SRVUSD Students, Teachers Re-Adjust To The Classroom

SAN RAMON, CA — Secondary students who previously chose to be hybrid are happy to be back in San Ramon Valley Unified School District classrooms after months of delays and anticipation, but some say the system has its drawbacks.

Middle and high schools in SRVUSD introduced hybrid learning on March 17. Less than two weeks later on March 29, full-time hybrid learning began as the SRVUSD Board of Education voted to combine the cohorts. This means that the two groups originally established to return in hybrid on separate days, cohorts A and B, are now all on campus four days of the week, excluding Mondays.

Schools have been putting the recommended guidelines in place, such as sanitizing, enforcing masks, and keeping desks three feet apart.

“I feel completely safe,” said California High School senior Lauren Teerlink, who is doing hybrid learning. “My in-person classes where we have a teacher are awesome.”

Many classes had remote teachers while hybrid students videoconferenced in, Teerlink said. But after the board’s decision, teachers without medical clearance or specific circumstances came back on campuses if they had three or more hybrid students.

This didn’t make much of a difference at Dougherty Valley High School, as most students chose to not do hybrid learning, said remote senior Kendall Moore.

“None of my teachers or classmates are doing hybrid,” Moore said. “Remote hasn’t changed for me now that there are students on campus.”

From what Moore has seen, hybrid learning students at Dougherty often have internet problems and are shy when it comes to unmuting in class.

Some Dougherty students, like remote senior Kevin Paul, found it easier to stick with remote learning after getting so used to it.

“It took me a while to adjust to learning at home,” Paul said. “Going back to school and readjusting my schedule would be pretty jarring.”

Even with most students and teachers not on campus, Dougherty High has been keeping up with safety protocols including spacing out, sanitizing, and posting signs, said remote junior Serena Mehta who was on-campus for the first day of hybrid learning.

“The school was doing a great job of following all the protocols, all while trying to give the students who went back the best of a high school day,” Mehta said.

On the other hand, some Cal High classes have many hybrid students. Cal High hybrid government teacher, Tasneem Khan, said she has about four to 20 hybrid students per class.

“We’ve had great discussions,” she said. “It was a very quick adjustment.”

Yet many teachers like Khan wish that there was a way that classes could be all-remote or all-hybrid to encourage the feeling of unity.

Hybrid learning has “been a lot to juggle,” said Cal High science teacher Dave Sandusky. “It’s not like I can walk around and help them with what they’re doing, which I absolutely love to do.”

About 40 percent of Sandusky’s classes are remote, and with both cohorts now coming to school for four days a week, rather than individually being on campus for less time, he's happy to have more interactions with students.

With students and staff returning to campus, there is still a safety issue regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While the protocols put in place are adequate, some remain wary of being back inside the classroom, Khan said.

“I think I would’ve felt a lot more comfortable if I’d had my second [dose of the] vaccine,” Khan said.

While there have been some technical difficulties and other issues as students and teachers settle in — some students who selected hybrid now want to be remote learners, for example — hybrid learning is still in full swing.

“It feels like normal again, a little bit,” Teerlink said.