District 204 To Shift To 4 Days Of In-Person Learning

NAPERVILLE, IL — Students at Indian Prairie School District 204 who are enrolled in hybrid learning will increase to four half-days of in-person instruction come March.

The shift comes amid slower rates of community transmission of coronavirus and increased availability of vaccines for district staff, District 204 Superintendent Dr. Adrian Talley said in an update Tuesday.

Elementary school students will make the shift on March 9 and middle and high school students will begin to make the change March 15. The district hopes to have the shift complete before spring break.

Students who are enrolled in remote learning may have the opportunity to switch to the four-day hybrid learning schedule.

Talley said there may be space limitations for elementary, middle school and high school students due to social distancing requirements and class size caps. If the district cannot accommodate the requests to shift to hybrid learning, it will use a lottery system to select eligible students.

The deadline to make a request to change a student's learning program is Feb. 26 at 12 p.m.

Talley wrote that the district is looking ahead to possible full-day in-person instruction come fall. In the meantime, fully remote learning will remain an option for students.

Talley wrote, "Let me be clear, none of the schedules for instruction this year have been ideal. As educators, we want nothing more than to see all of our students in our classrooms with our teachers full-time."

At Monday's school board meeting, three teachers spoke about how students, instructors and parents have adjusted to hybrid learning.

Barb Vaughn, a first grade teacher at McCarty Elementary School teacher said, "We are thankful for the tremendous level of support from home, and we are very aware of the challenges for families and very appreciative of the time and effort it's taking for the grownups at home to support their students."

"We are, as teachers, so proud of the students as they tackle learning in person, remotely and during their independent learning time."