Stratford Students Will Return To School Part-Time In September

STRATFORD, CT — Stratford students will return to the classroom part-time when the school year starts next month.

Superintendent Janet Robinson this week laid out the district’s plan to have students back in school two days a week despite the coronavirus pandemic.

“Some people felt that all day, every day was putting their kids at risk,” Robinson said during an information session streamed live Monday on YouTube.

Instead of a full-time in-school schedule, students will be separated into two groups. Cohort A will attend school in-person Monday and Tuesday, while Cohort B will be in the classroom Thursday and Friday. During the remaining three days, the students will learn remotely, with Chromebooks available to all. School buildings will close Wednesday for deep cleaning.

The hybrid model will allow for smaller in-person class sizes of about 10 to 13 students per room. High schoolers will move from class to class throughout the day, but middle schoolers will not, with most teachers coming to them. Music and art teachers will also travel to cohort classrooms, and gym will be outdoors when possible.

The school district will follow strict safety protocols. Face masks will be required, with outdoor mask breaks. The district will give each student two cloth masks. Students will be required to use hand sanitizer whenever they enter or exit a classroom. Hand washing and social distancing will be prioritized, and extra crews will clean the schools throughout the day.

“We want to put mitigation on top of mitigation,” Robinson said.

If a student shows symptoms, they will be isolated at the school nurse’s office, sent home and asked to get tested. Their classmates and teacher may be required to quarantine for up to two weeks.

Students interviewed in July all wanted to return to the classroom and district principals universally favored the hybrid model, Robinson said. Parents who don’t want their children back in school part-time have the option to enroll them in full-time distance learning.

In a series of upcoming professional development days, staff will discuss remote learning, health protocols and social-emotional education.

“We’re going to be evaluating this,” Robinson said of the hybrid model. “This is our entry plan.”

If there are no local coronavirus spikes after schools reopen, the district may return to full-time in-person education. If cases do increase significantly, students will revert to the distance-learning-only approach that was introduced early in the pandemic. Either potential change is most likely to happen in October.

Coronavirus cases in Stratford have been relatively flat in recent weeks. As of Monday, the town had a total of 906 confirmed and probable cases, compared to 872 one month prior, according to state data.

The first day of school is Sept. 9. For more information, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=wesq_8Vn1to.