fifth grade pupils in the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District will have the opportunity to return to school five days per week and follow a minimum school day schedule.
Beginning Feb. 1, all sixth through 12th grade students in the school district will have the opportunity to return to school five days per week and follow a minimum school day schedule.
District administrators said parents will retain the option to keep their child on a fully remote instructional model as of those dates.
“The only two options for instruction beginning Jan. 25 and Feb. 1 will be fully remote instruction or five days per week of in-person instruction. There will no longer be a hybrid cohort option” combining in-person and remote instruction, Superintendent of Schools Joseph Majka said.
Beginning Nov. 30, the school district employed a fully remote instructional schedule for all students because of staffing shortages caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Students who had been participating in the hybrid model of instruction returned to their schools for in-person instruction several days a week beginning Jan. 11.
When students begin their five-day, in-school schedule on Jan. 25 or Feb. 1, they will follow a minimum school day schedule in their building. They will then return home and instruction will continue during the afternoon, according to the superintendent.
Parents have been asked to inform district administrators if their children will return to school five days a week beginning Jan. 25 or Feb. 1, or if their children will remain on fully remote instruction.
“A final opportunity to transition back to in-person instruction for the school year will be given prior to the beginning of the fourth marking period that commences on April 13,” Majka said.
Students and staff members will be required to wear a mask while they are in school and on a school bus.
“Moving forward, we need to continue to work together, adapt to the situation, follow health and safety guidelines, support each other and keep thinking positively,” the superintendent said.
