OLCHS Sets Tentative Reopening Date For Blended Learning Plan

OAK LAWN, IL — Oak Lawn Community High School has set a tentative reopening date for the week of Oct. 26 for freshmen. All students who opted for the blended remote learning plan will return the week of Nov. 2.

Sudden changes in Illinois Department of Public Health guidelines prohibited the administration from effectively implementing all the safety expectations of the blended learning plan to ensure the health and safety of students and staff with a high number of students present in the building. OLCHS students have been on a remote learning plan since school began on Aug. 21.

“Since that time, we have been monitoring data regarding community spread of the COVID-19 virus in our region (suburban Cook County),” Dist. 229 Superintendent Mike Riordan said in a letter to parents. “We have continuously assessed the ever-changing safety guidelines issued by the CDC and the IDPH. And we have worked to improve our capacity to implement those guidelines with fidelity."

Riordan said COVID-19 cases in suburban Cook County, particularly in Oak Lawn, have been trending downward. Recent adjustments to the CDC and IDPH safety guidelines will also allow the school to implement safety precautions with a greater degree of success with hundreds of students, as opposed to the few dozen currently attending.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that we can implement our Blended Remote Learning Plan, with some adjustments, in late October,” Riordan said.

Adjustments to the OLCHS Blended In-Person Remote Learning Plan include:

• The daily bell schedule and weekly class meeting schedule will remain consistent with the current full remote schedule.
• Green Group students will typically attend school for in person instruction on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Exceptions may be made during weeks when school is not open all five days of the week.
• Grey Group students will typically attend school for in person instruction on Thursdays and Fridays. Exceptions may be made during weeks when school is not open all five days of the week.
• Zero Hour classes will continue to operate on a full remote learning model.
• Families that were originally placed into the Blended Remote Learning Plan will have the opportunity to select placement into the Full Remote Learning Plan.
• On days when they are not scheduled to attend classes in the building, students will continue to attend their classes remotely via WebEx. This also includes students who have opted for the Full Remote Learning Plan.

The high school has developed a tentative transition schedule for days when students will be in the building and remote learning. More detailed information to be shared at a later date, including weekly and monthly attendance calendars and detailed bell schedules.

Riordan noted that plans are tentative and subject to change.

“Community conditions and IDPH guidelines are often updated suddenly with little advance notice, so we need to be prepared to modify our plans at all times,” Riordan said in his email to families. “And if we are able to successfully implement our Blended Learning model, we are prepared to pivot back to a Full Remote Learning model if conditions in the community and/or region worsen."

Students who typically take the Bridgeview-Oak Lawn-Hometown PACE 385 will need to find alternative transportation. PACE is not offering the 385 service until further notice.

“It is also important that every member of the OLCHS community do their part to keep healthy and to reduce the spread of this virus,” Riordan said. “Our OLCHS Reopening Plan includes an excellent safety plan, but it will only work if we all follow these guidelines consistently. I am encouraging all of our students, staff and families to practice sound safety measures while they are at OLCHS as well as when they are away from OLCHS. Each of our daily decisions impacts our own well-being as well as those with whom we interact. We need to take care of ourselves and each other.”

Read the full OLCHS reopening plan