Hello, Doddridge County students, parents and community.
These past several months have been the most difficult time in education in decades. During this time, parents and guardians have been called upon to help in the education of their children. Our teachers and administrators have been in contact with many, many families as they have learned new technology, dealt with changing schedules and worked with their children to learn. We can now see the light at the end of the tunnel and are ready to plan our return to school in a more consistent manner.
I first wish to thank the Doddridge County Health Department for their incredible hard work over the last several months. Their job has been immensely difficult, and they have put in many long hours. We have been in close contact with our health department throughout the past year and appreciate their timely communication and advice.
With the introduction of a vaccine for COVID-19 we can now plan more concretely for the reopening of school. Across the state, Superintendents like me must weigh many factors in creating the return to school calendar. We must look at the desperate need every parent and every teacher feels to have students in the classroom. There is no real substitute for having students learn in front of a professional educator. I must also consider the health of our staff. Not only our teachers, but also our service personnel. Many on our team have pre-existing health issues that I am concerned about. Many of our substitute teachers also have health issues or are elderly and have not returned to the schools to substitute.
Last week we began voluntary vaccine inoculations starting with our senior personnel. This week we will continue with the rest of our staff. We are receiving the Moderna vaccine, which requires a second shot 28 days after the first shot. The vaccine begins to produce an immune response after a few days, and steadily becomes more effective after a couple weeks. The second shot extends this immune response for months, I am told.
Each school has its own set of advantages and disadvantages when it comes to planning a return to school. The elementary school has the most advantages. All our elementary students stay together in a “pod” and have no interaction with other students. They eat their meals in the classroom and go to recess as a group. Each class separately enters the hallway and there is never two classrooms in the hallway at the same time.
The Middle School is set up with two wings. A fifth and sixth grade wing and a seventh and eighth grade wing. This arrangement helps to reduce the contact our students have. We have also taken measures to reduce the contact from one classroom to another with cleaning and strategic scheduling.
Our High School is like all high schools. Students attend classes with students from their grade and other grades. However, since they are older, we rely upon them to be more mature when it comes to being safe. Thankfully, we have seen wonderful results. We understand that the risk of exposure is greater at the high school, particularly if there is community spead.
All our buildings are cleaned throughout the day and at night. They are thoroughly deep cleaned weekly. All our school buildings have new state-of-the-art air filtrations systems that can filter extremely small particles like those that transport the coronavirus. We have temperature monitoring stations at each school. We have removed access to water fountains. Our Middle and High School students are required to wear face covering all day, every day. We socially distance throughout the building as much as possible. We have, in short, taken every precaution to provide for the safety of our students and staff.
With this background, we have decided to return to school in the following manner:
Elementary School Students will return to school Tuesday, January 19th due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. They will attend school Tuesday through Friday that first week. Thereafter, Elementary School Students will attend school four days a week – Monday through Thursday. Students in this age group benefit the most from being in a classroom. We really need to see these students to make sure they are hitting all their academic, social, and health benchmarks. Moreover, due to their age and grouping abilities the potential of transmission throughout the school is greatly reduced. Elementary students only interact with students in their classroom.
Middle School Students will also return to school on January 19th. They will begin with a blended school schedule. The first week Middle School Students in 6th and 8th grade will attend Tuesday and Thursday. 5th and 7th grade students will attend Wednesday and Friday. Thereafter, 5th and 7th Grade students will attend Monday and Wednesday. 6th and 8th grade students will continue to attend Tuesday and Thursday. Middle School students will not be subject to the state color-coded map.
High School Students will also return to school on January 19th, unless the county is still designated RED on the daily DHHR map, as directed by Governor Justice. They will have a blended schedule as well, to begin with. The first week High School students in 10th and 12th grade will attend Tuesday and Thursday. 9th and 11th grade students will attend Wednesday and Friday. Thereafter, 9th and 11th Grade students will attend Monday and Wednesday. 10th and 12th grade students will continue to attend Tuesday and Thursday. We will follow the DHHR daily map to determine High School attendance.
We are also planning to bring in at-risk students four days a week. School administrators and teachers will be calling to make arrangements for those students. We want to make sure that every student succeeds this year.
This schedule provides for bus safety as well. As we gradually increase our student population we can maintain student distancing on our busses.
Beginning the second week of classes, we are planning to have each Friday be a Non-Traditional Instructional Day.
We will be putting out a calendar for each school so that parents and guardians can keep track of their child’s schedule.
This schedule will continue until February 15th. At this time, Doddridge County School personnel will have received their second vaccine, if they have chosen to do so. The Elementary School will return to a five days per week schedule. And the Middle School and the High School we will go to a four day per week schedule. Please note that the remote learning option will remain for the duration of the school year. Of course, this schedule is subject to change in the event of schoolwide spread, upon which we will evaluate on a school by school basis in consultation with the health department.
This schedule provides for the safety of our community, while providing for the necessary education of our children. We must move forward together to make sure that our students are educated, safe and healthy.
As always, I appreciate the support of our Board of Education, our professional and service personnel, and that of our community. Together, we are United to Make a Difference. — Adam Cheeseman