BACK AT LAST
Pottstown returning to in-person education Monday
“A lot of preparation has gone into our model and I know we’ve been slower than other districts in moving to this step, but we were trying to be as calculated as possible.”
_ Schools Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez
POTTSTOWN >> More than a year since Pottstown School District schools were closed, all students who choose to will be welcomed back into classrooms Monday.
Following in the wake of many districts which have already partially or fully returned to in-person education, Pottstown will usher in its own version with the start of the fourth marking period.
Some students, special education and vocational students in particular, have been getting in-person lessons for several months, but now the doors will be thrown open to all who feel safe enough to enter.
During Thursday’s school board meeting, Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez said Pottstown’s positivity rate for the coronavirus was 3.86 percent, or 145.41 infections per 100,000 people.
“That’s the lowest rate we’ve had for some time,” he told the board.
Rodriguez said he estimates between 30 to 40 percent of the student body has indicated it will return to in-person classes. “A little less than half” of the high school student body has indicated in surveys they will return to in-person classes, he said.
“I expect we will see some changes after the initial return. Some may get more confident as we go forward and want to return, or others may worry about getting sick after the holiday, it’s a moving target,” he said.
Different schedules have been set for elementary and secondary students, all of whom will
“The amount of tenacity and grit Pottstown constantly displays as a community is remarkable to me.”
— Amy Francis, Pottstown School Board president
return in some sort of hybrid program.
Elementary students will have virtual classes in the mornings and those coming into class will do so in the afternoons from 12:30 to 3:10 p.m.
The middle and highschool will have shortened days with homework help available in the afternoons and will open and close on staggered schedules.
Middle school students will start at 7:30 a.m. and leave at 1 p.m. with a takehome lunch. High School students will start the school day at 8 a.m. and leave at 1:20 p.m., also with a take-home lunch.
Rodriguez said the providing of free breakfast and lunch will continue with home delivery for some and Monday pick-up for others who want it. He said the decision to provide take-home lunches was to address concerns about large groups of students being maskless for a group lunch break.
At the middle school and high school, Mondays will be virtual for all students and the remainder will be in two groups that alternate for two days in-school and two days virtual. All classes at the upper levels will be “synchronous,” meaning teachers will be presenting the same lessons to virtual students and those in the class at the same time.
At the elementary level, both virtual students and those in the classroom will receive direct live instruction from teachers in the core subjects of reading and math, but at separate times.
Athletics and other cocurricular activities, which have been underway over the winter, will continue into the spring.
An additional level of reassurance is being provided by “antigen testing,” which involves only a swab inside the front of the nostril, said Rodriguez. The results of that test are available almost immediately and any positive results will result in a student, or staff, being put in isolation until the results can be confirmed.
“We’re still in the pilot stages with that, but we’ll have it available for everyone shortly,” he said.
Some co-curricular activities, such as the yearbook, have been done virtually up until now and Rodriguez said the staff there will be glad to get back to in-person efforts.
“There are only so many photos of people in Zoom squares that you can use,” he said with a laugh.
He said the staff is “excited to be getting vaccinated and they are really excited to have kids in their classrooms again.”
Rodriguez urged patience by all.
“A lot of preparation has gone into our model and I know we’ve been slower than other districts in moving to this step, but we were trying to be as calculated as possible,” he said.
That said, he acknowledged that unanticipated surprises are likely. “We’ll work through them just like we have everything else to this point.”
He told the school board health experts worry about a “spring surge” of infections as the result of people gathering for the spring holidays.
“The enemy is complacency. We have to continue to be diligent and careful,” Rodriguez said. “We have to stay the course.”
School Board President Amy Francis expressed confidence in Pottstown’s ability to do just that.
“The amount of tenacity and grit Pottstown constantly displays as a community is remarkable to me,” she said.