Wadena-Deer Creek Public Schools is transitioning the 7-12th grade students to the hybrid learning model on Monday, Oct. 19. Students in preK-6th grade will remain in the in-person learning model daily.
The 5th and 6th graders will continue to all be in school Monday-Friday. The 5th and 6th grade classrooms are laid out to meet the requirement of having six feet of social distancing between all students. They will also be doing lunches and recess time in homeroom cohorts to limit the interaction between multiple classrooms, according to Superintendent Lee Westrum.
The 7-12th graders will be divided into two groups. Group A will come to school on Mondays and Tuesdays and Group B will come on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Friday will be a distance learning day for all 7-12 students. For the two days students are in the school the teachers will be covering as much material as possible with them, according to Westrum.
The students will then be given work to complete at home. On Fridays, teachers will Zoom with all of their kids from home on their regular schedule and do a review for the week and answer questions. On the days students are at home while the other groups are in school they will be able to Zoom in to many of their classes if they would like.
Students will have lunches sent home with them on their last day in house for the week. For example, Group A will be given meals as they are leaving on Tuesday for Wednesday-Friday. The meals are free and encouraged for students to take, as Westrum said in the message.
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"We will do our best to make this hybrid model work, with the hope that we will only be doing it for four weeks. Hopefully at that time, our county case numbers of Covid will have dropped and we will be able to bring all students back together. We know that this is an inconvenience for many of you and we greatly appreciate your help and support in making this work. As with most things school related since last March, we cannot do this without your help. Thank you again," Westrum said in the message.
