SMMUSD Schools Adopt Plans To Slowly Brings Kids Back For Activities After Surge – But Distance Learning Will Remain
Written by 991KBU on December 21, 2020
Malibu schools will open with kids in chairs … at the earliest … in the fall of 2021.
The Santa Monica Malibu School Board decided Thursday night that that will be the earliest possible date to reopen the schools to in-person instruction.
In addition … once this surge passes … the school board clarified how it might bring kids back on campus in limited numbers … this spring.
That is … once the county passes out of the purple tier in the statewide danger rankings … into the red tier.
And that might be many many months off.
On Thursday night … the board voted unanimously to support the recommendation of superintendent Ben Drati.
He recommends the “distance learning plus” model.
This would be a continuation of how students have been receiving their instruction this fall, with a “Plus” being the addition of some in-person activities.
Under the distance learning plus model, students would stay in the same classroom and classes with the same teachers.
Drati says this is a high priority for families and teachers, based on our recent survey.
At high schools and middle schools … “plus” activities might include support activities for students who are falling behind in an academic aspects,
Also … support for kids with a social emotional situation.
Athletics … art … music and drama and after school clubs would be allowed bo have kids on campus.
There would also be iIn-person learning activities coordinated by departments and the school site … under control by the administrators and head office to make sure health rules are followed.
Elementary school kids would have group classes every weekday morning together on the computers … for core content classes like math reading and writing.
Again … plus activities in the afternoon.
To address the social emotional needs, asynchronous blocks after lunch would have a rotation of students on campus for some combination per site of:
Social emotional learning
Outdoor fitness activity
Labs
Hands-on project blocks
Interventions
Accelerated learning activities.
The district police stresses that Distance Learning Plus will be supervised by teachers and/or other school staff; designed and coordinated by SMMUSD staff; and implemented with all required safety protocols.
But … no traditional classes … not next year … classes in Malibu schools are not coming any time in the foreseeable future.
