Medford Sets Timeline For Return To Full In-Person Learning

MEDFORD, MA — The district announced its expected schedule Friday for phasing back in to full in-person learning this spring, as well as changes to health and safety measures in school buildings.

Superintendent Marice Edouard-Vincent said the MPS will offer COVID-19 testing twice a week once students are attending class more than two days per week. The mandated distance between students will be reduced from six feet to three feet, except for during lunch periods. Contact tracing will continue to be based on a six-foot radius.

The district's plan is to first transition to four days of in-person instruction for Cohorts B and C, similar to how high-needs students in Cohort A have operated all year. Grades will then move to five days per week with the gradual elimination of remote Wednesdays, a change that will also encompass Cohort A.

The expected schedule is below (first date transition to four days, second date full in-person):

Grades K & 1

March 22nd

April 5th (includes cohort A)

Grades 2 & 3

March 29th

April 5th (includes cohort A)

Grades 4 & 5

N/A

April 5th (includes cohort A)

Grades 6 – 8

April 12th

April 26th (includes cohort A)

Grades 9 – 12*

April 12th*

April 26th* (includes cohort A)

*High school dates are tentative at this time.

"There is still a great deal of work to do to restore normalcy for our students, but as we commemorate the one year anniversary of the beginning of this difficult chapter, I am more hopeful than ever that the end is in sight and better days are ahead," Edouard-Vincent said in a statement.