PRJUSD pounces on the chance to return to in-person learning on March 16 following SLO county relocation into red tier
After a year of learning from afar, Paso Robles’ secondary school students may finally make it back to their campuses.
On March 2 the SLO County Public Health office announced that the county has moved into the red tier, allowing secondary schools to open. Soon after the tier switch was announced, PRJUSD confirmed that schools would be expected to reopen on March 16, allowing for students who signed up for hybrid-learning to attend in-person classes.
PRJUSD secondary schools will be offering orientation between March 4 and March 12 so that students may familiarize themselves with their campus and class routes prior to returning. Office hours will not be offered during this time.
On return, students will attend their designated cohort, whether it be Cohort A in the morning from 8:15-11:07 or Cohort B in the afternoon from 12:17-3:09. The full schedule can be found on PRHS’ school website. PRHS students will attend their first, third, and fifth periods on Tues. and Thurs. and attend second, fourth, and sixth on Wed. and Fri. On Mon. bearcats will attend all classes virtually in 35-minute classroom check-ins.
Students can check their cohort by logging into Aeries and looking at the letter following their classes. If a student has scheduling conflicts with their cohort they may request a change.
Students reportedly scrambled to change cohorts after the district’s announcement, with over 150 cohort change requests as of March 4. Whether or not a student’s cohort change is successful is contingent on how many students currently occupy the student’s classes within each cohort as PRHS must meet county guidelines on how many students can be present in a classroom while still socially distancing.
Most students at PRHS are ready to go back to in-person learning. In a 150 person survey conducted on Crimson Newsmagazine’s Instagram, 77 percent of students said that they are ready to return to hybrid school while 23 percent of students aren’t. Though the pandemic has brought confusion and uncertainty to the school system, students now seem ready to try to transition back to a normal routine.
On March 15 students will go over COVID-19 safety precautions in their distance learning classes for the day.
Once school starts students will be required to wear facial coverings on campus, remain physically distanced from peers and staff, and perform a Daily Health Screening through Aeries, ParentSquare, or StudentSquare. The latter two are platforms which students and parents were invited to join via email in January.
The health screening consists of questions regarding a student’s possible symptoms of COVID-19 and if a student shows any symptoms they cannot come to school.
Gates open 30 minutes prior to the beginning of school and students will be able to enter campus via the Student Parking Gate, the Main Gate by the flagpole, and the Agriculture Gate off of Appaloosa road.
Parents and guardians are asked to drop off students on campus in front of the Performing Arts Center.
Students will go through a fever screening and staff will check whether or not each student is wearing a mask prior to being admitted to campus.
P.E. classes will not be requiring students to change clothes but students will be required to wear athletic footwear.
Parking permits will not be required for student drivers for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.
(Featured image provided by Malia Gaviola)
